Nourah Caskey
Get a picture with my groups to put here
This project has been so exciting and frustrating at the same time. I have really really enjoyed working with my team- they are all truly wonderful caring women. In addition, meeting and working with Sara has been an honor. She is an amazing teacher and person. Also watching Jefferson relate to the kids so well has taught me about the work that can be done strictly outside. In this experience I have been able to actually see some of the information and teaching techniques I have read about put into practice.
The time constraints are difficult since we only meet once a week there was not a whole lot we could do during the class period. The fact is also that the students have to take state mandated tests and they must be taught information that relates to this test- although we did work in the parts of the plant and the various parts of the ecosystem and predator-prey into much of the work.
The kids were fantastic to work with for the most part. They were mostly interested in their plants and finding out what they could about "their" plant. Although at times it was a little hard to get them to concentrate on the work when there was so much other stuff- like watering the plants to be done.
I brought Rory (18 months) with me on most of the days and I think that she really enjoyed it- once I figured out that the backpack was the way to go. She liked being with all the big kids and the other adults. And one of the things I find so wonderful about children is how they interact with babies/toddlers- they are so kind.
As far as what I have learned as it actually relates to this course in particular regard to confidence and independence and knowledge and understanding there are several levels here. And the skills I have learned range from website design to using a plant press.
I have been party to a new understanding of these young people in how ecological systems interact. When they see the bugs on the plants and learn which insects are beneficial and why- when I had one tell me why the ladybugs were there and show me the eggs and told me to make sure not to knock the eggs off because of the aphids I had to smile. When we did the living lab the students were very interested in how the soil absorbed the water and why it was more so in one place than another.
In collaboration and communication this has been a multifold process. We have communication and collaboration between us team members which has been pretty good. Team members are able to work independently, yet also in conjunction with each other. Also there has been a lot of communication with Dr. Richardson and Sara to try to get this project under way and continuing. But the most interesting communication and particularly the collaboration has been with the children. Trying to communicate to them what the scope of the project was: discussing what the various questions might mean, or having group discussions regarding predator-prey relationships or plant structure, was at times a challenge. But the collaboration between students was excellent. There were two students who fought like cats and dogs for the first 2 weeks but I put them together to work on a single plant and they worked together very well and found a lot of information on "their" plant and had fun.
I think as far as the monitoring and managing responses there was a lot of social management as well as monitoring with the kids. Also in my response to the way things were heading. We got off to a bit of a slow start and then once we decided what exactly the plan was it took off, albeit with several jumps and bumps. It was in these bumps that I was having to respond and make changes accordingly. And in doing this not only developed new skills but also increased my confidence in my ability to work with a group of kids.
The biggest question I have now is "what the hell is going on with the education system?" I have seen the same kids in the classroom and out in the garden and as they are learning about systems in the class it is all rote- but when they discuss it in the field it is a discussion- an animated discussion.
My opinion of my management of natural resources has changed somewhat during this project. One I think that by far we a Americans use too much non-renewable energy- something I felt every time I drove out to the school. Not only was I using fuel but I was looking at all the other people coming from who knows where all of us stuck in traffic. This made me really focus more on my amount of driving. I am planning on doing research in informal education and had thought maybe I could do something with Sara but now I am not so sure and am leaning perhaps towards something closer.
My best advice to a person who is just starting this class is to "loosen up and learn" this class is not about "how much you know" but rather "how much you learn". And there is a great deal of difference between these two ideas. This is not the typical course with a professor who only assigns 2 A's 5 B's 25 C's etc. This LRO is very difficult to get a grasp of after years of testing your knowledge. But the rewards are immense when you learn the technique- I find my self observing myself learning a lot. Remember if you have questions or doubts- GO TALK TO DR. RICHARDSON. Sometimes the comments he writes on your LRO are confusing so ask him what he means. Better to make sure than be confused.