So...Where do I want to Teach?

Typically, where a teacher will begin to hone and perfect his or her educational skills is not a question that is high on the list of priorities to answer. However, this very question is one of the main reasons I am considering a career change. The where is as important to me as the why but has more than one answer and will shift as I look into more and more options. Let me first narrow down this answer by saying where I do not want to teach. I do not want to teach in an inner city or even predominately urban school. Rural areas are what entice me, the opportunity to take the class for a field trip right outside the back door and research different leaves and trees, the ability to incorporate a love for nature and the land in my students, the desire to encourage the kind of imagination that can really only be found and nurtured while roaming relatively free in the wilderness.

Lately I have been looking into teaching in Alaska. Alaska appeals to me for many reasons, despite the fact that cold weather has the potential to make me downright crabby. I hope to overcome this lifelong propensity towards mood shifts associated with the changing climate and really bask in the beauty of this land. Alaska is superior to all other American regions in its beauty and cultural uniqueness. I can’t even begin to fathom all the differences about the Alaskan bush that I think I understand. I have a voracious appetite for knowledge, as previously ascertained, and have been devouring personal accounts and first hand experiences of other Alaskan bush teachers. I do not know what it is like to be contained in one spot for a winter, or longer, because there is no option of driving out (no roads) or flying out because of the weather. I do not know what it feels like to have to plan meticulously and order all my food and supplies online or by guerilla shopping while on a layover in a larger town that actually boasts a retail store. I do not know what it is like to have to travel by snowmobile because automobiles are impractical and will not plow through feet of snow. And while all this uncertainty is definitely daunting, I am looking forward to the experience. Alaska will not only introduce me to these hardships but also to amazing opportunities that I cannot indulge in where I am at currently. The Alaskan natives and culture are unique and I am positive the experience will teach me far more than I may teach my students. My husband is excited as well, he was raised in Alaska, though not in the bush but rather in a suburb of Anchorage. It is an experience we do not want to miss.