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.

Every Week is a New Adventure

Coming down the final stretch of my student teaching experience, I couldn't believe what has happened and all that I have been through. Everything I have experienced so far has been amazing, and has shaped me in many ways to obtain my own identity as a future educator in any setting. This week was no different and I was able to plan and implement my own educational program, do some outreach for Shaver's Creek, and get into action teaching school children for our Guided Nature Center Visits. The weeks keep going faster and faster, but I feel like I am hitting my stride as an educator in many ways.

Monday, I was able to start my week off with another great faculty meeting, growing professionally as an educator. This week was especially fun for me because I actually had something good to say. On Sunday evening, I found out that   I passed both my Agriculture and General Sciences Praxis Exams! I was ecstatic about this accomplishment, especially because I took both on the same day and was completely drained after the whole ordeal. I was so proud I could share this with everyone at the faculty meeting, and it truly felt like a  burden was lifted off my shoulders. After the meeting, I had another mission. On Tuesday, I would be running my own program to a school of students from John Browne High School. I was given the opportunity to create my own program for them, and I had to create all of the logistics and oversee two other staff members at Shaver's Creek to accomplish this. It was a bit hectic trying to get everything ready, but I had a good team and we got items figured out and ready for the next day.

Tuesday, boy was it a crazy day. All morning I had to help the other Shaver's Creek staff with their Guided Nature Center Visits as a logistics coordinator and observer. Once that part of my day was over, I jumped right into my other role, as program coordinator, to prepare my staff and our stations for the high school students coming from Flushing, New York. We met the students and provided a great program for about 60, 10th and 11th grade students rotating around wildlife conservation, reptiles and amphibians, and Birds of Prey. We worked this program around their needs, because it was the first time ever visiting Shaver's Creek. After the program, their teacher, an Ag teacher actually, told me how much  she enjoyed the program and would want to come back in the coming years. I was so nervous throughout the whole day, but once I started the program it went very smoothly and in a blink of an eye it was over. The day was an awesome mixture of teaching and coordinating, and I grew so much from combining both roles. I had a long day, but I had so many other things to look forward too the rest of the week.

After Tuesday, I was really excited to do another program, but this one would be completely different than I was used to. I was working today on my first Traveling Bird Show. I was going with two other interns to the Ag Day in the HUB at Penn State, and I was going to be educating about Shaver's Creek and the opportunities it encompasses with agriculture education and the natural world. I experienced first hand the cooperation, planning, and skills necessary to make a good program to a large public crowd. I had a blast during the day and taught many people, of all ages, about the animals and opportunities at Shaver's Creek. I was even featured on one of the Penn State News websites holding a Black Rat Snake as one of the interesting photos of the day. I had so much fun, and it was a good way to understand audiences, vary teaching techniques, and reach multiple knowledge levels. I used numerous animals as education tools and was very passionate about the information I conveyed to the public.

The last part of the week was going to be spent working back at Shaver's Creek on educating through nature center visits. On Thursday, I did my final observation for the field walks because there are a few different types, so I finally had all of the knowledge necessary to provide a quality program for our audiences. On Friday, I was teaching kindergarten and first grade students about many different wildlife species. I had to know about eight different wildlife stations for the day, but once I started it was like riding a bike again. I had a blast with the small children in my group, and used many techniques throughout the day to manage and teach the group about everything. I definitely see growth in my tone and voice used when teaching, and also the connections, objectives, and themes that I try to create for my students as take home messages. All things considered, it was another hectic week, but very fun and interesting.

Through all of my teaching experiences so far, I am still unsure about where and what I want to do when I graduate. I see the merit in both formal and non-formall educational settings, but I can't limit myself to one choice right now. I have had many numerous "aha!" moments throughout student teaching at both sites so far, so I feel both are in play for me as a future educator. Most importantly, though, I feel like I'm building my professional portfolio to greater heights to be the best educator I can be.

It was a pleasure to write for you.