Non-Formal Education at its Finest

This week I was ready to jump into all of the school programs and help further my actual teaching skills. We had programs all throughout the week, and it was going to be another hectic schedule for me. I have learned so much since I started at Shaver's Creek, and I feel each week I get asked to handle more items and show more responsibility. I do numerous items throughout a week, and some aren't always directly related to teaching, but they do have an impact on my experience and ideas about non-formal education.

I started off Monday with another staff meeting. The facilitator for the week usually asks a fun or interesting question to the group to help create an fun atmosphere. This helps to break up the meeting so it is not just regular, boring work/logistical talk. Going around the room, you get to hear each person answer, and in a sense get to know them. This weeks question was "If you could do any other profession in the world, what would it be?"

I sat there, pondering. I had no clue. 

There are millions of different jobs out there, but what struck me, about this question, was actually another question.

Why did I choose my career path? What was the reason? 

Was it money, friends, family, values, or any of the millions of other reasons? I feel like that would have been a little too deep for a group discussion, especially on a Monday morning, but if you stop and think how and why you are in your position today, you might just be surprised at what you find. So I thought about being an educator, and why I was doing this. I thought about the students, the subjects, the ideas of creating a well rounded program in all aspects of student learning. I guess teaching and being busy during my student teaching internship made me forget sometimes why we choose a career and pursue it for life. I was the last one to share my thoughts, so I thought about this a lot. Probably for a good 30 minutes, but if you find something you love to do, then you won't even have to think about another profession for the rest of your life. This question was good for my morning contemplation, and let me recapture my values about being an educator and why I wanted to do it.

And, since I know you all are dying to know, the other profession that I chose to answer the question was to be an Extreme Sports Enthusiast, doing rock climbing, big wave surfing, cliff diving, and other really cool stuff.

Tuesday was back to the real world and it was program time. I had 12, 2nd grade students who wanted to learn all about the environment. I was prepared for the walk, but not prepared for the students. It just happen to be my day to get a horrible group. These little students were ridiculous and would not listen to anything that was being said. They weren't listening to me, and even at times not listening to their own teacher. I did my best to change the day, with different techniques, but none seemed to work. It was an uphill fight the whole day, and by the end I wanted to pull my hair out in frustration. I guess we all have tough days like this, I was just happy it was over.

This baby turtle was found by the students
and their teacher at the Shaver's Creek frog pond. 

The next day, I was skeptical, to say the least. I was prepared for another crazy group. But, to my delight, I only taught 8 students throughout the whole day, and they were awesome! This group was very well behaved and they were engaged all day, enjoying everything I was teaching them. We were at the frog pond in the morning, and one of my students found a baby turtle! This was a great teachable moment and I could see the excitement everyone had. It was surreal in some senses, going from completely horrible to amazing students, but they were in a different mindset. I realized that students have their own agenda even before the teachers begin, so sometimes
just going along with that makes the most out of the day. I was relieved that today was better than yesterday, and hoped to keep the momentum going into Thursday.

Thursday, I was doing another guided nature center visit and taking my students out on a walk on the trails. I taught kindergarten students today, and was really glad to have such a diversity in the age range I teach. Going from the high school students to kindergarten and first grade is tough, but I feel like I have so much more to offer the students I teach. The teaching I do also creates good comparison to see what will work and what will not. Obviously, some items will work with high school students, but have no effect on the younger ones. I am learning how to judge and read student's knowledge through questioning techniques. 

This week was another good week, and I felt like I facilitated effective lessons that left the students with a lot of information. I didn't think these weeks would go so fast, but they are coming down to the wire and I will be done soon. I enjoy teaching to these students, and getting them engaged in the outdoors. I wish all students had the opportunity to get outdoors and have programs done for them. Hopefully, one day I can incorporate all of these non-formal items and a high school classroom into one to have an amazing education platform.

It was a pleasure to write for you.