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How do we know if the values we want to impart as environmental educators are reaching our students? How do we want to live and manifest our values in our daily lives? What are we actually doing everyday that is in line with our values, and why or how do we justify if they don’t line up? Heck, what are our values and how do we clearly articulate them? These are a few of the questions I thought about as guest speaker, Teton County Commissioner, Benn Ellis, joined the graduate class in an evening discussion about “Action” last night. Benn shared some of his amazing ideas and experiences, but predominately facilitated this fascinating discussion with our faculty and staff. It’s a pretty daunting subject area. Needless to say, we didn’t come to any final conclusions on values or how we measure the impact that our work has on our students. But, it was valuable to have that time to hear the varied responses of our classmates and to peronally reflect on our own ideas.
Throughout this program, I have been so enamored by all the skills and knowledge that I am learning that I have not taken as much time as I’d like to examine the bigger picture of why am I here and how doing Environmental Education/Natural History Interpretation fits into my value system. It’s easy for me to get caught up in the homework assignments, teaching practicums, weekend activities, and lose sight of the importance of examining my motivations, beliefs, values, etc. Sure, I love the environment, I find value in humans taking care of each other and our planet, but why? That’s the question that I’ve thought about for years when deciding to pursue this field of study. I have come up with many answers and the answers continue to change as my experiences change. I know that taking the time to articulate those ideas is important to my personal development and my development as an educator. It was nice to have that reflection and discussion time scheduled into our Planning and Seminar Week. From the infamous words of my instructor Kevin, ”I invite you” to take a few minutes for yourself and think about some of the questions that I took away from last night’s discussion and how they apply to you.
I don’t fancy myself a particularly coordinated person. In fact, walking on the snowy paths around campus I frequently find myself tripping and have even body planted in the snow a time or two. Needless to say, I was a little apprehensive about trying climbing at the new rock gym. But, how could I pass up the opportunity to learn from some of my knowledgeable classmates?
So, last Friday Kate and I headed to the climbing gym where she wowed me with her amazing patience and instructional skills. That girl is TALENTED and I’m not even talking about her actual climbing skills (which are also incredible!). She taught me how to put on a harness, how to belay, climbing lingo, and various climbing techniques. Three hours later, we were joined by Jess W. Jay, John, and Dave. This group is so supportive and fun to learn how to climb with. Kate and Dave are beautiful to watch climb and they are such great teachers. Jay is always cheering everyone on and Jess W. talks me through my mind blocks on the wall.
I am so excited to have my classmates as climbing buddies. This group of graduate students has such a diverse body of knowledge and I’m glad that I’m getting the opportunity to experience their unique skills outside of the classroom!
Half of the graduate class started our academic rotation in “Instructional Strategies” with John Haskin and Kevin Haspela last week. The previous two weeks I was teaching for my Outreach practicum in
Pinedale, WY and Lander, WY. During those two weeks my team (composed of Anne, Megan, Heather T., Heather J, myself, our fearless leader Robin, who busted her knee, and Rob, who unexpectedly took Robin’s place) went into various public schools and gave classroom teachers ideas on incorporating Place Based Education into their curriculum. It was amazing to work with such a diverse teaching team and learn from all those classroom teachers that are out there working with our youth everyday. It is such an honorable job to influence and shape the way our future beings are going to think about and view the world. I’m not sure I could be a full time classroom teacher, but I have the utmost respect for the work they do and learned so much from all of my cooperating teachers!
Another great aspect of Outreach was having the opportunity to travel and experience other parts of
Wyoming. It is easy to overlook the rest of
Wyoming outside of the surrounding
Jackson, WY area where we build quite a tight knit community during this year. We taught on an Indian Reservation, in ranching communities, in communities affected by oil and gas development, and communities with a strong emphasis on outdoor recreation opportunities. What a rich assortment of classroom teachers, students, and school districts for our team to interact with!
However, after two weeks of teaching it is nice to transition to academic classes. We truly have the luxury of learning from some really knowledgeable and talented faculty. These past two weeks we got to see John Haskin in his element. He has such a gift for working with students. The passion he possesses for education is evident in the way he interacts with us, encourages us, teaches us, and challenges us to think.
In class this week, we have been interviewing 5th graders and High School students who attended residential education programs at our campus. We split into groups and asked the students about their memories from their 5th grade fall trip. Tomorrow we present our findings to the class. I can’t wait to hear the various results; what the students remembered, how my classmates interpreted their data, how we can use the insights gained from our research to make our teaching even better. I have a feeling it’s going to be a day full of thought provoking conversations. I can’t wait! I’ll let you know how it goes.
