Dancing My Dream

I read the book "Dancing My Dream" by Warren Petoskey. The book is a collection of many of Petoskey's memories from growing up. He talks about his life when he wasn't living on a reservation, his life when he was living on a reservation, and how all the different dynamics of where he lived and what he did affected him. Most of the book confronts how he was treated and how he overcame it. Petoskey is proud of his heritage as a Native American and wants to share that through his book. To learn more about it, he has a website called "Read the Spirit" that is very interesting. He talks about himself and there are new things you can learn about from it. There is also a blog. The URL is posted below.


http://www.readthespirit.com/dancing-my-dream-book/

Teaching Strategies

This site offers a few really great teaching strategies. Browsing around this site was really interesting, as it also gave some information about how Native Americans learn, assessing, and even example lesson plans!

My favorite part about this information on teaching strategies is that it explains how and why it is applicable. Looking at how it is applicable, it's great to see the similarities in that teaching Native American students doesn't have to be completely different than teaching white or any other students. Sure, they are different and there are some aspects that might be more appealing to them, but that's the same with every student. Students are diverse, no matter if they are from different cultures or not. Not only was this informative but also encouraging to read.

http://www.fourcornerslearning.org/edresources/NA/nastrategies.htm

Book Report:Julie of the Wolves

"Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George gives us a glance into the life of a modern day Eskimo. Miyax, whose English name is Julie, finds herself, after a series of events, out living on the vast tundra of Alaska. With nothing more than the traditions of her people and a pack of wolves to keep her alive, she some how struggles for life every single day she is out there. Throughout the book we see Miyax/Julie fighting to keep her traditional values. She is constantly trying to decide what things she must keep and what things need to be changed and we are invited into that inner struggle as the reader. After reading this book the reader will better understand the Eskimo's, and other native people's, plight to keep up their traditions while living in a very different world from the one where their traditions were born.

Native American Learners

I found some main points on the website listed below regarding how Native American students learn best and they were:

• Native Americans tend to regard concepts holistically and visually/symbolically
• Native Americans value "wait" time
• Native Americans tend to observe before acting or questioning
• Native Americans tend to speak softly and avoid eye contact with authority
• Native Americans tend to respond well cooperative learning environments
• Native Americans tend to not challenge authority figures

Although these descriptions will obiviously not apply to everyone from this group it does help us understand where they are coming from more. For more detailed information on the previous points I welcome you to further explore the website which I took them from which is listed below.

http://www.fourcornerslearning.org/edresources/NA/nalearning.htm

History of Native Americans

I found a 4 part history of the Native American people. I only watched part 1 so far, so will share the link to that first, but you are more than welcome to check out the rest of it! I believe it does a pretty good job at portraying their history. Growing up around Native Americans, I wish I would have been more informed about their history from this sort of perspective. I think it would benefit my students greatly to watch something like this, that is, if I teach in an area like the one I grew up in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YR2FgxalCU

Native American Art: Kachina Dolls

Kachina Dolls come from the Hopi Native American tradition. These dolls embody the spirit in whose likeness they were fashioned. There are many different Kachinas which all represent either the spirit of an animal or conceptual ideas. "Each year Kachinas come, they walk upon the earth and they dance to bring life and renewal. When the Kachinas return to the spirit world at the end of the planting, they return with prayers of the Hopi that we might all continue on this earth for another round in the circle of life." These dolls are given as gifts as a sort of well wish for health and wealth in the next year.

http://www.pueblodirect.com/kachhub1.html

Native American Art: Totem Pole

The totem pole is a traditional Native American artwork that comes from the tribes of the Pacific Northwest (PNW). Totem poles are unique to the PNW because unlike the Inuits and Plains Native Americans, they had large enough trees to create such pieces of art.

Most totem poles tell a story of either legends, lineage of a clan, or even significant events that took place. The order in which the totems or images are also significant with the most important being at the top and the least at the bottom although this is not always the case. The images on each pole are inspired by the people's natural surroundings with different clans owning particular designs.

http://www.support-native-american-art.com/Native-American-Totem-Poles.html