Absence of anything

http://savedbythe-bellhooks.tumblr.com/

Not really sure what this has to do with education, environmental, technological or otherwise, but it's something I've been thinking a lot about.  I've used saved by the bell hooks before, I love how provoking some of the images and quotations can be.  

I guess what I'm really wondering is why it takes the presence of extreme anything to finally do something, or become aware. 

In the environment it's climate change, how big does it have to be before people act.  With technology it's falling behind as teachers, how much do we have to not understand before we realize that communication has changed and we're a million years behind (like really who even blogs anymore). With people, I guess it's everything.  Why do we need extremism, to realize the areas we're being exploited?

Anyway, just wondering how can we be aware of situations without being or causing extremism.  

Place based learning in an unknown place

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I have been thinking about this a lot and it played a role in my thesis work a couple of years ago.  I wonder how as international we can teach about a place without fully knowing it.  This year we've been working hard with our outdoor discovery centre trying to connect teachers to where we live.  By looking at local plants, and seeing the wildlife that lives around our area we are hoping that people are more connected. 

Sadly though this last week we had a plant catastrophe for some of the kindergarten students.  The teachers had some plants they had been growing with the students inside, and they transplanted a week or so after they sprouted.  We had the weekend off and when we came back the plants were gone.  The teachers were worried that something had eaten them, but I don't think that was the case.  Not really sure what happened but we need to make sure that everyone in the community has the same goals.  But we need to look closely in order to figure things out.

Physical vs. Virtual

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At a conference last weekend I had some fun with google cardboard, we could go places we couldn't go on our own, I saw the surface of Mars and went to different museums.  As a virtual opportunity (aside from some initial discomfort) it was pretty great.  Interestingly enough though the presentation I was leading was on environmental education.

My goal was to get people outside with their students. Often as teachers we don't give students enough time to think about who they are and where they are.  This can deeply affect their understanding of themselves and others. I want students to be more present in the "real" world.  But I was at a tech conference, so I had to think deeply about the effects of virtual manipulatives.

In maths, or language, how can we harness the power of the virtual world to connect students. When using math manipulatives is there a difference between virtual and physical for learning? All these questions were popping up.

With a colleague we decided to start up a podcast, and this is going to be our first dive into it.  What is the difference and does it matter to understanding? I'm not sure we have answers, but it will be interesting to talk about.

Habit Forming?

It's been really easy for me to form bad habits. Unconsciously I just do whatever and soon it's too easy to stay in that rhythm, as long as it isn't too good for me.  The things I want to do, running, blogging, etc. have been harder habits for me to form.

I wish I was better at remembering but I was reading/listening to something recently where the presenter was talking about how teachers use the idea that students are easily distracted because of access to technology as an easy way to explain why the students weren't successful in class.  The presenter said it was our duty to work harder to inspire our students to work harder to stay focused, and that there is a sense of accomplishment in staying focused. So, I know that it is crucial for me to stay focused in order to do this, but I find it so difficult.

I'm at an EARCOS conference in Bangkok right now, and many of the speakers and presenters are saying the same thing in different forms, and I feel like I say the same things to my students (and was told the same things by my teachers) but still forming those good habits are so elusive.

I want to make sure that students are blogging about the environment and their place in it this year.  I feel like this will be essential for their learning.  By sharing their thoughts, writing about a place that is close to them, and communicating with others about their places, I think they will also develop a greater sense of community in the international world.

So any good habit forming tips? How do I keep myself accountable? I'm working with some people to make sure I keep to my goals, I guess community is important, but any other ideas are very welcome.

What Shapes Us?

What we believe transcends our thoughts and integrates into the way we teach.  Our values are passed to us from our community members, parents, teachers, and society (Moser, 2007). Through these values, our actions spring forth.  We are products of our community, and our community is shaped by the idea of our home space.  The people and values that surround us growing up, shape who we are going to be (Moser, 2007).  How do our previous experiences effect how we shape future students in different places?

Teachers have a variety of reasons for teaching (or not teaching) environmental education (Hart, 2003).  In some schools it is not necessary or required to teach environmental education.  While this is not true for my school, there is no established environmental curriculum.  This means teachers’ perceptions of environmental education dictate what and how they teach (Bengtson, 2010; Hart 2003).  How we perceive what we teach can lead to how we engage students.  Through critical self-reflection we can better understand what we believe, which allows us to think about how we engage our students.  Bengtson (2010) says it is critical that we are aware of both our perceptions and our setting when we engage in environmental education.  Are we better environmental educators if we believe environmental education is worthwhile?

As teachers move around, they may not have acquired the knowledge necessary to teach relevant environmental facts.  This dissonance between knowledge and applied values may hinder how expatriate teachers engage students in EE.  Sammel (2005) asserts that knowing who we are as environmental educators is a first step in understanding our educational program. Through interviews with my co-teachers, I can learn more about what they know about our new to us tropical environment and how that relates to what they choose to teach in class.  The perceptions of our shared place effect how we teach about the environment; therefore, we may need to learn more about our new homes before creating an effective program.

Experiences also help to shape our value system.  As expatriates, we have all come from different places, and believe different things. While many of us who travel experience similar occurrences, our previous experiences shape how we perceive our life in our new home.  I wonder how significant life experiences shape who we are as educators (Chawla, 1999; Anderson-Patton, 1980)?  

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Anderson-Patton, V. (1998). Creative Catalysts: A study of Creative Teachers from their own Perspectives and Experiences. (Dissertation) Retrieved from Proquest Dissertations and Theses UMI number 9838453

Bengtson, K.H.M. (2010). Elementary Teachers’ Perceptions of Environmental Education. (Dissertation) ProQuest Dissertations and Theses UMI number 3434324

Chawla, L . (1999) Life Paths Into Effective Environmental Action, in Journal of Environmental Education, Fall 99, Vol. 31, Issue 1

Hart, P. (2003) Teachers Thinking in Environmental Education: Consciousness and Responsibility

Moser, S. C. (2007). More bad news: The risk of neglecting emotional responses to climate change information. In S. C. Moser & L. Dilling (Eds.), Creating a Climate for Change: Communicating Climate Change and Facilitating Social Change (pp. 64-80). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press

Sammel, A. J. (2005). Teachers’ understandings and enactments of social and environmental justice issues in the classroom: What’s “critical” in the manufacturing of road-smart squirrels? (Dissertation) ProQuest Dissertations and Theses