Education K-9 reporter, Zuma, has brought a new voice to the Education Portal.  The new voice belongs to Sled Dog Ed U. Cation.  Sled Dog Ed will share ideas for teachers on using Iditarod as a theme for delivering standards based curriculum in their classrooms.  Sled Dog Ed joins the rest of Zuma’s team, Gypsy, Libby Littles and Sanka.

Sled Dog Ed U.Cation

Sled Dog Ed U. Cation is penned by retired teacher, Nancy Wendt.  Over her 34 year teaching career in northern Wisconsin, Nancy has taught first, fourth, fifth and sixth grade.  She has a master’s degree in Guidance Counseling and has also served students as an Elementary Guidance Counselor.  She’s mentored fifty student teachers.

A few years back, it was a student teacher who brought Iditarod to Nancy’s attention.  “Iditarod, what’s that,” were the first words from Nancy when her student teacher mentioned the idea of using an Iditarod theme-based integrated education unit.  Together, they decided to give the theme of Iditarod a try.  The Iditarod sled dog race became the foundation of integrated lessons that met district, state and common core standards.  Nancy says, “The Iditarod theme seemed captivating and interesting enough to excite and encourage life-long learning for my students, something the district curriculum seemed to lack.  We embarked on this mission and suddenly we were hooked.”

Wendt attended a regional mini-conference sponsored by Iditarod Education which gave her the opportunity to link with other classroom teachers.  Those connections offered her a tremendous support system and an abundance of ideas.  As a result, she used Iditarod based activities for the next five years in her classroom wishing she had learned about the theme much earlier.  Now retired, she continues to be a resource to teachers who use Iditarod based thematic education.

“It’s the results of using these materials that truly tells the story,” says Nancy.  She can cite many stories of success but has a handful of favorites to show the positive effect of using the Iditarod theme in the classroom.

Wendt says, “True success is seen when students gather 40 minutes before school in your classroom to find data on the race, share observations, make predictions and use cooperative and collaborative efforts with fellow classmates while you, as the teacher, sit back and watch it all happen.  It’s observing a pessimistic, low achieving young lady change into an optimistic, hard worker improving work habits and grades tremendously.    Her chosen musher was Aliy Zirkle.  Over the course of the race, she watched Aliy overcome obstacles, she listened to Aliy talk about dedication and hard work and most of all, she noticed Aliy’s ever present smile. It was enough to make a lasting impression on this student.  A few years have passed and still her current teachers describe her as cheerful, hardworking, cooperative and ever smiling.  It was the Iditarod theme that sparked this incredible change.”

Nancy shared another amazing success story, “A parent told me this year was the first time her ED (emotionally disturbed) son was interested in school.  He loved 5th grade because our class learned through Iditarod.  In fact, this was the first year of his school career that she had not received phone calls daily regarding his behavior.  The young man was always interested and engaged.  Iditarod Education hooks students as lifelong learners by providing intriguing applications.  School went a lot better for him when he put in the determination and diligence just like the mushers and sled dogs.”

It’s wasn’t uncommon for Mrs. Wendt to be greeted by an excited student on a March morning who exclaims, “I made it to Nome…  I mean my musher made it!”  Having put it to the test, Nancy knows the rewards of using the Iditarod.  She has seen that Iditarod Education provides real life applications to use in problem solving.  Those skills and the memories will last a lifetime.

For a retired teacher, the chance to share best practices from her Iditarod themed classroom is an ideal opportunity.  Teachers can access Sled Dog Ed through the Education Portal on the Iditarod home page by selecting Zuma’s Paw Prints in the pull down menu.  

Sled Dog Ed supplies ideas and resources for teachers while the rest of Zuma’s team, Gypsy, Libby Littles and Sanka write stories for students.  When Sled Dog Ed was launched one teacher commented, “Thank goodness there’s a dog for teachers now!”  Have fun using the ideas Nancy shares through Sled Dog Ed and visit Zuma’s Paw Prints often.