Alaska

Teachers Teaching Teachers #236 How place can set the table for inquiry, with ideas from Alaska, Louisiana, and Philly 02.16.11

Talking about their own versions of place-based education, our guests on this episode of Teachers Teaching Teachers are:

  • Diana Laufenberg, Zac Chase, and a student, Luna from the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia
  • Woody Woodgate from Alaska
  • David Pulling from Louisiana State University at Eunice

Talking about their own versions of place-based education, our guests on this episode of Teachers Teaching Teachers are:

  • Diana Laufenberg, Zac Chase, and a student, Luna from the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia
  • Woody Woodgate from Alaska
  • David Pulling from Louisiana State University at Eunice

We asked Diana and Zac to come talk about an interdisciplinary project they did/are doing with juniors. Each student was invited to find a building in his/her neighborhood with a name on it, then to learn the history of that person and the building. From there, students created multimedia presentations. Diana and Zac brought this example to their conversation at last month’s Educon 2.3, and we wanted to learn more! Wait until you see this work!

David writes:

Many in my semester’s class have joined Voices on the Gulf since a couple of weeks ago, and Wednesday I’m going to give them a prompt for their first post. I’m going to start them off the same way I did the class last fall, asking them to study their back yards or neighborhoods or pastures or homes to identify some place or thing that they may take for granted and to consider the cost of losing it, etc. etc. etc. I’ll encourage them to post pix or videos as well. I’ll guide them into inquiry from there.  I hope you’ll hear from some neat students and read some neat stuff.  I’ve got an eager and industrious bunch this semester.

Also check out David’s post: Setting the table for Inquiry: Where I find myself (almost) a year after Deep Water Horizon.

If that’s not enough, our old friend from Alaska, Woody will be joining us as well. Woody has focused a lot of his scholarship and pedagogy around place-based education in rural Alaska. We have already learned a lot from him, and we look forward to re-connecting with him on Wednesday. Woody writes:

I am negotiating to go back out to rural Alaska to teach at a site that is heavily focused on what they call “relevant education” and what we have been calling place-based education.  I will be focusing on how to incorporate standards into the already established outdoor program.   Therefore, I gladly accept your invitation in hopes that I can get back up to speed with what others have been doing in this area in the last 3 years since I have been out of the classroom trenches.

Pretty exciting stuff! We hope you enjoy learning with us.


Click Read more to see a copy of the chat that was happening during the webcast.

Teachers Teaching Teachers #102 - Connecting to Place-based Education in Alaska - 4.30.08


The ice has melted, many are off fishing, and schools have graduated their seniors in the rural areas of Alaska where our guests for this podcast are from. But our colleagues in Alaska have already begun planning for the next academic year, and on this podcast, you can find way to connect with them. In this podcast, we focused on the "Digital Foxfire approach to Placed-based Education" that seems to describe some of the work in the schools in Marshall, Alaska and in the Bering Strait School District (BSSD). Our guides for this conversation were:
  • John Concilus, Director of Technology, BSSD
  • Ginger Crockett, teacher Brevig Mission, Alaska
  • Woody Woodgate, who will soon be working for the State of Alaska's Education and Early Development Department
  • Flora Evan, Language Arts teacher, Marshall, Alaska

Listen to the podcast, then connect! Click Read more (below), and see what they are cooking up in the Bering Strait School District. Add your thoughts to their survey, and click Contact. We'll see you there.

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