Cradleboard
Teaching Project
Frequently Asked Questions
- What
are the problems that Cradleboard is designed to remedy?
- What
are the various levels of involvement?
- What
is the role of Native American educators who are not necessarily
classroom teachers?
- Whats in it for Native American children?
- Whats in it for non-Indian children?
- How
does Cradleboard maximize the teachers time without increasing
workload?
-
Why do Native American teachers want to get involved?
-
Why do Native American parents and communities want to get involved?
- How
can Cradleboard help schools?
- With
regard to veteran Cradleboard classes who qualify for Partnering,
whats expected of the Native American partner class?
- Whats
expected of the Non-Indian partner class?
-
How much time is involved?
-
What is the Electronic Powwow model?
-
What is the role of the Tribal Colleges?
-
How can the new communications technology serve Native educational
goals?
- Whats in the Cradleboard Teaching Projects core curriculum?
- Whats
special about Cradleboard's interactive teaching materials?
- Who
has helped Cradleboard to survive?
-
How can interested classes get involved?
-
What are the present needs of the Nihewan Foundation in relation
to the Cradleboard Teaching Project?
- How
can you help the Cradleboard Teaching Project?
What
are the Problems that Cradleboard is designed to remedy?
- Native
American people suffer from being misperceived all their lives because
of the lack of accuracy in the mainstream. Native American reality
is virtually invisible to ourselves and our peers and the parents
of our peers. Any child whose concept of self identity must depend
upon whats reflected as Native American in the world of school
and media will come up empty. Its like looking in the mirror
with a group of friends and having everybody reflected but yourself.
- Native
American children dont see anybody on television or at the movies
with whom they can identify. They have no visibility and no impact.
Meanwhile their innocent non-Indian peers celebrate a Broadway-style
Pocahontas who sings like a showgirl and dances with pink bunnies.
What is a Native American child to do? Most Native American children
dont know anybody who lives like Dances with Wolves any more than a non-Indian child knows anybody who lives like Mary
Poppins.
- Statistics
show that the same inaccurate, stereotypical curricula about Native
peoples that hurt Native Americans also produce Mainstream adults
with inaccurate or negative views about Indians. When a Native American
child grows up, he and she will have to deal with both sides of this
dilemma: absence of a strong self concept and inaccurate perceptions
from others.
- Lack of enriching,
accurate information about Native American people and cultures are
in part to blame for our having the highest depression and suicide
rates in the country. Leading up to this fact are high rates of school
drop-out, concomitant high unemployment, welfare dependency, substance
abuse, and rates of poverty.
What
are the various levels of involvement?
- Anybody
can use the extensive free resources at our website, or buy from the
Cradleboard Store.
- Electronic Powwow
participants pay a small fee for the additional year-long privileges
of private Chat Rooms and Discussion Boards, where informal relationships
with other Cradleboard classes might bloom online. Also, Electronic
Powwow subscribers have first access to new core curriculum and supplements
as they are created, and are invited to participate in Cradleboard
101 Teacher Training Workshops. This is our most flexible model.
- The private
Cradleboard Cross Cultural Partnering Program is offered only to veteran
Cradleboard classes who have already participated in the Electronic
Powwow for at least a year. For these classes we create a private
Cradleboarders website shared only by themselves and their own Cradleboard
partner class where students and teachers develop real relationships
at their own pace throughout the school year. Curriculum is the same
as in the Electronic Powwow; however, teachers receive an immediate
email of test results as each student takes online quizzes, and online
metrics are available through which teachers and/or administrators
can see how much students are learning. Discussion Boards for the
students and a separate one for the partnering teachers are private
to the partnership. Live online conversations by telephone, videoconferencing
or Cradleboard Chat Rooms are scheduled by participating teachers
themselves at their own convenience. Cradleboard Partner Activities
are suggested (but not compulsory) wherein classes study in tandem.
Since commitment to ones partner class is imperative, only veteran
teachers with release time approved by their principals are encouraged
to take on true partnering.
What is the role of Native American educators who are
not necessarily classroom teachers?
- Native
educators in and out of the classroom have been working for years
at the local level, trying to reinforce Indian self identity within
their own tribal boundaries. Cradleboard maximizes their work and
brings it beyond the reservation into the light of a brighter day.
There, learners of all backgrounds can also benefit from the accuracy
and fun of studying Native American culture together with Native American
cultural experts (as well as with accredited teachers) who teach and
learn about themselves and other tribes, including those things which
are seldom available in school curricula.
- Homeschool
teachers, parents and friends are now empowered to learn and pass
on accurate information even without the benefit of the classroom.
Ignorance about - and interest in - Native American people and culture
are about the same at age 70 as at age 12 , indicating a fertile field
for positive action. We can do this!
Whats
in it for Native American children?
- Now
Native American children can know the empowerment of Self Identity.
All children need a strong concept of self as well as the ability
to have impact upon who others think they are. Because of the Cradleboard
Teaching Project, for the first time Native American children and
their teachers are in the drivers seat of declaring Who
I Am and Who We Are.
- Children
study their own and other Native American cultures, not just as peripherals,
bells, whistles, and hobby stuff, but in core curriculum
disciplines - science, geography, social studies, history, and music
- written from a Native American point of view. All core units match
National Content Standards.
Whats
in it for non-Indian children?
-
Instead of wasting
their time learning inaccuracies that do nobody any good, now Mainstream
students can experience the thrill of studying real Native American
culture with a class of Native American peers who are learning about
themselves, live and interactive as they also learn new computer
skills. Up until now, most children have been in the position of
having to study shallow and inaccurate information because their
teachers lacked good materials. Cradleboard provides both accurate
curriculum and connectivity.
-
Computer internet
skills become meaningful far beyond surfing the net. Students participate
in Live Chat, and Discussion Boards; and in some cases face-to-face
meetings and live video conferencing. They build new friendships
in a controlled private environment, while also gaining guided access
to hundreds of Native American tribes, curriculum, newspapers, and
organizations.
How
does Cradleboard maximize the teachers time without increasing workload?
- All Cradleboard
core curriculum units match National Content Standards, while providing
specific concepts for teachers to address under each Standard. This
ensures two things: that participants work within concept areas that
teachers are already scheduled to study that year; and that students
in one part of the country are in alignment with their peers elsewhere.
- We include tests,
lesson plans, activities, suggested resources, references, and, where
applicable, music and/or video excerpts which teachers can use to
augment instruction.
Why
do Native American teachers want to get involved?
- Native American
educators across America have written award winning curriculum materials
that have never been implemented in the schools. Cradleboard provides
a venue for this work to get into the hands of fellow Native American
teachers, as well as Mainstream teachers who want and need them.
- It used to be
that even with all their excellent work, Native American educators
and social workers felt that they were working in a vacuum. Cradleboard
puts Mainstream non-Indian teachers on the team in order to remedy
misperceptions from the outside as we continue to clarify facts and
build educational tools from inside the Native community.
- Native American
teachers at the reservation or local community level are excellent
at teaching their own cultures, but up to now there has not been a
reliable body of core curriculum originating from within the Native
American community. Thus, a Native American teacher could clearly
reflect an Indian identity when talking about tipis and smoke signals;
but when the subject was science or social studies or geography, the
world became non-Indian again. It was as if the serious things in life belonged to others, not us.
Why do Native American parents and communities want
to get involved?
- How many times
we have heard a parent or grandparent say, My child came home
from school crying because someone had made a negative racial comment
about Indians. I told her, You should be proud youre
an Indian! We all know that this is not really enough.
We need to provide children with real information as to what there
is to be proud of. The fact that Native American reality is unique,
fascinating, often charming, and almost always surprising can be empowering
to a Native American child, without overwhelming the non-Indian child.
Cradleboard provides the tools for a Win-Win situation.
- Native American
communities still include people who are cultural experts, although
some are quite elderly. Most of us know several people on the reservation
to whom we can point as real cultural treasures. Cradleboard encourages
our Native American sites to seek these people out and help them to
share what they would like children to know. We encourage children
to interview willing Elders; and we provide monies to be spent on
local community curriculum development which is guided by local educators
but includes the wisdom of those Masters who never had the chance
to earn a masters degree.
How can Cradleboard help schools?
- The Cradleboard
Teaching Project helps schools to fulfill certain requirements with
both fun and dignity. Most schools are required to teach about Native
American culture as part of American history, but dont know
how. They are also required to offer instruction in new technologies.
Rather than simply surfing the net, the Cradleboard students engage
in interactive dialogs with cross-cultural peers in other areas of
the country. Some of our most enthusiastic participating schools see
Cradleboard as a new kind of multi-discipline project that maximizes
what they are already doing . These schools have recently upgraded
the Cradleboard Teaching Project to the same priority as core subjects,
guaranteeing both teacher and computer lab time to Cradleboard students.
With regard to veteran Cradleboard classes who qualify
for Partnering, whats expected of the Native American partner class?
-
A letter from
your Principal is required to be sure you have administrative support.
-
The Native American
schools participate without charge, in contrast to non-Indian schools.
In lieu of their fee, Native American classes are expected to deliver
a unit of tribal specific curriculum back to us, to be shared with
other educators and students. Tribe specific materials must be copyrighted
by the authors before being presented to Cradleboard.
-
Native schools
are also expected to participate in all our activities to build
self esteem and self identity; evaluation tasks to help us know
how students are doing; and to participate in a total of eight hours
of online interaction with other classes throughout the year.
Whats
expected of the Non-Indian partner class?
-
A letter from
your Principal is required to be sure you have administrative support.
-
Mainstream schools
pay a subscription fee per class. There are two levels of participation:
Custom Partnering and our new Electronic Powwow model. Upon request,
Elder classes returning from last year may participate with their
last years partner, in their own custom private Study Buddy
areas of the Cradleboarders website, as in former years. They also
receive additional curriculum, as well as having access to all the
Electronic Powwow features. Or they may choose the Electronic Powwow
model. (See below.)
-
A letter from
your Principal is required to be sure you have administrative support.
-
Mainstream schools
pay a subscription fee per class. There are two levels of participation:
Custom Partnering and our new Electronic Powwow model. Upon request,
Elder classes returning from last year may participate with their
last years partner, in their own custom private Study Buddy
areas of the Cradleboarders website, as in former years. They also
receive additional curriculum, as well as having access to all the
Electronic Powwow features. Or they may choose the Electronic Powwow
model. (See below)
-
Non-Indian schools
are expected to participate in all our activities to build self
esteem and self identity; evaluation tasks to help us know how students
are doing; and to participate in a total of eight hours of online
interaction with other classes throughout the year.
- For
those who need tech support or help with fees, we suggest contacting
local civic groups such as the Rotary Club, several of whose local
chapters have been very supportive of Cradleboard partnerships.
- We maintain a
Waitlist for classes who are enthusiastic to participate but are not
quite ready.
- Non-Indian classes
do not write any curriculum.
How
much time is involved?
- The
time you devote to Cradleboard activities is up to you. If you are
new to the Cradleboard Teaching Project, if your time is limited or
if you prefer not to commit to a yearlong relationship with
a Partner class, the Electronic Powwow model is for you, and you would
participate whenever you can with whomever you find online. In Custom
Partnering, the Cradleboard Teaching Project finds you a custom partner.
Then you and your Partner commit to a deeper relationship, make dates
together for online chat, study in tandem, and sometimes meet face-to-face
via local funding. The timing is left up to the two partnering classes.
What
is the Electronic Powwow model?
- New
classes (grades 3-12) can participate in our new Electronic Powwow
model, whereby all teachers have access to all other teachers, and
classes may interact with same level peers (elementary, middle or
high school). You may (or may not) find one particular class with
whom you want to create a special relationship on your own.
- Curriculum:
(Online) You can choose either elementary, middle school, or high
school grades Social Studies: Through Native American Eyes Online.
More free supplementary curriculum will appear online from time to
time throughout the year.
- Curriculum:
( CD-ROM) One copy of SCIENCE: Through Native American Eyes
is provided to each Cradleboard Teaching Project student up
to 15 students. Additional single copies as well as Educators' 5-CD
Kits can be purchased online as needed at a discount rate by arrangement
with the Cradleboard Office.
- Cross
Cultural Partnering: Chat Rooms and grade appropriate Discussion Boards
will enable teachers to meet one or more Native American and non-Indian
partners with whom to interact at your own convenience. At least one
year of previous experience in the Electronic Powwow is required.
- Teacher
Training: Several Cradleboard 101 Teacher Training Workshops will
be offered in various parts of the country, dates yet to be designated.
As well, Teacher Training videos will be provided this year.
What is the role of the Tribal Colleges?
- The American
Indian Higher Education Consortium is a group of 33 Tribal Colleges
located in Native American communities. Some of the Tribal Colleges
have kindly taken on the role of Resource Partner, to assist the Native
American school with whatever is needed, which differs from place
to place. It might be tech support, help from teachers in training,
writing curriculum, or some cultural reinforcement. The college resource
partner is not always a Tribal College, but where a Tribal College
is located near a Cradleboard site, they are our first choice for
the role of Auntie or Uncle to a Cradleboard
school. Several presidents and founders of Tribal Colleges serve on
the Advisory Board for the Cradleboard Teaching Project.
How
can the new communications technology serve Native educational goals?
- The lively reality
of Native American culture simply cannot fit into a mere text-based
curriculum. Anyone who has been to a reservation will appreciate our
use of video, spoken word, music, and live interaction in teaching
one another who we are. The SCIENCE: Through Native American Eyes interactive multimedia curriculum brings learning alive. Text is only
part of the plan. On camera narrative presented by Native American
educators is closer to human oral traditions and addresses additional
learning styles beyond whats usually taught in tribal and non-tribal
schools.
- The chance to
represent oneself and ones tribe or nation is a welcome opportunity
to build self identity and self esteem while learning core curriculum
in school. How wonderful to have younger generations coming up who
can take the lead in letting their peers from other backgrounds know
who Native Americans really are and what we have to offer.
- Creating
cultural interactive multimedia is timely for Native American communities
interested in self determination and self identity. Media - publishing,
music, art, historical research, film, etc. - used to be in the hands
of a precious few outside professionals dedicated to keeping the market
for themselves. To such professionals, Indians were often just one
more exotic project to exploit. They called all the shots - from timing
when, where, and by whom we got interviewed, to the final edit.
- Today
however there is great potential for widespread community self expression,
since almost everyone is familiar with the concepts of a video camera,
a tape recorder, an interview. To put children, teachers and communities
into the drivers seat of creating engaging products through
which others may learn about what they know best - themselves - is
to inspire both the individual and the group. It engenders both self
esteem and community. Video, photography, art, animation, music, text,
and the spoken word at last can all be combined in a classroom computer,
to be learned from and/or to be created, taught and shared with others.
Whats
in the Cradleboard Teaching Projects core curriculum?
- The
Cradleboard Teaching Project has created 15 traditional school-type
print and graphics curriculum units in Geography - Social Studies
- History - Music - Science (See below.) Social Studies Online is
available free to all who visit our website this year. Geography and/or
History will be offered online this year to Electronic Powwow subscribers.
- SCIENCE
Through Native American Eyes is offered as a CD-ROM which anybody
can buy in the Cradleboard Store at our website: www.cradleboard.org
.
- All units are
written from the point of view of Native American culture. Thus in
geography we study ancient Native American trade routes and cities,
that the meaning of the Land is more than just real estate, the use
of rivers, forests, and Mother Earth from a Native American perspective,
etc.. All units are extensive and meet National Content Standards
for appropriate elementary, middle school or high school levels
.Whats
special about Cradleboard's interactive teaching materials?
- Interactive
multimedia curriculum engages the student by way of several senses,
not just one. The concept of multisensory stimulation is valued in
the world of education. Children read, hear, see, and touch when they
are engaged in multimedia learning; and they enjoy the experience.
The Cradleboard Teaching Projects first interactive multimedia
CD-ROM SCIENCE: Through Native American Eyes covers the Principles
of Sound, the Principles of Friction, and the science involved in
various styles of Lodges, all presented from within a Native American
cultural perspective. The CD-ROM is self grading. As each student
does the work, she/he creates a self grading record for teacher tracking
of student progress. An award winner profiled in USA Today and education
magazines, SCIENCE: Through Native American Eyes is reviewed
by MultiMedia Schools, which you can find in the Press area of this
website.
- It
should be noted that interactive multimedia curriculum does not replace
reading; it just creates additional paths by which concepts can reach
a student, such as when a teacher ten years ago showed a film that
illustrated the lesson. Multimedia will never replace literature,
poetry, sculpture , dance, - or teachers - any more than a violin
replaces a piano. Its just an additional set of tools for learning
Who
has helped Cradleboard to survive?
- The Cradleboard
Teaching Project came into existence because it was needed. For twelve
years the only support came from the Nihewan Foundation for American
Indian Education, and all the work was done on a volunteer basis by
a few teachers.
- In 1996 the W.K.
Kellogg Foundation gave the Nihewan Foundation a two-year major grant
to develop Cradleboard as a national project. This really turned the
tide and made us viable.
- A second generous
grant was received from the Ford Foundation. More recent grants have
been generously donated by the Herb Alpert Foundation, the Lynn and
Norman Lear Family Foundation, the Toyota USA Foundation, and the
Shakopee Mdewakanton Business Council.
- In-kind contributions
have been highly significant, particularly from Rotary Club chapters.
How
can interested classes get involved?
- Teachers of a
specific grade (3-12) who want to participate must also have interest
from a school administrator. The best procedure is to fill out the
Form at our website: www.cradleboard.org
- This lets us
know about your location, your grade level and tech capabilities.
You must specify grade level and an email address.
- You can also
write to us at:
Cradleboard
Teaching Project
1191 Kuhio Highway
Kapaa, HI 96746
Tel: 808 822-3111
What
are the present needs of the Nihewan Foundation in relation to the Cradleboard
Teaching Project?
- More
curriculum is needed than we have time and resources to create. Teachers
and students presently using our materials are eager for additional
subjects at the same high tech quality. Presently we offer Social
Studies online at elementary, middle, and high school levels. Science
is offered on CD-ROM.
- History, Geography
and Music are complete but waiting in the wings as paper (text) units,
ready to be turned into interactive multimedia and/or online interactive
curriculum which is a time consuming task for professionals.
However, Arts, Sports and Language units have yet to be funded. More
Nihewan core curriculum needs to be made available as interactive
multimedia, both online; and as stand alone units similar to the SCIENCE:
Through Native American Eyes CD-ROM.
How
can you help the Cradleboard Teaching Project?
- Checks should
be made out to the Nihewan Foundation, and sent to the above address.
The Cradleboard Teaching Project is an initiative of the Nihewan Foundation,
a registered federally exempt corporation. Your contribution is tax
deductible. Our registration number is LA:E069-1-177. code 421 EDJ.
Thank you from the staff and participants in the Cradleboard Teaching
Project.
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