memories for those without

After Wednesday's cider making experience with the elderly people with dementia, Laura posed the question to Sara and I of how this is environmental education. Obviously, for persons who retain long term memories but may not remember their Merry Lea experience even into the next day, it becomes difficult to define it as education. Where the education part comes in is when the adults working with this population see the positive affect these activities have on the attitudes and satisfaction of their group. Too often, elderly are isolated from nature as their physical or mental limitations decline. This is a population that really runs the risk of "nature deficit disorder". Additionally, I believe the elderly are an often overlooked resource. The "sustainable" practices that we strive to achieve were every day living for a generation of people who lived through the depression. Yes, they did this out of necessity. There is much we can learn from them.

The name game

Learning names is challenging. It seems to make such a huge difference, when you are able to use their names to get each persons attention. It is so difficult. I tried to use the animal name thing the other day, but it really didn't seem to help, in fact I think that I had done better the previous day at just trying to remember them. I can't decide if there are just days that I am more in tune or able to focus and so names go better. Sometimes it seems like it is just because the names are more familiar, or the group is 11 instead of 13, and those 2 extra names make a difference. At any rate, I hope that this gets easier, and will keep working at remembering names, simply because I do believe that it makes a huge difference.

Another thing that I have been learning this last week, is how often adults also need to be taught. I wonder how we could better communicate to parents their ability to make a difference in the day. I have to admit that previously I had not considered that part of my practicum learnings would be the adults on the field trip. I am not sure if part of the reason that I had a day with little parental support, is because of something that I did, and they didn't feel like they could step in. Since that day I have been less hesitant to ask parents to do something. On Wednesday, I had a great group of parents, with little prompting from me, they assisted in making sure that lines were enforced, that kids went into the line that they need to be in, and jumped in to makes sure that kids kept their hands safe. Some of the things that they did actually gave me ideas for ways to include parents in the future. (Asking a parent to stand on the other side of the cider press, asking them to assist with helping every child get a turn in the laundry, asking them to finish un-screwing the cider press to prep for the next group.) It is wonderful how every day is a new day with something new to learn.

a long week and a variety of teaching experiences

Laura asked me and Amy, after our cider making with 16 dementia sufferers, how this fits in environmental education (or something like that). Amy and I had a variety of responses, and I've thought about this since yesterday.
How much overlap is there between environmental education and environmental experience? How much education is possible with individuals with varying defecits? What is the difference between training and education? What were the metrics for environmental education? Lots of questions -- most without a clear answer.
I loved being part of this little customized Farmcraft. I was proud to be part of Merry Lea's team, thrilled to be healthy and strong (and young), aware of contribution all around the room, and certain that what we did for a few hours made a real difference. In an earlier blog, someone (me?) wrote about creating memories through the unique experience of Farmcraft. With our Wednesday cider crowd, the memory-creation machine is working in a different way. The children at Farmcraft are learning today about yesterday, and tomorrow will likely have fond and cool memories of what they saw and did. Our Wednesday folks minds are doing something different. Our cider making, and Amy's songs, definitely revived memories for some in the room. It was moving, and fulfilling. And they may not remember any of it today. My mom would say that for her it was like having the Lotto ping pong balls in your head, and they didn't line up and make sense anymore.
I was educated Wednesday. I learned new ways to connect with a diverse population. I saw the dedication, challenges and value of the attendants caring for our group. The attendants were educated, too, and some were obviously delighted, with the cider experience. Many participants learned (or re-learned) how to work the mill, and that the cider POURED from the mill when Arvenus worked the press. I hoped that they learned that many of us were very happy to be making memories with them on Wednesday.
I'm left thinking about how we care for individuals who can't take care of themselves. Are there lessons in nature for this?

Pretzels and Early Group

Pretzels - This extended, custom Farmcraft day was fun. I did not get to stay with one group all program. I got to stay at one station, in the Summer Kitchen and see all 100+ students for Pretzel making. This activity was a real treat. I loved it, the kids loved it.

Jason and I had a good system down for mixing/stirring, proofing and baking pretzels all in 15 minutes. WOW.

The kids liked to be involved, participated well in discussion and were happy to get one of the finished products. I knew what smart 5th graders they were, so they had to do some math, to figure out how to cut the dough into enough pieces for everyone in the group. This left us one short for a larger group in the rotation. We made extra and got it to the unlucky person. The students got to roll out their little dough balls into worm shapes, form them into knots and salt the pretzels. A few students really got carried away with the salt!

Early group - Our Kindergartners got to ML a little early today. The group from Shipshewana consisted of Amish and non-Amish students. It was neat to see their interactions. The Amish children were quieter than other groups we've worked with. But, they still participated very well. There was new and different things for them to see.

We had just sat down to meet before programming and in rolls the bus. I am glad everything was set up at that point. No major adjustments. We just rolled with it. The day went over well. We even had another group of preschoolers at Farmcraft.

Station rotations went well. Time was not adjusted, although we could always use just a little more time at each station. After lunch and straw ride, we got to hike the groups around the wetland. Good call Paul. The hikes were neat with such young kids. I wish we could have gotten just a little more time there too... At times I felt like I was rushing a few students to get back by 1. They were very inquisitive and make great animal sounds.

comments to Tom by example and Amy's spinning wheel

Still commenting thru new post....

On Tom, Teaching by Example.
Thank you for telling us about your grandfather's life and his impact on family and community. I watch you as you teach, and realize I'm not so much listening for what you say as watching how your saying it and how you are being with the children. You have a way about you that communicates clearly to others... maybe it is part of what you learned from your grandfather. You instill trust. I'm so glad that I get to learn from you this year.

On Amy, Spinning wheels...
How fun that you got to work with Julie on spinning! I bet you/it was great! The best partnership of my professional life was team teaching. I never figured out what it was that made it so effective and innovative and exciting. Jerry taught me to teach, took contribution and contributed, and became my dear friend. Knowing what was available with him, I still look for it and expect it again to really enrich my life.

Teaching By Example

Wow, what a weekend. I hope you'll forgive me for being a little nostalgic. It was truly amazing and humbling to see how many lives my Pappy touched. This isn't necessarily relevant to Merry Lea, but it certainly is to teaching. You see, Pappy was a teacher all his life. He came from a large family (10 siblings), so he was always teaching his brothers and sisters how to do their chores as well as how to have fun. He was a Boy Scout leader for 38 years, so he taught 100's of young boys how to be responsible citizens. He was a community leader, so he taught his neighbors how to make a positive impact. He was a father and a grandfather (and a great-grandfather, and a great-great-grandfather!), so he taught many of us kids how to work, how to play, how to be responsible, how to be respectful, how to be selfless, and how to be thankful. The amazing thing to me, is that he did so much of his teaching just through example. I realize of course, that none of you were lucky enough to meet him, but I think we all can learn a great deal about teaching from him in this respect.

We've talked about it in Principles as well as Practicum: one of our most important jobs as educators is to lead by example. One thing I picked up during my stint in AmeriCorps is that children pay A LOT more attention to what we do than what we say. I think it bears repeating that we all need to be very mindful of how we present ourselves and interact with all our visitors, because even when you might think no one is watching, a pair or two of little eyes probably are. I know I have been trying hard to keep this in mind, and I tried to be especially mindful with the Stanley Clark kids. This is purely hypothesis, but I imagine that the closer the students are in age to us, the more they may want to emulate us. No specific examples come to mind aside from just always being upbeat and excited about what we were doing; however, the theme is there.

This is a great area to be able to keep each other accountable, too. I would certainly hope that if I were unwittingly doing something that sets a bad example for the students, one of you would tell me about it. I vow to do the same for you.

The fun keeps coming.

I have now done farm craft five times. I have taught 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th graders. I have yet to have a bad experience and I do not expect to have one in the future. This is a great job, but I would not want to do it everyday. I am one of those people that cannot do the same thing again and again. Eventually I would go farm craft loony. I look forward to my days teaching Autumn Adventure and geology.

I definitely have a system down now. What I say and do at each station has been tuned nicely. Not to say it is perfect, because that would be a lie. We are always learning and with that improving. It is just in a good flow at the moment. I just love being with children again. It feels so good.

I have been thinking a lot about what I will do after this master's program. Part of me wants to try some new things, but a big part of me wants to return to the regular old elementary classroom. We will see.

My head is spinning like a spinning wheel

I loved helping Julie today with the spinning. It felt a little like a tour guide who is rushing people through an exhibit and trying to get everyone done and through as quickly as possible. I think we were both frustrated with the amount of time we had. She has some great stuff and was well prepared and could have taught so much more about the process. It is always interesting to team teach because you have to sort of divide tasks so that you are not both talking at the same time and decide who does what as you go along. We got into a groove after the first few groups and everyone successfully got a piece of yarn made before they left. I think the kids always like having a prop to go with the story they will tell their friends when they get back to school or to share with their families. I think the main thing we learn from doing these practicums is flexibility. Groups will be late or early, you don't know what behavior to expect from the kids and you pretty much have to go with the flow and hope for the best. I think we all did a pretty darn good job today.

Stanly Clark

I loved this group. I can only hope that the rest of my groups are eager to learn and have the drive also. Teaching this group was a challenge though. I found it hard to present things just because they were already so knowledgeable. Really for me the one thing that I got to work on because of this was my ability to learn names of the students a lot better. Because they knew a lot going in, I felt that I could take a little bit more time getting to know their names and that made a big difference. I noticed that because I knew their names they were more responsive. I had a girl named Nikita who was very shy and didn't like to talk but when I called on her a view time she responded better because I got to know her name and she wasn't just another on of the students.
Other then that I am excited that some of them might come back and do more wetland stuff with me.

150 5th Graders in 2+ hrs

I just stood in the animal barn for 2hrs or so while 150 5th graders flooded in and out so fast it made Hamlet's little pink head spin. It was fun no doubt and I am sure that it is important for kids who don't get spend time around animals. An amazing # of them told me that they had never touched a chicken or a farm animal before. Some of them refused to touch them because they were just not "animal people" and animals are gross. I also had one girl ask, " Are those real eggs or chicken eggs?" That one left me reeling for a second.

The things I heard showed me real and evident value in what is going on at ML. Still I feel like I am chomping at the bit sometimes to feel like I am doing real work. I don't know what it is about the teaching at ML that is failing to satiate me. Maybe it is that I don't get a chance to really engage with the kids because they are just zooming by me every 15 min. Somehow I still have this incredible urge to do more. I don't know what that would look or feel like, but I want it none the less.

Stanley Clark

These kids were phenomenal. I don't know if it is the small class sizes, the parent teacher involvement or just the kids, but something is certainly working for S.C. I must admit that it intimidated me a bit at first. "Oh my gosh! These kids are using vocabulary that I don't understand." Was my initial thought. Luckily it didn't take me long to realize that they are still 7th graders. That means that they come along with all of the insecurities of puberty and they still think that I know something they don't. Whether that is true or not is less important. As long as they think that I do I feel comfortable. They seemed to enjoy spending time with us all.

I loved just acting enthusiastic about looking for insects in the woods and mucking around in the wetlands. They seemed to find my reaction to the natural world as fascinating as the natural world itself. That really made an impact on me. These kids are really watching us! They notice if we are engaged, or if we are sneaking texts in the corner. Its worse than working for Santa Clause. We aren't going to get away with anything!

Stanley and the craft

Stanley Clark - It was great to work with a great group of students. This was like teaching my gifted class at my middle school. Same age group, same inquisitiveness. I loved it. I think we all a had a great day with them. The wildlife activity was fun, it was great to lead a nature hike at Merry Lea. The students were well involved, full of questions and answers for my questions of them. It was nice to have the art teacher walking with us, it provided nice conversation about the students, their learning and assignment during activity. The predator-prey game was fun. It was difficult with the rain, the marker marks kept disappearing. I hope we get to play, at least facilitate the game again. The night hike was so much fun, the students enjoyed it, few were apprehensive about the dark. The swamp gas demonstration was super. It flamed longer than I expected it to do. I wish I got to participate with Stanley Clark students on Friday too, but I was off to...

Farmcraft - At first, it was disconcerting to receive an email on the poor behavior of the group of students coming for the program. I did not notice any real bad situations. For the most part, it was a very positive experience for the students in attendance. It did not rain and that allowed most of the stations activities to be more used. I am especially glad we got to be outside for the animals, laundry and garden stations. The students love these and get direct experience with the content of the program. There was a good number of adult chaperons with each group. The moms I had with my group were well involved and that I appreciated. No mess ups in rotations. I got to drive the straw ride. I like doing that. I remember the rides as a child, so fondly. I am glad I get the opportunity to drive the tractor for many other little kid’s memories.

Teaching Parents?

On Friday, several of the behavior management techniques came into use. I tried the technique of just being quiet until the kids noticed, and started to pay attention again. Making eye contact with them, when they start looking around seemed to be helpful. The one thing that I was glad about, that despite the difficulty of always trying to work at getting their attention. I really enjoyed the day, I was energized by being with the children.

The one thing, that in retrospect made me ponder about the day and wonder what to do next time, was the way that one of the parents gave answers to their child. I am not sure how long the parent was doing this, I became aware of it about half way through the stations. I didn't address the issue, and I just moved on to the next thing. I am still not certain how I could of/should of addressed it. Laura, I am certain was referencing this incident in her e-mail to all of us. Her suggestion was to ask parents to not answer up front. This would certainly solve the problem, however, I do want parent involvement in behavior management. I don't want any of them to feel that they are not welcomed to participate, that their isn't anyway in which they can contribute to the learning process of the day. How then do we keep in mind, that while our focus is on the children, we are environmental educators. Perhaps I am an idealist, I believe that we can utilize tools to help to teach parents as well, I am just not sure that I have figured out what those tools exactly are yet.

Two days felt like a very busy week.

The past week's teaching was an interesting mix. After two days I don't have a feeling of cohesiveness in relationship to the whole. So, I'll discuss the pieces.
Seeing the farmstead in the morning fog, or quiet, after-craft mellow, is somewhat magical. This environment is really wonderful, and I expect many children remember their special farmcraft experiences for a long time. The muffins were magic for my first graders on Friday. Amy H walking through the garden with her bushel of apples, and the fun of the toys and laundry, brought all of us to how real the "make-believe" of farmcraft is (and was).
I brought Stanley Clark's 7th graders to the prairie for our botany piece. Most were really excited to get off the trail. Dave (Englsh teacher) was concerned though. When we went into the lower area, he pulled me aside and asked if there were ticks to be concerned about. I haven't had one on me since coming here, so that was my response. Many of these children completed their writing assignments surrounded by tall grass, by themselves. That was an awesome study carrol. Could be a memory maker.
I have not been on a night hike since being lost alone in the woods when I lived in Southern Indiana. I was REALLY grateful for Ken and Laurina's leadership and inner gps's . During the nighthike, walking mostly with Karen (art teacher) at the back of the group, I recognized this as a long-time parenting habit of mine. I often walk or bike behind the others, able to see what's going on. This is probably only occasionally workable for teaching. It was good, that evening to have someone lead.

First Graders / Seventh Graders

I was quite surprised at how astute the Stanley Clark students were. After an observational walk (to identify sounds and colors) I asked my group what color the sky was. One of the girls quickly responded with, "it's colorless, the blue is merely an illusion made by. . ." I completely didn't expect that reply. Another girl asked me if a particular insect in her hand was a male or a female, and said that she thought it was a female, "because it had an ovipositor."

I was also surprised at how objective they were compared with the first graders. Having just witnessed first graders awe and wonder at a snail, petting its shell with gentleness, a few students in this group seemed to be overly focused on collecting insects like they were stamps or baseball cards. I know that it was an assignment, but one particular girl had a large grasshopper in a tupperware container and would shake it vigorously whenever the grasshopper would try to escape (move). Another boy captured a firefly nymph (?) during the night hike and told me he was, "trying to choke it." Perhaps this was their way of communing with nature, but it was surprising how different it was compared with the children half their age.

These observations are consistent with Kellert's research that showed affection toward nature slowly being replaced with objectification as some children age and grow in knowledge.

All of this to say, I am learning a lot about children and nature simply by teaching them for a couple hours a few times a week. I never realized just how much changes between first, fourth, and seventh grade. Between reading about it in my research and seeing it first hand in the practicum, I'm astounded.

A good day

I was not sure what to expect with Farm craft’s first graders on Friday since we had gotten a heads up from a teacher that they have been a difficult group. I was actually looking forward to some challenges but did not encounter anything I was not able to deal with. I have some methods that I have stuck with from the first day that seem to be working for me. Determining from the get go what the class uses as the quiet signal helps me get my footing and also helps remind the kids that even though they are outside and doing fun stuff there are still some classroom rules that apply. Also, I know that kids like to know what they are going to be doing before they do it so I let them know early on. Often, I can address what they are already thinking so we don’t run into sharing issues, time issues, etc. They want to know that they will get a turn doing the fun stuff.

I try to stick to the positive by giving them alternative behavior as Carol has said, asking them to walk instead of saying “Don’t run”. I welcome feedback from the teachers because they have more experience than I do and also because even though it is early in the school year, they know these kids better than I do. The teacher that was with me was thrilled with the opportunity to give her kids hands on activities and said that she felt it was the answer to what they were seeing as behavior problems. She said space and time constraints prevented them from doing more hands on activities.

All I can say is “Reinforce, reinforce, reinforce.” When I say, “Wow, you are such good listeners!” I mean it. I am thrilled when things are going well. I know that feeling of not having the focus of the kids and feeling things might spiral out of control. Every good teacher I’ve known has told me that you have to get the attention from the get go. You can always ease up, but it is virtually impossible to reign in.

Let's do this again and again!

Well, I have two farmcrafts and one WBY under my belt so far. I really had a lot of fun today with the second graders at farmcraft. I felt more confident about pacing things even though we had to rush through due to time constraints. Having that five minute warning bell really helps. I was glad to have a couple in my group that were a little challenging because I don't think I have been tested too much so far. Everyone has been so good. Even though I like to think I employ good methods for preventing behavior issues, I don't always know how much is my teaching style and how much is just having good kids, or the influence of the teachers there. I found myself almost for a second being envious of a classroom teacher for getting to be around these kids on a daily basis and knowing them so well. We do not have the time to get to know them. Carol was great at helping us out with goat wrangling and cider pressing in our speedy stations.

I try to incorporate as much as I can into the program to get the kids thinking about life a century ago. My grandmother made lye soap and my Mom learned to cook on a wood burning stove. I like being able to share those things. I am not yet to the point Ken is in incorporating Math and all that other great stuff but maybe someday I will get there. I do like the structure of the stations so I am never winging it.

With the six year olds in WBY I felt a little more like I was winging it at times. We went through so many activities so quickly. Because they are six! I left feeling like I needed a lot more tricks up my sleeve to do on the fly when needed. There were some great moments. We found a bunch of ants under a rock and they started moving their eggs and the kids squatted in a circle around them purely mesmerized. I'm appreciating the things we've learned about inquiry Paul and Laura's classes because it really made me think about how I phrase things with kids. I realized that asking questions that have yes/no answers really leave you with nothing, but questions that invite inquiry can take you places.

Comment on Amy's Discipline

It is pretty amazing how the "good" teachers, and "good" parents, manage to keep control. My fear with this age (children instead of adults) is that my methods might not be age appropriate, and I won't recognize that till it's too late. Losing control for me has become losing or not getting interest. The effect I am used to, though, is someone texting non-stop, not someone climbing the machinery or cutting in line. And my method for control with adult learners is the reminder that they choose to be there or not. Hmmmm. Learnlearnlearn. That's what we are doing here.

Comment to Matt's First Week

I like the suggestion for WBY to come together at the end for drawing, journal or reflection time. I think it would really wrap the sessions well, and allow the group to relax together at the end of a great day. I tried to do this during my last 15 minute sessions (bug eyes and bug boxes), but I was doing it within the structure of those sessions. This sortof worked, but I was the only one that had these close activities for my end of day. Way better, I bet, for us to schedule a sit down and wrap up for the group.

And so it begins!

I have gotten to teach two programs so far, and I already feel like I have seen a myriad of successes, failures, and issues on my part.

Farmcraft with the students from Topeka was a blast! The students were well behaved, and perhaps more importantly, very interested in what I was teaching them. They were super eager to do the hands-on activities, but patiently waited their turn. I felt like I had really done a good job in asking them questions to get them to think about each station, and they had a lot of great questions for me in return.

One thing that was very interesting to me was how differently these third graders interacted with the animals compared to the first graders that I worked with while shadowing Mary. The first graders were totally entranced by just looking at the animals and getting to pet and feed a couple of them. The third graders on the other hand quickly became bored with them if they were not able to pet or feed them. Thank goodness Carol and/or Lisa had told us how much the goats enjoy cottonwood leaves and twigs, otherwise I might have been at a total loss for what to do for the ten minutes after we had talked about the animals and what they do for us. I guess that's just a good thing to keep in mind as we lead different age groups through the stations.

Things went much differently with the home schoolers in the What's Buggin You program. I ended up with 7 and 8 year olds, which translates to 1st and 2nd graders I think. Don't get me wrong, these were great kids; very bright and interested in nature. The big difference just seemed to be their ability to focus on insects specifically, and to follow my directions. As we walked along the trail, they were constantly pointing out cool trees and fungi and birds and animal tracks and everything but bugs! At this point I wasn't sure if I should try to reel them back into the focus on insects, or just roll with it and foster that sense of wonder with alternate subject matter. My indecisiveness at this point may have actually been what cost me authority throughout the rest of the day.

I guess the biggest question I have coming out of this day is, was the lack of focus in my group a product of my inexperience with behavioral management, or are home schooled children just not as used to focusing on one topic and following the directions of someone other than their parents? Ah, the evolution of Teacher Tom continues...

Post earlier

The big lesson for me on these posts is to respond in a more timely manner. It has been 6 days since I've been at Merry Lea. The teaching reflection might be better closer to the date...
I think Farmcraft is a REALLY cool program. If I were a teacher, I'd look at the description and say "that's the one for me!". And it is fun. I was there the day that Matt describes, where we lost time to a shortened program. We were really limited by schedule. We persevered, everything was completed, children, chaperones, teachers and MLers were successful and mostly happy. But I was reminded of my daughter Betsy's experience with kindergarten. She really didn't like just getting into play at some station, then having the bell ring and having to shift gears and move to the next thing. She wasn't much of a talker, but she told me this and made sure that I understood it. I had that feeling a bit with Farmcraft. The fact that we had to omit both laundry and toys that day, both of which allow some free play, really accentuated this experience.
I was a bit nervous about WBY. There seemed to be little structure to the program, and I don't think I know enough about bugs to be the "expert". Because of that, I asked for a younger group and was given the 7yearolds. It was great. We were really lucky to have the nets for our first sessions, so everyone (but one, maybe) was excited and involved from the beginning. I remembered advice about fun and adventure, and that was how we spent our morning. The limited structure to the schedule allowed us the freedom to stop and focus where the learning was, and to embrace the fun.

First Week

Farmcraft - Well, the first lesson I learned during practicum is read the schedule more closely. I arrived before 8:30, for a 9:30 program. Carli and I drove in together and got started setting up. This was our first time actually working farmcraft, after one observation. A little after nine o’clock I started to wonder where the others were. When they arrived about 9:30, we had most of the necessary stuff complete. There were a few things that needed to be completed. This stuff was purposely left for assistance. The second lesson I learned was to be flexible.The group of first graders from Ft. Wayne was nearly a half hour late. That led to dropping one station and shortening the time at the other stations. Students did not get to be as physically involved with the stations.I wish we had more time. Then we got off track with stations. Be flexible. Things ran smoothly even with the adjustments. The students were flexible, they were enjoying themselves. Also, I would like to hear some parent reactions or comments on the programs. Most of the ones I had with me participated well and encouraged the students interactions.

What’s Bugging You - For this program I had 9-11 year old homeschool students. This is a neat age group. The age group is older than my sons but younger than my middle school students. I saw a lot of similarities to each group. Kids are kids, they are all curious and inquisitive. The insect program let kids get into the activity, by searching for and collecting insects. My entire group participated and obviously enjoyed the interactions. I saw a pair of girls exchanging email addresses. It was neat that the homeschool group was from such a large area. I would have liked to be able to bring student collected insects back inside or at least to the tables or pavilion. There students could spend time drawing in their notebooks, using identification guides to determine what insects they have.

Home Schoolers

While I really enjoyed teaching the third graders in farmcraft, I enjoyed teaching WBY to the home schoolers even more. I think that its that WBY program offers the students more opportunity to do more and be active the whole way through the day with each station. I also think that WBY offers more chance for inquiry around what they are doing. However, all in all I really enjoyed the WBY program a lot more, but farmcraft is fun as well. I keep hoping that I keep getting good groups of students that challenge me as an educator and force me to look up things that I might not know about insects or farm life. I really now see how teaching is more of a two way street with both teaching and learning going on at the same time.

Teaching is Fun

It felt very good to be working with students again. I really enjoyed my first day. It was a group a third graders from Topeka. They were great. We were able to talk about really interesting things that made a lot of connections for the group. I explained the cycle of things from growing food for us and animals, using the animals for work and food, using all their parts, composting all waste or making soap. Then they brought up metamorphosis, because they are studying that in their class. They were able to make the connection of cycles to the life cycle of the butterfly. That was deep.

As it turns out they have also been studying simple machines. That is cool, because their teacher would ask them, "what type of machine is being used now?," and they were able to draw on that info. I incorporated multiplication and fractions, in the summer kitchen, with the baking pan and asking how many muffins we were "baking," and the measuring cups. It was just so much fun that they were able to grasp all these concepts within the framework of our farm craft day.

On the next day it was first graders. Method Shift! Obviously this day was a lot different, but still fun. I had one student who wanted to share every thought he had. I had to explain to him that in order to complete all the fun activities he cannot share every thought he has. It is important to remember that it is not rude to explain something like this to a child. If allow them to keep going they will and no one will have fun. It was not a problem after I explained the situation to him.

We are students too!

I was nervous about my first day teaching. It quickly dissipated, and I had a great day. The next day I quickly realized that every day of teaching is unique. Third grade is much different from First. Every age has its challenges, and utilizing different techniques for every age is important to engage their attention. I have some much to learn about all the tools that can be engaged. This weekend at the EEAI conference, I heard participants sharing tips for engaging attention. There are always things to learn! One technique that I am interested in trying sometime, may not work with farm craft, but is to ask kids to spend a couple minutes noticing the sounds, smells, colors around them. I really like the idea of having kids spend some time using their senses to observe nature. The person talking about this, stated that kids are more calm afterwards and are excited to engage. I look forward to learning and trying out various tools. I know that adjusting on my feet to the differences in groups is important, and the more experience I get, I am sure that this will be easier. I think this is what keeps teaching more interesting that working in a lab. There different results usually meant that something had gone wrong, and the boss wouldn't be happy. In teaching, it is a learning experience, and the important thing is to have the kids excited about being outside, learning new things, and enjoying the experience, not every group is the same, and that is perfectly okay. That means we get to try out different things, adjust as the day progresses, and keep learning ourselves.

Reflecting on Discipline

I think back to some of my earlier days of teaching kid’s art classes and how much I struggled if I ever had to deal with a discipline problem. Even though I was aware of methods of classroom management, when it came down to it I didn’t have the confidence to carry them through. I never wanted to end up in a power struggle and would merely make suggestions when a firm command was what was needed.

Many times the key to disciplining is putting your self in the kid’s head and appeal to whatever emotion they are having. Children need to be acknowledged and when you dismiss their feelings it can often just exacerbate the situation. I always like to thank them when they cooperate as well. I am a big believer in being proactive in pointing out good behavior and being specific about the behavior you are praising. I’ve gotten braver about disciplining but am not comfortable raising my voice. I’ve found that often a hand on a shoulder is enough to get a child’s attention.

I am in agreement with these behavior management techniques because they deal more with being proactive and also being positive in how you frame things. I often find myself listening to parents interactions with their children and can tell that they must have been reading some parenting magazine. I heard a mother asking her child over and over if he was making a safe choice as he climbed higher and higher up a concrete partition at the zoo. A more appropriate thing to say might have been, “you are not making a safe choice, get down”. Nobody likes telling kids what to do, but there are times you do need to be concise. When safety is an issue you can discuss your reasons with the child later.

I admire those who deal with kids in a regular classroom on a daily basis. It takes stamina that I don’t think I have. Although I love kids and being with them, I know that I am not one who would survive a daily dose of them. When I see a well run classroom I know it is no accident. I also know that when I see a stressed teacher, the students reflect that behavior, which is why I always strive to remain calm when I am with students.

I am curious to see how this teaching practicum goes. I feel supported knowing we have great volunteers and staff to guide us. I look forward to learning more about myself and getting more teaching skills along the way.

A Good Memory

In those few moments before the first set of children arrived, I had this weird feeling of anxiety and nausea. Dave mentioned that "it was normal to feel butterflies, you just have to get the butterflies to fly in formation." Well, as I had the kids run with me across the yard as their favorite (or Merry Lea Name) animal the butterflies quickly got into formation.

These last couple teaching experiences have been great. I've never had the opportunity to take children through a program like this before, and I love it. At this point I can see myself doing this as job somewhere during summers. The first group was third grade and mostly Amish, while the second group were urban first graders: quite the drastic change from one day to the next! Both groups, however, had a few children who asked me a question aside from the other students: two Muslim girls told me that they didn't eat pig, and I was able to say, "me neither!" and we were able to just have a nice moment where it was ok to be different; one little boy came to tell me that he had seen a daddy long legs by the pig pen, and I was able to follow him over and tell him about harvestmen; a little girl asked me if cottonwood leaves came from the trees nearby, and if the leaves we saw scattered about were the same ones we fed the goats, and I was able to kneel and point out the dancing leaves in the distance. Nice, simple, moments.

These moments are really what I'm hoping for - rather, I hope to make some good memory. In fact, that has been my teacher's prayer: to make some good memory.

Dostoevsky says it much better than I could in the novel Brothers Karamazov:

You must know that there is nothing higher, or stronger, or sounder, or more useful afterwards in life, than some good memory . . . You hear a lot said about your education, yet some such beautiful, sacred memory, preserved from childhood, is perhaps the best education. If a man stores up many such memories to take into life, then he is saved for his whole life. (Dostoevsky, 1880)

Whether or not they remember the same moments I do, I hope and pray that the children I encounter leave with a good memory, a good sacred beautiful memory, of a leaf or bug or the cider or anything else, but a good memory.

Almost teaching

As I and several others said after Farmcraft Thursday, I am looking forward to this. I'm looking forward to getting to know 1st graders again. I'm looking forward to taking on a role I've never had. I'm looking forward to new connections with the students, the parents and the team. This will be fun.
After looking through the schedule, I see that Amy and I are scheduled for a cider making section with alzheimer's and dementia patients. This is extremely appealling to me. I know that my mother, with her level of dementia, would have LOVED an outing to the farm to make cider. She was 90 when she died, with lots of people taking her to interesting places and activities, and I bet this would have been a highlight. Amy and I have discussed this a few times these last two days. Amy has several years of experience with similar audience. We're remembering songs that might fit, and looking forward to making a difference.