Well here it is. One final blog post. One last chance to put into words the immensity of my learning journey througout the past three weeks. And, I should add, my learning journey since I started the Teacher Librarian Diploma program. I am now seven courses in. Seven out of ten. 70% finished my learning journey towards teacher-librarianship. Although, since I have already conquered the challenge of being a librarian, I would like to make it clear that this learning journey, and this diploma, is about far more than just learning to be a librarian. It is about continuing to learn and grow as an educator and as a person. It is about making new connections and learning from classmates. It is about sharing ideas with others, listening to their ideas, and together, making all of our ideas better. I am imagining our class as a group of volleyball players. Instead of a ball, we have ideas. Instead of a net dividing us into teams, we have an open space connecting us all. Here, everyone can volley ideas back and forth. And with each volley, with each addition of a new thought, suggestion, criticism, wonder, etc, the ideas become bigger, better, and stronger.
Or…maybe I should just get my felts out and draw a picture:
I know what you’re thinking…why aren’t I an art teacher? Crazy I know. But it is this sense of human connections and collaborations that weeds out the good ideas from the bad and helps us to flourish as educators (and parents, friends, environmentalists, etc).
And speaking of environmentalists…
As you know by now, I have a passion for the environment. Sometimes this passion can get me into trouble (picture it now: roommate’s boyfriend throwing a plastic water bottle in the garbage. True story! I will let you imagine for yourselves my colourful reaction…). But sometimes, and hopefully most of the time, I hope it can inspire others to want to join in and advocate for positive change.
And thus, we arrive at my future vision project. Collaboration, technology, and the environment. The ultimate trio. I can hear the whales now, echolocation-ing each other that the future is looking brighter already, thanks to us. Alright, I jest and exaggerate. But I really do want to create positive environmental changes with the help of my students. Getting out in the environment is of course, great for the environment, but it is also great for our souls. There is a ton of research to support this (Thank you Richard Louv!, Aldo Leopold you rock!, Annie Leonard: life changing ideas), but more importantly, I feel so deeply that this is true. As Anne-Marie touched on today so eloquently, it is the human connections that really matter. Her presentation, more than any other, made me smile and feel inspired. Jenny, your wise words about using technology not as a tool but as a way to enhance learning, are perhaps the source of my biggest learning of the course. As I mentioned way back in my week two summative (ages and miles ago it seems), it was a source of “mega lightbulbage” for me. I was viewing technology as a tool, definitely, and as something I had to master and teach my kids. Now I see it as a great way to enhance learning, create global connections, and foster learning and inquiry explorations in a variety of ways. The possibilities for the future of education are so wide open. If we don’t jump on this, who will?
There are two environmental schools that have opened up in the past couple of years (Environmental School Project, Sea to Sky Outdoor School). My cousin and I have been hot on their tails – sending emails upon emails, signing up for their online educator groups, and doing anything we can to get connected. BUT…neither of us have heard anything back or received any updates in terms of meetings, professional development, etc. SO, herein lies the problem, I believe. Traditionally, environmentalists, people passionate about the outdoors, are doing just that – spending time outdoors. Sitting at a computer is not a priority. I don’t mean to stereotype, I know that is not the case with everyone. But here is an opportunity for me: a super duper earth lover and avid (well becoming more avid by the minute) social media user, technology user, blogger, tweeter, hashtagger (yes!) to join those two worlds together. And to find others who have the same passion as me to get right on board with me.
As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, I am worried that my precious baby (aka Eco Educators Vancouver) will become a part of the blog graveyard that we all know exists. So, I will attempt to update twice a month (no need for information overload), and to check out what other people are doing/blogging about once a week. Ish…
Jenny, I apologize for being such a wordy gerdy… I love to write (hopefully this will help my blogging pursuit!). Thanks for leading us in an inspiring three weeks. I can’t wait to see what amazing things you do in the future.
And last:
Everyone should be high fiving themselves right about now – for coming out during the summer in the name of bettering the education of our students. Yes!
Thank you Kate for bringing awareness to the Environmental cause through ICT. I learned so much on my education journey from being the city environmentalist in London, to Vancouver and sudden immersion to teach in a two room school on Lasqueti for 13 years. Lasqueti- the total off grid survival experience within a spectrum of beliefs and values. I learned so much.
Now two back in more mainstream on the big island teaching children that do not have the same knowledge or experience about the environment. I work hard to incorporate into my practice.
It has been an amazing, intense and exciting learning process. I am at the beginning of my diploma with two courses done in these three weeks. I am excited to the future too and ways to combine the three- Education, Environment and ICT.
I wish you success with your blog and your commitments with your journey!
Thank you for your kind words Petra. That’s so cool you taught on Lasqueti! My aunt has a cabin there so I’ve been going for years. I have always daydreamed about teaching there.
Thank you for all your wonderful words! I also feel that the courses offered in the Librarian diploma program are far far more than learning how to become a librarian. If I get a position in a library than that would be fabulous. If not, I feel that I am learning so much and have learned so much more that I can take to the classroom and the school. I have now done three courses towards the diploma but feel so fortunate to be able to continue my own education.
I was interested to find out more about the environmental schools that you mentioned at the beginning of our inquiry project. I will certainly be checking in with them to find out if they give updates in the new school year. If not I guess that is one more website that ends up in your appropriately named blog/website graveyard. I am interested to find out how the outdoor Kindergarten will progress in the Sooke School District. I wonder if they will offer it to older grades, and what kind of technology they take outside with them ?
I have really enjoyed collaborating with you about the inquiry project. It was interesting to see which direction are individual inquiry took us. We have similar interests and started with the same topic but asked different questions, which of course ended with different results. When we put are heads together (along with Jenny’s helpful comments) we came up with some wonderful ideas. I will definitely continue to check for updates on your blog! Best of luck in the new school year!
One of the problems in education is that there might be a push to put a school online, or start a blog, or somehow create an online presence, but there is no follow through because there isn’t an established culture of engaging with educators and educating online. It is quite possible that those schools you mentioned don’t have anyone who is really interested in managing their online social presence. It might be worth it to ask who is handling their web-presence activities. I am excited to see how far you have come and I am interested to learn how things unfold in the future. Keep following ecologists, environmentalists, and educators on Twitter. You are bound to find some who combine all three! And there you shall find your peeps. All the best.