Jen Reiter 2014 Teacher on the Trail

Giving a Hero His Due

I was recently sent a copy of a book to preview, and just today ordered a class set of them for my classroom for next year! Dog Diaries #4: Togo by Kate Klimo is a fantastic story of Togo who, according to many historians, should get the most credit for the success of the 1925 …

Coming Full Circle

Earlier in this school year as a part of our study of National Parks and as a wonderful tie it to the dog sledding theme that runs throughout my school year, my students and I did a Distance Learning Field Trip with Denali National Park.  [LINK] This is a wonderful program that is presented by …

The Ultimate Volunteers

The May issue of the Iditarod ERunner was recently published and features a great article by Dr. Stu Nelson, the Iditarod Head Vet.  You can read the article and magazine here [LINK]. In the article, Dr. Stu talks about the reasons why this year’s race was “G.R.E.A.T. “  (You’ll have to read the article for …

Remembering Joe

The Iditarod family met at race headquarters today to remember Joe Delia.  Joe has helped the race out in so many ways, not the least of which is offering his home as the Skwentna Checkpoint from the very beginning of the race.  You can learn more about Joe and his dedication to the race here. …

What Makes a Hero?

Teachers at this year’s Winter Conference for Educators had the fortune to hear Shelley Gill share some of her amazing stories of Alaska, her 1978 Iditarod run, and her work as a humpback whale researcher in Prince William Sound.  Shelley is an engaging speaker, and I have always shared her book Kiana’s Iditarod with my …

Another Surprise Connection

I’ve said repeatedly that I can make an Iditarod connection to ANY topic. I’m ready to prove it yet again. Today we connect the Iditarod to our study of Lewis and Clark.  And not because of the obvious fact that the Lewis and Clark Trail is a historic trail just like the Iditarod Trail. It’s …

Virtual Fieldtrip

We had a chance to take a virtual fieldtrip to Windy Creek Kennel, home and kennel of Ken Anderson.  Ken completed his rookie race in 1999 and has run consecutively since 2002.  He’s had five top ten finishes and has finished twelfth in the last two races.  He has always finished in the top twenty …

Catching Up with Monica

We had the chance to catch up with Monica Zappa via Skype last week!  She joined us from her home to tell us about “life after Iditarod!”  The boys were so excited to talk to her and had some great questions for her.  She even introduced us to Dweezil, the superstar puppy!  Dweezil has become …

Happy National Poem in Your Pocket Day!

The boys and I wish you all a Happy Poem in Your Pocket Day!  We are celebrating by carrying poems in our pockets to share.  We are also going to create Tellagamis (animated videos) with our poems so we can share them with family and friends near and far! Here’s the poem I’m carrying today …

Scaling Up the Trail

Several years ago, we realized that we were never getting to the Geometry Unit that inevitably occurred at the end of the math book and therefore at the end of the school year. We decided to break up the unit into pieces and teach it periodically throughout the year. Inspired by the book Mathematical Art-O- …