Teacher on the Trail™

Engaging lessons based on Insider video clips.


Our four-legged correspondents write for all ages..


Collection of all things Iditarod.

    

    
    
    
    

Latest Teacher on the Trail™ Posts

Classroom Culture: Our Shared Journey

Teaching is a great example of a shared journey.  Each year is a little bit different. We build kinship and camaraderie with our colleagues and team over time.  Within our classes, we intentionally build community among our students as the year progresses.   The more I learn about the Iditarod, the more I come to …

“The International Dog Bus”: Exploring Iditarod Geography

When my son Andrew was a freshman in high school, he took a course called AP Human Geography that sounded really interesting to me.  My curiosity was even more piqued when my next child took the same class. What is this human geography stuff, I wondered? I asked my kids about their assignments, and it …

“Houston, We Have a Connection:” Food and Fuel

What does it take to prepare for a long mission in an extreme environment?  So far in this series, we have compared training for the Iditarod and astronaut training. We have learned about some differences and similarities between sleds and spacecraft.  Now it’s time to talk about fuel and food. It must be getting close …

Classroom Culture: Stories to Unite Your Class

When a class “gels,” it’s a beautiful thing.  Students work together willingly and support one another.  They get along, and they tolerate one another’s differences.  One thing you can do to really move this process along is build a shared culture of stories.  For me, that’s sled dog stories. The first sled dog book I …

“Musher Campouts:” Jr. Iditarod Math

I love how numbers can tell stories of the world around us. One of my challenges as a 2024 finalist was to write a post with lesson ideas using math. This was the night of the Anchorage Musher Banquet, and I found myself poring over the 2023 Musher Stats page in the Iditarod program.  I …

“Houston, We Have a Connection:” Sleds and Spacecraft

On the surface, it may seem that there aren’t a lot of commonalities between dog sleds and spacecraft.  After all, a sled is a structure designed for teams of dogs to pull loads across ice and snow. Spacecraft have many components including rocket engines, service modules housing life-support mechanisms, and astronaut living quarters.  But there’s …

Iditarod Postcard Challenge

  There is still time to join the postcard challenge!!! We are looking for classes or homeschool families from several states to round out our fifth annual Iditarod Postcard Challenge! If you join the project, you are committing to sending postcards to each class on the list between the start of school and when the …

Classroom Culture: “Pulling” Toward Your Goals

Have you ever experienced a desire to accomplish something tremendous?  It’s a feeling I can relate to! To continue the September theme of “What are they Pulling?” I want to talk about goal setting and tracking. 2024 Iditarod mushers have varied goals about the upcoming race. Canadian musher Rob Cooke says, “The goal is to …

“What are They Pulling?” Personal Narrative Writing

By now teachers are back in the swing of the school year. We are diving into curriculum, analyzing data, working with coaches and mentors, and planning with our teams. We have our routines established.  Our lives have returned to the rhythm of the school year.  One thing we do here in Texas is a silent …

Iditarod Postcard Challenge 23-24

Welcome back to school! We are looking for classes or homeschool families from several states to round out our fifth annual Iditarod Postcard Challenge! If you join the project, you are committing to sending postcards to each class on the list between the start of school and when the first musher leaves the Iditarod starting …