My students' background strengths are their Yup'ik culture, basketball, and to an extent, technology. I find this interesting, since while they have not been immersed in technology to the extent their peers in other parts of the United States have been, nor are their parents particularly technologically-fluent, like children of their generation, they seem to naturally pick up anything with regards to technology. By relating ideas to one of these three areas, I find that I have more success with many concepts I try to teach. In those cases that I am unable to build on their existing background, I use a lot of pictures, drawings, and simple explanations. My students are very concrete, and not abstract thinkers or learners.

In class, particularly in Social Studies, I try to relate ideas to existing, or previously existing living situations and cultural situations that they have likely experienced or know about through their families and church. By doing so, it engages their interest, and they grasp the concepts much more readily.

I think that by providing more opportunities for them to see and experience physical things (through photos, films, the internet), it will provide possible links for more non-concrete, abstract concepts. Also the use of short literature pieces, short nonfiction writings, and the like, my students will be able to absorb abstract ideas in small chunks.