The conversations of the bush

At times, it's hard to work in an environment where students lack certain background knowledge needed to learn new concepts. However, it makes life much more enjoyable and humorous when I am able to appreciate their unique viewpoints! I'm so blessed to have these students in my life.

Mailboxes

Student in my class: Do people have P.O. Boxes where you're from?
Me: Yes, some people have them and some people have mailboxes. At my parent's house they have a mailbox.
Student: So HOW do you get your mail?!
Me: I walk out the front door, down the driveway, cross the street, and open up the mailbox. It has a red flag that you put up when you have mail that needs to be sent and the mailman puts the flag down when he's been there to drop off your mail.
Student: Is that a thing like a box on a stick?
Another Student: But, what if it RAINS?

This conversation went on for a few minutes while I smiled and enjoyed the foreignness they felt at the concept of a mailbox. This shock, from the students that get frostbite on a regular basis while driving snowmachines to the P.O.

Riding in a Car

Many of us have memories of being shoved in the crampy middle seat as the baby of the family, or being the victim of the brother who tries to trap your hand in the window, or hearing the parent who scolds us for leaving our crayons on the seat after the summer sun morphs the upholstery into a colorful waxy canvas. Riding in a car is a normalcy many of us have taken it for what it is: an extremely common mode of transportation.

However, hearing about my students' trips in a car with their uncle in Anchorage is an intriguing flip of perception. So after hearing a few things, I asked one girl, "So does it feel funny to ride in a car?"
Her face looked like someone who would describe skydiving for the first time. I watched her eyes dance as she relived the moment of their family packed into a sedan. "We had to put our seatbelts on. And I even got to make the radio something different! There was a heater and a button for the window, but mom made us stop because it was cold outside, and we were going fast on the road, and the road had lots of turns!" Other kids that had had a similar experience started adding details about their few car experiences.

Working on our Christmas Skit

I was rewriting a portion of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer and I asked Theresa who she thinks would be a more relevant and accurate person from history rather than Christopher Columbus. She turned and asked the busy elves, who were making props for the play. "Hey guys? Who’s the most important person in history?"

The kids' answers came in this order. "Santa, Abraham Lincoln, God, Michael Jordan."

A Spoonful of Snowmachining makes anything better!

We came upon a moose that had been shot, but not discovered,
so it lay dead and covered with a light blanket of snow.

Checking out a lynx trap on the side of the trail.