You can teach everything from anything.

       In 1998,  I completed the Teacher Certification program at UW Bothell, a member of cohort #2. Gosh that was a long time ago! As soon as I finished the program I went right back to my original career. Teaching seemed way too difficult for introverted CindyK! One of our cohort's mantras was the title of this blog entry: You can teach everything from anything. I think the Iditarod is curriculum rich in that regard. I have not explored the resources out there for teachers who bring the Iditarod into their classrooms, but off the top of my head, brainstorming for only 5 minutes, these are my ideas:

Math: statistics, distance, speed of travel, multiplication (# booties for a 16 dog team given you lose 75% along the trail and have to replace, for example), calories required and calories burned

Science: nutrition for dogs and humans, dog breeds, dog physiology, plants and animals encountered, extreme temperatures and how to survive them, effects of sleep deprivation, building a sled, aerodynamics, the environment in general i.e. drilling for oil in Alaska, wearing fur garments, the pipeline, etc.,  GPS systems and how they work

History: of the trail, of Alaska, of the race, of the mushers, of the dogs, of gold mining

Geography: of Alaska, of the route, longitude and latitude and altitude, reading topographical maps

Art: photography, drawing, Native Alaskan art, totem poles

Music: hmmm

English/literature: reading  - books about the race, the history, the mushers, the dogs, the people of Alaska; writing - endless possibilities for research, reports, creative writing about one's goals and dreams, writing to mushers (Did anyone notice that Flat Stanley showed up for this race? Ugh! That flat kid has visited me one too many times!)

Physical Education: how to train for such an event, a marathon, a long hike, a mountain climb

Social Studies: the various Native cultures found in Alaska, who has immigrated there, when and why and how; effect of the pipeline on culture

Religion: oops...probably not allowed - let's not go there

(Teachers, how did I do?)

       Jan loves interacting with students and teachers. She is a natural teacher herself and very creative so she really knows how to make learning fun. She has very little time to get onto the Internet while on the trail, usually just enough time to send a quick email every once in awhile. I don't think she reads her blog until she gets all the way back home, settles her doggies, sleeps for a solid three days, and untangles her hair.

       Soooo, what if she opened up her blog and found all kinds of Idita-reports from the students and classrooms across the country who are following her race?! I think she would be absolutely thrilled! It could be a really cool surprise. What do YOU think? We have about a week to pull it together. No new work, just what you have already done or are already doing. Can we do it?

       I'm thinking you could send things to me at my home email address cklettke@aol.com and I could copy/paste them into the blog. Pictures work also, but of course I would expect parental permission to post photos with students. Pictures of your work would be really cool.

       If you want to participate, leave a comment and let's get connected. If you think this is a really dumb idea, well, I hope it's not, but if you all really think so, we won't do it. Crossing my fingers that you will have fun with it though.                  CindyK