Mentor Biography

Jan Littlebear

2004 - 2007, 2012 - Present
Janice Littlebear joined the Alaska Statewide Mentor Project (ASMP) in the summer of 2004 and worked with Early Career Teachers (ECTs) in urban and rural settings for three years. She next took a 5-year position with Education Northwest, Portland, OR where she traveled the USA and several countries delivering writing professional development to teachers of all grade levels, including post-secondary. Once back home in AK, she rejoined ASMP and the University of Alaska Statewide, K-12 Outreach, in October 2012 as a Lead Mentor-Curriculum Developer. Her duties today include working on professional development for the project, as well as researching and developing Alaska, place-based lessons that reflect our Alaska Cultural Standards for Educators.

Jan tutored K-8 migrant students in their Anchorage homes for a year, and next taught grade levels 3 through 8 for 16 years, in the Mt. View community of Anchorage, AK where it was normal to have 6-8 languages spoken in one classroom, a true microcosm global teaching environment. This multi-cultural teaching experience is largely responsible for Jan's passion today for implementing the Alaska Cultural Standards within all AK classrooms.

Before teaching, Janice tutored K-8 migrant students in their Anchorage homes for a year, and then taught grade levels 3 through 8 for 16 years in the Mt. View community of Anchorage, AK, the most diverse community in America. Teaching in Mt. View provided a true microcosm global teaching environment. That multi-cultural teaching experience is largely responsible for Jan's passion today for implementing the Alaska Cultural Standards within all AK classrooms. Janice is in her 9th year with ASMP, and today serves as Program Manager for the project.

Janice holds a B.A. in Elementary Education, an M.E. in Literacy & Language, and earned her National Board Certification in Early Adolescence English Language Arts. Jan has been accepted into the Interdisciplinary Degree Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks where she is working towards earning her PhD in Philosophy.