Closing Times

Well I felt like this last week of programing was a bit hetic just because there is so much going on in getting prepared to leave and end out master's program. But I had a good week. The all day group was fun, the kids were great and the teachers were hilarious! I loved when the teachers rapped at the camp fire and got all into it. Overall this week was great and the weather was fabulous. Alright good year.

All by myself

On Friday I got to work on exploring nature (LAST ONE!) and the teacher was really nice and had to leave a little early so it took off the pressure for filling afternoon time because we only had time for a tractor ride.

This whole practicum experience has been interesting. I am sure that I learned a lot about teaching but you always learn while you are experiencing so... I also learned more about how I like to work. I like to be included in planning and implementing not just being told what to do.

One thing I would suggest is that it should be clear what the expectations are for students. For one example on Friday it was very unclear that I had to organize the wagon. What is the expectation? Not always clear on that.

Another example is that I feel unprepared still for change of plans, when there is rain. This said I am not looking for a guide but more conversations and things. We have also never had a big discussion talk which is surprising to me because where I have worked it was a huge concern (not saying it hasn't happened but it is nice to be in the loop since we are working by ourselves sometimes)

Another suggestion would be to encourage the use of the gifts we bring and not expect us to do everything. I believe that in a masters program you can assume some previous knowledge and experience. I think it would be nice for the staff to know my gifts and not gifts and encourage those as well as new skills, but Paul is great at edible hikes so he does them.

See ya.

Rock Cycle= crazy.

Well I felt like today was a really crazy day. The kids were nuts and off the wall and it was really muddy and wet, which made it even more crazy. This was the first time I have done Rock Cycle this spring so I was a little rusty. The group came really early which never helps with things, I just got the projector up and running when the bus pulled in. I was the only ML person working with Fransis and Richard. But overall the day was good but like I said... crazy. I was in the pit which I now see having 2 people work in the pit is good. I wasn't able to crush the rocks and talk to the kids about what they were finding so = crazy. Then for lunch I had the kids go over to the farmstead and then after lunch we split up into 3 groups and went on nature hikes. I led my group over to Cub Lake to make sure I brought the hike back to talking about Geology. Anyway good day but I now see that it is ten times more helpful when there is more than 1 ML grad/staff person there. Crazy day.

p.s. I'm on Rock Cycle next tuesday for the long day and I really don't want to do it so if there was a kind soul that would switch me for WW. maybeI'll just ask Paul.

Ending...

One thing I think I did to encourage learning with my group of 2nd graders was be interested in what they were finding fascinating -the snails. After tasting garlic mustard, Bryce's question of the day was, "is that edible?", Julia was enthralled with the acorns, nuts she was finding and Ethan's hands had over 10 snails cupped within.
After Bill's class, I think more about slope, drainage, and all that.
There was some high energy in the group and balancing that was an opportunity to learn more about how to receive things and channel it.

One challenge for me that has surfaced up during my time interfacing with groups here has been the questioning of where am I from. It's not something I am used to in the context in which it unfolds here, so realizing that has assisted me in being aware of my surroundings and by virtue of that deepening my awareness for the place I am from. Today, the first question Carson had for me, after I introduced myself and was going to start things off was -What country are you from? I responded with Chicago and my roots being from the south and seg-wayed into look what Nature is all about -out here, species and the different families they belong to -what diversity means to an ecosystem.

Did my first water quality and enjoyed getting to know the trail opposite of the vernal pond. The size of homeschool groups obviously feeds a different energy for the day. I enjoyed my group of boys.

Older Kids

So I got to work 2 days with Black Hawk Christian school.

With the 6th graders it was really good with the morning group because there was time and I felt that I made the connection with the water quality. Making sure that I said the word diversity a lot to connect it with what they would do in the afternoon or what they did do. One way which may have been a fluke was that all the groups were spilt between males and females. That worked really well for 6th graders, less drama.

Something that I would do differently is be on the page with what was happening with the biodiversity program. I was a little surprised that the Carol and Leah were also going to the vernal pond. Because that was the only thing I was doing, it made me fell a little pointless after I heard that. But it turned out ok because the afternoon group was late getting to the water quality so the walk took longer than the dipping. I think if there was more communication between the water quality and biodiversity we would have been able to use their time more wisely, instead of doing the same thing twice.

I really like that vernal pond. We found lots of caddisflies, and they walked around the bottom of the pail.

Tanya

Black Hawk Christian School...oh my!

I'm still pretty tired today from working with the 6th graders from BH. Whew. They were so full of life and energy that it was REALLY difficult to keep them on track. The best time during the whole day was working at the vernal pond. Both groups LOVED that and I think could have stayed there all day. I am not really sure if they got what I was saying- but they sure were excited about what they were seeing! I spent some time looking at the owlets with them with binoculars. They really enjoyed hearing about how the crows and the owls fight- we could even hear them in the distance!
The previous day working with the same school, but the 9th graders, was fun. I wish we got more of that age group here to work with at Merry Lea. They were great dipping in the wetlands and really got competitive about how many creatures they were finding. I have to say, that day was much less exhausting than today....
One thing I could have done differently with the group today was to find different ways to get their focus on what we were looking at..i think toward the end, I got so tired that I probably aided to their craziness. Next time it will be better :)

ohhh my gwad... I'm so freakin excited.

Last Friday was one fun day for me.

Those 1st graders were sooooo cute! At one moment I had three little hands holding mine and it warmed my heart. And I got a lot of little hugs too. My group was really excited and never got bored. I was surprised how they just threw themselves into what we were learning. We turned over a bunch of logs and saw tons of earth worms. And then we got lucky and one girl found a red back salamander. My group also found a ting garter snake under a log.

The only concerns I had from this day was that since the group arrived 15 minutes early it meant for a 2 hour hike which turned out to be really long towards the end and my kids grew really tired and hungry. Maybe there could be other activities that we could do with the whole group in the beginning to split up the 2 hour hike? just a thought.

Kindergarten, 1st Grade, and High School

Last Thursday the group had a chance to work with kindergarten classes, last Friday Rachel, Tanya, and I taught a group of 1st graders from Huntington, and today we all taught freshman from Fort Wayne. I'm glad we have an opportunity to teach students of all ages. I'll definitely never forget the excitement of the little kids. They definitely crack me up. After I had told my kindergarten group that my name is Jabin, one student called me Jameson during the entire hike. Funny stuff. I'll never forget the excitement of the 1st graders when we found a Red backed Salamander. We worked pretty hard to find that little critter. All of the 1st graders held it too! The high school group is definitely a different breed, but I breed I enjoy the most. It's nice to throw out some adult humor that they can find funny. Of course, I am reminded that they are a tough crowd to get fired up. You have to work a lot harder to get those kids fired up, and when you do get them fired up, you're never quite sure if the info is going to stick. Maybe someone should do Rachel's research next year with high school students. I'd be interested to see those results. There's not much I would change about these experiences with the students other than the timing with the 1st graders. The school arrived at the LC early so we had an extra long hike. The kids were tired and hungry by the time we got back, but I guess that's just one of those things. Live and learn.

Harrison

Although I was a little nervous about the big group and the long day, I thought these kids were some of the best kids that have visited Merry Lea this year. I had a great time delivering the opening Wetlands Power Point. I hope the kids sensed my enthusiasm for the information they received. The bird hike didn't produce very many birds, but the kids did get to see a Great Blue Heron and some Wood Ducks. More importantly, we found a Blue Spotted Salamander under a log near Cub Lake. I think the kids were pretty tired and wet at that point. Unfortunately, the wagon wheel was busted so half of the kids didn't get to participate in the straw ride. I'm sure some were disappointed, but they got over it pretty quickly as they roasted the hot dogs. The only concern is options for bad weather. I am glad that all the kids got to see the swamp gas demonstration in the barn. Maybe we could come up with more options inside...but of course this is a tough one to deal with.

Friday fun fun fun fun fun!`

I like rock cycle, I even got to do the introduction, the escar demo and light the peat. It was good and the kids seemed to enjoy things.

1. What I did to encourage learning.
These kids were great, they listened most of the time and seemed to follow actions that I did. One thing I did to encourage learning was sing a little song I stole from Fred Penner (Canadian Childrens entertainer) called the bump. Some kids really liked it and wanted to sing it again and again. Maybe Kames will stick in their heads!

2. Concerns. The power point rock cycle intro really needs a lot of work and some creative thinking. It is so long and not very interactive. While watching the Jane do the first presentation it was clear after 12ish min that they were uncomfortable and moving around a lot more. I think that creating a power point that is a little more focused and has opportunities for student involvement would really help move things along. We talk about kettle lakes a lot with little connection to the outdoor activities.

Wet Friday

Kids are fun

Spirits were high

Learning was had with much enthusiasm

It was frigid and wet but that didn't matter to the 5th graders.

Their humor was refreshing in a knee slapping kind of way

A few fell in the wetland and got out like champs with no complaints.

Tractor went down but it was no bother bc they still found a way to have fun

Even though they didn't want to go

I was secretly delighted

because I was cold

kids are fun

Concerns for next wee. I was looking at the biodiversity power point and it looked a little slim. I will need to see that before I can take it on in front of kids. Do we go on an hour and half hike in the morning and then what? Game time in the afternoon?

Thats it for this week.

Red Dragon is out!

Friday

Friday was a really fun teaching experience for me. The walk from the esker to the beach and then the bog provided endless opportunities for teachable moments (as Larry would say!). The kids could easily identify where the lake used to be. They all thought it was fascinating how such a large lake could just disappear! Garlic mustard proved to be a good teaching tool as well- I let them smell it, guess what it was, and then taste it if they wanted to (some couldn't stop eating it!). We talked about native species then and how invasives can take over an ecosystem. We also had fun looking for all the trees with their roots sticking out of the ground- and discussed how we do that with our noses (when we're in water) so we can breathe too! There were skunk cabbage that was growing near the bog- that was a teachable moment too. (and a girl actually knew the name from reading My Side of the Mountain!). No one complained, no one wanted to go back, no one asked when we were eating. Some even asked when they could come back! They were happy, chomping away at garlic mustard, with their sticky, peat covered fingers. I was happy too.
The one thing I do need to improve on is also, as Kati said, that I need to introduce myself better (I sometimes forget). Also, to explain to the kids in more depth about what we are going to be doing and what they are free to do- like on our long walk to look for flowers in the afternoon. I think both of these will come to me- when I decide to slow down and take a breath. :)

Fresh Friday...

Still fresh in my mind is the unlaid hike that unfolded beautifully towards the Thomas Woods. I attempted to reinforce the idea of the trees before us being in relationship to the rest of the plant community around, even if we couldn't positively i.d. each one, there were clues about them. Once we got to the woods, asking about the canopy layers and how this influences habitat for wildlife, things kept getting interesting. I enjoyed the kids as they just naturally started doing things: one girl just collected every snail shell in sight, another girl spotted trees reminiscent of her backyard and the log turnovers found a tiger beetle! It must be the echoes of land management in my head looking out for evidence of hydrology patterns and such that I felt really comfortable asking kids to identify what was happening to the vegetation and soil on a really steep gully of sorts closer to the edge of property ends. Where they thought the soil erosion would end up, trying to link things to the wetland game.
A challenge was being mindful of the flow in the presentation time, worrying doesn't get you anywhere, focusing on finishing in time I think I forgot to introduce myself!

Welcome to our Spring Practicum blog!

This blog is for your teaching reflections for the Spring Practicum. As we did during Sugar Bush, please answer the following questions with each blog post.

1. List one thing you did in your teaching that you think encouraged student learning.

2. List one challenge you faced and a way you think that challenge could be addressed.

Feel free to also add any general comments from reflecting on your teaching experience.