"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." -Nelson Mandela
Update: It's now less than twelve hours out from posted the prompts to my Google Classroom page. I have replies from six students and two students who have completed the first task. For those of you keeping score, this is a completely voluntary assignment and was posted on a Saturday. Please don't let anyone tell you today's youth are complacent. These are young, impassioned, emotional individuals who care. I would argue that there is nothing more powerful than empowered youngsters. Change starts with us.
"Wilderness is the preservation of the World." -Henry David Thoreau
Call to Action Use student work in your teaching. Have your students create. Make it open-ended. Give them choice. Use your students' work as a step toward your curricular goals. Slowly, let the students take over. Give yourself up to them. You will all benefit.
Please comment on your changes as an educator, a conservationist, and a student. Learn with your students.
"We have such a brief opportunity to pass on to our children our love for this Earth, and to tell our stories." -Richard Louv Last Child in the Woods
There is a disconnect. I'd rather not talk about it, openly. Instead, I'll relay the information as anecdote. As part of a burgeoning hope with this project I tasked my students with taking pictures of three plants and three animals. That's it. No further directions.
Staggering. Results from the assignment were pictures that ranged from pets to house plants, livestock to landscaping. I intentionally did not provide detail in the assignment prompt as I wanted to see what the responses would look like.
Time to re-frame. I took to our class Google Classroom page and uploaded two videos. It was time to clear the muddy waters.
Pictures came rolling in left and right! The results are astonishing. Within a day I had two students correctly identify my mis-identified plant in the second video! One student put together a literal presentation on why her ID is correct and mine is not, highlighting important differences between the two species. She did this on her own accord. The dirt is settling and the waters are becoming clearer.
I have so many amazing plant and animal picture contributions. After posting three of the plant submissions I have tasked students with choosing one picture and choosing one prompt. The tasks are as follows (taken from my Google Classroom post):
Below are pictures your classmates submitted to me, when asked to take pictures of three plants.
1. Pick one picture.
2. Pick one task.
a. Tell me why you picked this picture. ("Because I like it most," is not good. Tell me what you like best about it!) b. What does this picture mean to you? c. Write a short poem about the photo. d. Draw or paint your version of the picture. e. Describe the picture using five words. These words cannot make a sentence.
3. Share your work with me (as a Google Doc, please)
“If the structure does not permit dialogue the structure must be changed” -Paulo Freire
Call to Action
Let your students surprise you. Hold class outside for a day. Watch and see if your students' engagement differs. Are they more distracted? What are they attentive to? How can you use that to your benefit? Further, try and tie in your teaching content to what you found them attending to. Use the spark. Freire, P., & Ramos, M. B. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Seabury Press.
Louv, R. (2013). Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. London: Atlantic Books.
At the beginning of the school year we spent some time outside, doing simple observational tasks. The prompts were open-ended. "Write down some observations you can make." See, I was trying to drill down on observations not being confined to visual identifications. We reconvened and discussed sensory mapping. I had my students sensory map from a grassy area just east of our school building. After a round of mapping I brought everyone back together and discussed some common themes -- some ways students chose to represent their surroundings. I asked how many students made note of the plane flying overhead. How many recorded the dump truck driving by? Students became more attuned to their surroundings... thinking about their environment in new light.
Later we came back outside and did an activity where students recorded biotic and abiotic factors in our school's habitat. I could see eyes widening. Kids were getting excited. Laughing after inadvertently walking through a spider web Really close admiration of a praying mantis mimicking wind movement Excited discovery of a shoelace being used for nesting material Furrowed brows, asking about bagworm cocoons Intently listening to determine the location of cicadas Curiosity about certain conifers being dioecious Experience became vocabulary. They were all fluent.
This. This is the school I want. The outdoor classroom. Students still talk about those brief couple of days spent outside, talking about very rudimentary science concepts. They and I both yearn to learn by participating in genuine outdoor experiences. Through this blog and an ongoing project I hope to engage my students differently. I hope to also engage the community. A wonder stirs inside all of us. This wonder is about the natural world -- questions that are asked without thought, nervous hesitation when interacting up-close with bugs and critters. My hope with my teaching, this blog, and the project at-large is to create learners who will subsequently teach others through their excitement and admiration of the natural world. Tying school to community - making conservation through community. This blog is for like-minded educators... educators hoping to enact change in their pedagogy to better their students' learning. This blog is for educators who want to bring attention and light to conservation and nature.
Welcome to hope. Welcome to awe. Welcome to change. I'm glad you're here.
Call to Action In what ways do you see yourself engaging your students in meaningful ways, through your instruction? Please leave me a comment. Change starts from within.
