by Jane Blaile
Today I met with World Communications Center satellite services. They are a sponsor of the 2008 Iditarod communications systems. And amazingly, their headquarters are right here in the Valley of the Sun! The two folks I’ve talked to are actually Alaskans, but working here some. They were very excited that the Teacher on the Trail TM was so close!I was given the satellite phone that I’ll use out on the trail. It is fascinating, actually, to think about the signals beaming from 500 to over 600 miles into space, connecting with a satellite, and then the reciprocal signals being returned the same distance to eventually be put onto a land line. One way I’ll use it is to communicate with Nome radio each day to give an update. In 3 weeks from today, I leave for Alaska. I’d better get busy learning how to be quick with it. A big thanks to the company for providing the Target 2008 Iditarod Teacher on the Trail with this means of communication!
Last year they piloted a program with Iditarod Air Force pilots in which the pilots had a 4 key box. Each key sent a message. They were similar to:
“Weather is fine; I’m heading out.”
“Weather is questionable; I’m heading out anyway.”
“Weather is bad; I’m staying put.”
“HELP!”
It’s such a gift to be able to have such communication out there; it’s important to the safety of the people, mushers, and dogs.
by Jane Blaile
All of you are outstanding! I’m overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and willingness you have shared to be part of the Common Thread Quilt Project. Right now, I have 43 quilts going to schools in the Anchorage area, along the northern and southern routes of the trail, and to villages and towns all over Alaska from Juneau to Kotzebue! I can’t believe a few months ago I was worried about getting enough quilts to cover the schools I’ll visit. Now we have made connections with classrooms and homeschoolers from all over the country to all over Alaska. 43 quilts – 16 different states AND Japan! Wow! What a message you educators are sending to your students – that global communication is vital to our success today, that others in the world matter just as much as we do, that learning about other people is important. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
As I spend the next 3 weeks preparing my gear, presentations, classroom and home for my journey to Alaska, I’m going to put the quilt project on hold for the time being. As I enjoy seeing some of the quilts along the trail, I will consider each of you an ally in education, and hope that you find your way to stay involved in the Iditarod. And perhaps the quilt project or some other connection will be a way for me to continue my journey after I finish my time as the Target ® Iditarod Teacher on the Trail TM.
Keep your nose to the website where you’ll get updates from the Iditarod Education Department, the ITC, and through my journal postings. Get geared up for an exciting race of a record number of entrants!
Wag more, bark less,
Jane
Teacher on the Trail is an “Adventure Learning” project that provides an incredible opportunity for educators to bring researched based teaching and learning opportunities to classrooms around the world. Our Teacher serves as the “leader” in creating curriculum aligned to national standards, developing projects and connections for schools and home school families, and via Internet, shares her experiences during the race while flying with the Iditarod Air Force bush plane pilots, from checkpoint to checkpoint along the Iditarod Trail.
by Jane Blaile
Don’t forget about the grammar practice lessons from the website. They are 5 sentences per week that you can use for teaching the trait of conventions (6 + 1 Traits of Writing). They are housed in a Power Point under Educational Materials on the Iditarod Insider page. If you need to subscribe to the Iditarod Insider, just click on that tab from the Iditarod home page.
Also, I’m going to be using Finney’s math problems of the day as a model for writing some problems that use current race statistics, so look for those on the lessons page.
