Wow. This is going to be fun.
Our Blogger, David Miller is just beginning his adventure as a school teacher in a remote area of Alaska.
His first entry was August 30th and if you go there now, you can catch up and get in on the ground floor of what might become a wonderful place to visit on the net.
This is a Blogspot template with a pale blue background. The two column layout is free of distractions and is already loaded with wonderful images of the town of Tuntutuliak where David will be living and teaching. He has links to pertinent information about teaching in Alaska and the demographics of same. Though one or two of the links were not working at the time of my review.
The writing style is personable and informative without sounding like a travelogue. We took a trip to the dump on the boardwalks that serve as roads through the tundra, and learned that one of the local stores has a slurpy machine and is planning on selling hot dogs soon. That is the extent of the fast food in Tuntutuliak. I am on the edge of my seat to find out more about this place and our author’s experiences. It isn’t often that we are able to get an up close and personal look into such an unusual place. Would that we all had such a rich source of material to blog about!
School has just begun and he is getting to know his students and their parents. He has also attended a computer teacher conference with several other small schools in the district via computer link up. We get a wonderful description of the food that was served at a community potluck, including Eskimo ice cream, whose base ingredient is Crisco shortening. And he has sampled a local tobacco concoction called Iq’mik which was an eye opener for him to say the least.
Since this blog is so new, it’s hard to tell what direction our author will take. Isolation seems to be a major factor in the high teacher turnover in Alaska, perhaps this blog will help him stay connected, and by the number of comments already posted, it’s possible he will have his hands full responding to them. I am giving this site a rating of 4, only because it is so new. It has the potential to become a real stand out blog. Time will tell. As soon as I post this review, I will be adding his blog to my favorites and checking back to see how our fearless author is faring in the tundra of Alaska far, far away.