Final Entry: Self-Assessment

I can't believe that this semester has gone by so quickly!  For my final entry, I was to look back on the first self-assessment I completed my first week of the course.  After looking that over, I need to reflect on how my confidence and my abilities have changed in the arena of environmental education.

On the first quiz, I felt extraordinarily confident on the content area questions that focused on biology.  Although we won't take the post-quiz until Thursday, I still feel very strongly in my abilities in that section.  I also feel that I will do better in the areas of environmental science that are based out of geology, geography, and chemistry.  I think that my skills in terms of advocacy have remained relatively the same.  I don't think that I have decreased in any of the skills and areas of environmental education.

My confidence in being able to teach environmental education has improved drastically.  By going to visit the Central Wisconsin Environmental Station, I was able to see all of the different ways that students can interact outside with their environment.  During the discussion section of the class, I was able to watch and participate in several lessons that taught me how easy it is to incorporate environmental education into the day-to-day classroom environment.  I think that the most valuable piece of information that I learned is that environmental education is truly an interdisciplinary subject.  I look forward to incorporating it into my classroom.

Riverside Park

Week 14: Wandering

The next time that Mike and I went out to explore La Crosse, I made an effort to have so unstructured time.  We had driven around the area before, but I had yet to visit one of the parks in La Crosse.  After driving around for awhile, we made a stop at the Riverside Park on the Mississippi River.

We walked along the side of the river, exploring the fountains, restaurant menus, and frozen flowers.  The lights and decorations for the Rotary Lights were up around La Crosse.  They were even pretty to look at in the daylight.  Though the Mississippi River has just about frozen over, there was still a lone duck wading in the river between the ice patches. It was lovey to just go for a walk without having a plan or an itinerary.

A child's day has a lot of structure during the school day.  They are told when they can eat lunch, when they can rest, and what they are allowed to do and not do all day.  When one add's after school-activities, many student's spend most of their day in structured activities. I will use unstructured time in my classroom to allow children to have time to let their mind wander and utilize their creativity. 

Thanksgiving

Week 13: Other Type of Journal Entry

When I was looking through one of the guides to nature journals on our D2L site, I came across a section that discussed giving thanks.  I cannot think of a more appropriate day to talk about this.

I'm thankful for many gifts in my life, but I only have space to name a few.  I'm thankful for the home that I grew up in out in the middle of the woods in Winneconne, WI.  Also, I'm thankful to have a boyfriend who is willing to drive me around to parks and natural features, even if it's cold outside. I'm thankful for all of the aspects of my life that come from agriculture: my clothes, my food, my house, and countless other day-to-day necessities. Finally, I am thankful for all of the teachers and instructors I've had along my schooling career.

Expressing gratitude is incredibly important for elementary school teachers to incorporate into the classroom.  An appreciation for nature should be especially emphasized.  This way, students can grow up with this appreciation and advocate for nature in the future. A great way to utilize this activity in a classroom is to have students think of everything they require to live day-to-day and to think about how most of those things are derived from nature. This is a great way to get children to be thankful for nature and their surroundings.

Source:

Young, Jon, Ellen Haas, and Evan McGown. "Core Routines of Nature Connection." Coyote's guide to connecting with nature. 2nd ed. Shelton, Wash.: OWLLink Media, 2010. 35-76. Print.

Grandad's Bluff

Week 12: Scientific Observation

I visited Mike's home in La Crosse one  chilly November weekend.  When we were making the drive west, I noticed very quickly when we entered into an area that was much more hilly and rocky than I am used to.  I began to wonder why exactly that was.  

While we were in town, Mike took me to see Grandad's Bluff. The view was absolutely breath-taking. There were also numerous plaques and signs describing the history and importance of the area.  One of these plaques talked about how this area of Wisconsin is known as a Driftless Area.  It's main characteristic is that the glaciers that covered Wisconsin from Canada never reached this region.  The rest of Wisconsin was carved flat, while the area that is now southwest Wisconsin retained its ridges and valleys.  

Scientific observations are important for children to do because a child's curiosity is an amazing trait. An important part of the science curriculum is teaching the scientific method.  This method includes asking questions, doing research, making a hypothesis, and making conclusions.  I plan on incorporating this method into my classroom.  Not only will students need to utilize this method during their later school careers, but it also helps to inspire and direct creative thinking and innovation. 

Robert Frost

Week 11: Literary Response

"Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank go grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay."
-Robert Frost

Robert Frost was born in San Francisco on March 26, 1874.  He moved out to New England and eventually attended both Dartmouth and Harvard, but never earned a formal degree.  For his poetry, he earned four Pulitzer Prizes and many other honors.  Most of his work was inspired by beautiful life and landscape of New England. 

A notable use of this poem was in the movie The Outsiders. Ponyboy recites this poem to Johnny as they glance out and look out over the sunset.  This poem reflects how beautiful nature is.  However, just like the sunset that the boys were watching in the film, the beauty of nature is often evanescent. 

It's important for students to appreciate how fleeting nature is.  By understanding how fragile nature can be, students can appreciate how important it is to protect it.  

Having students analyze poetry is an important literary skill.  While they are analyzing poetry, they can also be learning other skills.  Poetry analysis can easily be interdisciplinary, and one of the subject areas I plan on integrating is environmental education.  Students can gain an appreciation for nature through literature.  

My Backyard

Week 10: Sit Spot

I spent the weekend visiting my family.  My parents live in the middle of the woods in Winneconne, WI.  We built the house from scratch and we moved in when I started middle school.  The upper-back deck of my parents house faces an expansive yard that has a marsh as a backdrop. 

I picked the perfect time of the evening for my sit spot.   The whitetail deer that live in the woods are very used to having people around.  I was sitting outside, almost at the point of taking a nap, when I small buck came out of the marsh.  It was difficult not to breathe. I've seen plenty of deer walk around in my backyard before, but it's magical every time. 

Sit spots can be great for students. It can allow them to focus on not only their sense of sight, but the other four senses as well. I once had a professor that everyday emphasized the importance of "being present in a moment."  With all of the multitasking that children do in this day and age with video games, music, and social media, being truly present in a moment is a skill that students should refocus on. I believe that have students practice sit-spots can be a great way to get students to be truly present in a moment. 

Make a Difference Day

Week 9: Storytelling of an Experience in Nature

 Make a Difference Day is an event that the United Way - Portage County puts on.  Hundreds of volunteers sign up in teams to rake yards.  Participants range in age from the very young to the very old.  It is a great way to get a community together to help a cause.  I participated with my sisters in Delta Phi Epsilon sorority, as well as the family of one of my sisters.

The morning of Saturday October 26th I got up at 7:00 AM and it was incredibly chilly outside.  I bundled up in several layers as well as mittens, a scarf, and a hat.  I was immobilized a little bit, but I was warm. We went out to two different yards. The first was labeled as "very large" on our sheet but our team of 20 people was able to knock out that yard within 45 minutes.  The second yard we went to was a little bit out of the way and was only labeled as "large."  This yard was twice as big as the first with four times as many leaves.  It took us a bit longer, but we managed to get the yard done and have a great time while doing so.  

I want to have students be active in their community.  As a teacher, I plan on advocating for service learning projects for my students to complete.  Many great service activities can take place outside.  Another that I've participated in college was the Labor of Love.  Students would pick up trash in Schmeeckle among other service projects. Personally, I was part of a group that helped to paint a fence for an elderly woman.  I believe that these service projects are great for students and I will advocate for them as a teacher.

Day at CWES

Week 8: Class Content

One of the projects that we do for this course was doing practicum hours at either the Central Wisconsin Environmental Station or at the Boston School Forest.  After this experience, we were to write a three page paper about it.  If I had wrote all of my thoughts about CWES in my paper, it would have well-exceeded three pages. I thought that I would use my blog entries to discuss a few other aspects of my experience that didn't quite fit into my paper, as well as several pictures that I took that I really enjoyed.

One part of the education that I found interesting was that the chaperons were encouraged not to participate very much.  This approach is put in place so that the students learn to problem solve by themselves without their teachers' assistance.  I enjoyed watching the students learn to problem solve themselves while also making sure that everyone was participating fully.

There are no guarantees that my students someday will be able to go to an outdoor facility such as CWES.  This all depends on what the school district has available. As a teacher, I can take some of the ideas and activities from CWES and try to incorporate them into my classroom.  Using a compass could be successful in a class even without an expansive forested area. Also, I could use my experiences here to advocate for more outdoor education for students because I believe that the experiences that the students have at CWES are very beneficial.

Apple Picking



Week 7: Environmental Issue 

On a windy Saturday morning in October, I went to an apple orchard in Milwaukee.  The owners invited people from far and wide to help pick apples so that they could send the apples off to make apple cider.  I personally took a bunch of the apples home to make pies and cakes and cookies with.

When we left, I picked up a half-gallon of apple cider. I know that adding preservatives to food is an issue that can be addressed in environmental education.  I asked the owners of the orchard, and they told me that they only ingredient in their apple cider is apples, and maybe a few pears.  Rather than adding miscellaneous preservatives, they treat their cider with UV Light.  I thought that it was interesting that they don't add chemicals to the cider to treat it.  I had never even heard of using ultraviolet light to treat food, but it seems to be a good alternative to other methods of food processing.

This experience taught me that it's always a good idea to ask about the products that I am consuming.  This is a lesson that I would like to pass on to my students.  I want my students to be inquisitive and ask lots of questions.



Henry David Thoreau

Week 6: Literary Response

"I do not know where to find in any literature, whether ancient or modern, any adequate account of that Nature with which I am acquainted." 

(Henry David Thoreau, Journal, February 1851)

Henry David Thoreau is one of America's most famous writers.  He is known for being an abolitionist, Transcendentalist, and an advocate of civil disobedience. However, he is probably best known for his journey to Walden Pond and the writings that were inspired from his journey. Thoreau made a home for himself alongside Walden Pond and aimed to live a simpler life.  Ralph Waldo Emerson, another famous American writer, was one of Thoreau's mentors and friends.

I enjoy this quote from Thoreau's journal because I find it a little bit paradoxical.  Reading has always been very powerful for me.  I've never traveled much, so I've done most of my traveling via the pages of fantastical books.  It has always been my belief that if one cannot travel and get to a particular place, reading about it can be the next best thing.  This quote argues that even the most artful and skilled writer cannot completely recreate the feeling of going outside for oneself.

It is important for children to learn about nature via journals, textbooks, and picture books.  However, it is arguably much more important for children to go out and experience nature for themselves. I will keep this quote in mind while I am teaching so I remember to get my students into the great outdoors. 

Scavenger Hunts

Week 5: Art-Based Entry

On my walk home, I went on a personal scavenger hunt to try to find all of the colors of the rainbow occurring naturally in nature. Within a few minutes I had found them all.  I found red, orange, and yellow leaves, green grass, blue tones in the sky, and indigo and violet flowers. Having students go for scavenger hunts outside can be a great way to break up the class day and can be integrated into what you are working on in class.  For example, depending on the age of the students, students could look for colors like I did, shapes, items that start with certain letters of the alphabet.  The possibilities are endless. 

Thoughts from the Back of a Motorcycle

Week 4: Mapping

View Larger Map


On a whim, Mike took me on 100 mile long motorcycle ride up to Wausau and back.  After we got back, Mike helped me map out the long route we took and embed the map on my blog (as I am not the most technologically-literate person in the world).   I've made a short list of some of the natural areas and other interesting places that we passed on our ride:

Wisconsin River/Wisconsin River Flowage
DuBay Park/Lake DuBay
Wisconsin River
Mosinee Dam
Nine Mile Recreation Area
Wausau School Forest
Doepke Recreation Area
Rookery Park
Marathon County Fairgrounds
Pike Lake
Wadley Lake

I know that some people wouldn't think that a motorcycle ride belongs on a nature journal.  However, I would beg to differ.  Even though you see the same sights while riding in a car or a truck, I always feel so much closer to nature while on a motorcycle.  There's just something about being able to feel the wind move past you, that feeling of almost-flight, that makes you feel connected to your surroundings.  Also, I know that personally when I am riding in any other vehicle, I will sit and play games on my phone and not pay too much attention to my surroundings.  Motorcycles take those distractions away and force you to pay more attention to what's going on outside. I absolutely loved the route we went on and hopefully will get to go on another ride soon before winter starts to set in.

I believe that it is important for students to observe what is going on around them.  Having students make maps is a good way for students to practice this skill. When I plan my lessons, I will include tasks such as making maps in order for students to demonstrate their observance, as well as spatial skills and success in other academic areas. Mapping is truly an activity that crosses subjects and would be highly beneficial to my students. 

New Friends, New Foes



Week 3: Storytelling of an Experience in Nature

One fine August afternoon I was training for the 5K race that I would run in nearly a month. I had been sticking to mostly indoor running at the Allen Center, but it was such a lovely day that I decided to take my training outside. Since I knew that the loop around Lake Joanis in Schmeeckle Reserve was about a mile, that was the route I chose to take. I barely got a quarter of a mile around the lake before I nearly ran into a young buck.  I know that the deer in Schmeeckle are very tame, but it still felt peaceful to be so close to a wild animal and have neither of us terrified.

Unfortunately, we couldn't get to know each other very well because he had to go make new friends himself. 

I had almost finished my lap around the lake when I came upon a stretch of geese. Even though I was approaching on the trail at a moderate jogging pace, they didn't seem to want to let me pass. Suddenly, one of them started violently hissing at me, and the rest of the flock soon followed suit.  That was all of the motivation I needed to high-tail it out of the nature reserve as fast as humanly possible  Because of the nature of our meeting, I wasn't able to take a picture of them...which I feel is pretty understandable.

I thought that it was quite ironic that in my short run through Schmeeckle I was able to have both a very peaceful and very scary experience with nature.  My good experiences, such as my one with the deer, far outweigh my negative experiences with evil, territorial geese.  Therefore, I doubt I will stay away from Schmeeckle Reserve for long. I want my students to have many experiences in nature, so that their judgement of nature won't be just from one possible bad experience they might have had.  For this reason, I will try to incorporate outdoor experiences often into my lessons.

Yourself Inside Yourself

Week 2: Literary Response

"Listen

Make a way for yourself inside yourself

Stop looking in that other way of looking"
-Rumi, Sufi Poet and Philosopher

This journal entry will reflect on the quote above, which I found on the homework sheet we received when we were first assigned the nature journals.  I was first drawn to it because I recognized the word "Sufi."  I went to look it up and realized that I had come across the word when reading about the Islamic culture.  Sufism isn't so much a sect of Islam so much as it is a very "mystical" approach to Islam.  I researched Sufism a little bit more and read that Sufis believe that nature and God are simply two aspects of the same reality.  I tried to keep this in mind while I analyzed the text of the poem.

The quote itself I find to be very inspiring.  Whenever I analyze text, I like to break it down into parts, and afterwards appreciate it as a whole and apply it to my life.  I'll start with the first line, which happens to be only one word: listen.  I enjoyed how the first line is just one word with an implied pause afterward.  I imagine Rumi speaking to a crowd, and after the word "listen," silencing the audience with a wave of his hand before continuing to impart his wisdom.

I had to think the deepest about the second line of this quote. To be perfectly honest, I haven't come up with an exact way to interpret this line.  In my mind's eye I imagine creating a literal path or trail through a wooded area.  Maybe this line draws a parallel to the old adage, "Take the road less traveled."  Perhaps as people observing nature we need to take a deeper look at what we are seeing rather than the quickest, easiest way of looking at nature.  Despite not having come to an exact conclusion yet, this is a very fun line to think about.  I enjoyed thinking about it so much that I named this nature journal "Yourself Inside Yourself."

My favorite line of the poem is the third line.  I interpreted the line as talking about how people get into a rut in terms of the way that they see the world, almost like being in a constant state of tunnel vision.  This final line of the poem is a call to action to keep an open mind and try to view and appreciate the world from a new perspective.

I thought that this quote was a great way to introduce me to the concept of nature journaling and open my mind to the idea of writing about my surroundings.  I was definitely skeptical of creating a nature journal when it was first assigned in class, but I believe that I can personalize it in a way that will make it a treat for me to work on throughout the semester.  Not only will the idea of nature journaling help me, but it could definitely benefit my future students.  Having students journal about nature could be a great way to assess student's literacy skills and help them to develop their creativity.  I am very much looking forward to seeing what there is to see out in the Stevens Point area for me to observe and comment on, for both myself and my students.

First Entry: Self-Assessment

My first nature-journal entry will center around the environmental education self-assessment quiz we took in class.  The purpose of the assessment was to determine my abilities, confidence, and content knowledge in environmental education.  The survey was multiple-choice in nature.  I was given opportunities to not just show off what I know in content knowledge, but also evaluate my opinions and priorities in terms of the environment.

There was one question in particular that I found interesting.  As I do not have the question packet, I cannot say for certain the exact wording of the question.  I can however paraphrase it to, "Are you concerned with the world's deserts increasing in size?"  I thought that this question was interesting because it implied that I had already known about the increasing sizes of the world's deserts, when in fact I did not.

I thought that I did particularly well in questions that concerned biology.  I have already taken my biology course that I needed for my major.  This class definitely helped me to answer questions about topics such as ecosystems and food chains. However, there were plenty of other content knowledge questions that I had no idea about.  I am confident that I will learn plenty of environmental content knowledge during the course of this class.

In terms of my priorities concerning the environment, I noticed that I could honestly put that I did several of the habits "sometimes."  I recycle regularly, and when I see a can or bottle on the sidewalk, I will pick it up and throw it in a proper recycling bin if it is convenient.  Many of the questions about advocacy for nature I marked that I had never done.  I've never been part of a wildlife, ecology, or preservation group.  I am interested to see if what I learn in this class will change any of my opinions and priorities concerning the environment.