Teacher Perspectives|Settle Down

“Breathing exercises get them back on track,” she says. She decided to try teaching her students controlled breathing techniques and now uses a breathing exercise for a few minutes after recess each day.

Teacher Perspectives|Take a Break

“I have 25 kiddos. I just feel like, as a teacher, I have to help all of them – including that one child whose struggles with focus or emotional regulation result in classroom behaviors. When they are stressed, their behaviors can escalate quickly.”

Summer Days

School has started now, and I’m reflecting on our summer together–trying to decipher what made it so special. Although our calendar looked wide open, never once did I hear the words, “I’m bored.”

Glitter Jar

Glitter is not my favorite.  I try to keep it out of our home, but it’s getting more difficult. Not only do my kids bring it home on art projects, but I didn’t realize how glittery it would be to have a daughter! Glitter on shoes, shirts, pants, backpacks, notebooks, and toys. Glitter that finds its way into every corner of every room of our house. I can count on glitter in the dustpan when I sweep the floors.

As much as I complain about glitter, I do appreciate Glitter Jars. They are simple to make – add  water and food coloring to an upcycled water bottle. Add glitter and shake. Glitter swirls around in every direction, like a sparkly, colorful snow globe, it’s mesmerizing.

Sometimes my mind feels like that snow globe–thoughts dart in every direction. To-do lists, work requests, full mail boxes, and I do mean plural with voicemails, emails and paper mail. Family commitments on top of it all make me forget why I walked into a room, and wonder what I meant with a calendar entry.

From well-intentioned extra-curricular activities to technology distractions, I know kids feel it too. When I’m teaching, I wonder why I need to repeat directions times or explain concepts yet again. But then I remember that their young minds are distracted just like mine. And they’ve learned fewer tools to cope.

Life doesn’t have to be so jumbled up.  Though swirling glitter is fun to watch, it eventually settles. Just so, as I sit mesmerized by the Glitter Jar, my mind focuses and my thoughts slow.

The education team at Next Step is developing a variety of Mindfulness & Movement resources for educators. In the next month we’ll roll out–

  1. A collection of cards outlining 5-minute activities to help kids in classrooms and at home focus their thoughts and balance their emotions.
  2. We’ll offer workshops and coaching to help you integrate these and other strategies into your classroom or family life.
  3. And we have a trained team that’s ready to bring Mindfulness and Movement to the kids you work with, in or out of school. Urbandale’s Adventuretime program is the first to schedule this program.

Like the Glitter Jar that settles with just a few minutes of stillness, some mindful moments can turn an overwhelming classroom or household into a refuge of calm. Sometimes a small change is all we need to make for a big impact.

Devastation in Puerto Rico

Shelly Johnson, Martha McCormick and I planned to travel to Puerto Rico this Tuesday. Next Step was chosen to present at the North American Association of Environmental Educators’ (NAAEE) Annual Conference in San Juan this week. Our presentations were planned, and we were looking forward to learning about a place we had never visited.

Instead, we have anxiously followed the news as two storms approached and hit the island, and through the weeks since. Here are some of the things we learned–

  • Eighty-four percent of the population in Puerto Rico is still without power nearly one month after Hurricane Maria.
  • According to the Washington Post, only 63 percent of the islanders have access to clean water.
  • Just 60 percent of wastewater treatment plants are working. Food supplies and medical systems are inadequate.

People are dying. Three weeks of recovery, yet so many US citizens continue to live in devastation.  This is unacceptable.

If 3 million people were suffering in a different part of the country, perhaps even Iowa, I can’t help but think the response would be different. Constant media coverage would put a spotlight on the slow recovery. A stream of politicians would visit. Certainly, the president of the United States would not be threatening to abandon relief efforts.

Obviously, our conference was cancelled. The organizers have scrambled to make some of the conference topics available online. We’ve been invited to submit the materials we would have presented to a virtual conference site.

Here are some of our plans. Focusing on these projects has been difficult because my mind dwells on the families living in such desperate circumstances in Puerto Rico.

SESSION TITLE: Keeping Environmental Education Programs Fresh: Aligning with Next Generation Science Standards
SUMMARY: Naturalists’ interactions with school groups have a major impact on the next generation. By tweaking programs as school curriculum evolves, naturalists can expand their outreach.

  • Participate in an interactive online NGSS scavenger hunt to learn about Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
  • Align your own programs to NGSS with a template. An example is provided as well.
  • A description of Next Generation Science Standards, tips for aligning programs with the standards, and sample before/after lesson tweaks are in our slides. Contact us for a copy.

SESSION TITLE: Teaching with Mini Wind Turbines and Solar Panels: Opportunities and Challenges 
SUMMARY: Renewable energy production is on the rise, offering both benefits and challenges for our next generation.  Learn about these technologies as well as strategies for incorporating them into STEM learning experiences for students.

  • Experience a sample activity from our middle school renewable energy curriculum: VIP interviews.
  • To explore opportunities and challenges in renewable energy, take on various perspectives from the assertion jar. Find the Assertion Jar lesson in our middle school service learning curriculum.  This renewable energy add-on provides specific statements.
  • Build mini circuits using materials from the Teachers Going Green teaching kit.  Then search for energy lessons on the website.
  • If you would like a copy of our slides, please contact us.

Even though we don’t get to travel to Puerto Rico this year, our hearts are with the people of that small island. If you’d like to donate to the recovery efforts, here’s a link that may help you decide the best route to do so.

Our Sunflower Fort

My children love forts. But a sunflower fort? It exceeded every expectation.Sunflower fort closeup

Inspired by Eve Bunting’s Sunflower House, we planted sunflower seeds in a circle last spring. My nine-year-old couldn’t decide on just one variety of sunflowers at the garden store, so we planted two circles of seeds – an inner ring of mammoths and an outer ring of a smaller variety. He left a small gap for the door.

My only experience with sunflowers was when I was as a summer camp counselor in North Dakota during college. One morning we came upon a field of sunflowers. This was no tiny circle, but an expanse of sunflowers, much like cornfields in Iowa. I insisted they stop the car immediately. I marveled at these vibrant sunflowers, all facing the morning sun!

Planting the seeds with my kids, I tried to set realistic expectations. This is our first year!  We’re just trying it out! It can be a science experiment – even if nothing grows we’ll learn from experience. 

That conversation was unnecessary.

My three-year-old daughter diligently watered the sunflowers, and before long they sprouted. At first we thought they were growing at an angle. With closer investigation, it became clear even their leaves were tilting to face the sun.

Sunflower Fort GrowingAnd were they ever growing!  My son started taking measurements each Wednesday.  When they surpassed the reach of his arms, I helped out. Eventually, we needed a step stool and an extended measuring tape. Our plants grew on average an inch a day. In no time, the kids piled into their fort, surrounded by towering plants, hidden from view.

Watching the flowers open, and bloom a little brighter each day was pretty special. We all cheered the day the first bloom opened.

Soon the wildlife arrived. Bees and hummingbirds inspired conversations about pollination and pollinator habitat. Until the sunflower fort, I had never seen goldfinches in our suburban yard. But the sunflower fort attracted them daily. Watching them perch upside down eating seeds became a favorite pastime for my daughter and me. My son pointed out that we watched through the window like we were watching TV. I agreed.Sunflower Fort with Kids

The talk of the neighborhood, the ultimate hide-and-seek location, our very own wildlife viewing station, the perfect summer view: this is our sunflower fort! What can we expect as we head into fall and winter?I’m not sure. I think we’ll just wait and watch closely, soaking in whatever happens. After all, it’s better than TV!

 

Experiencing the solar eclipse

Monday, August 21, 2017 will be a memorable day.  Not since 1918 has a solar eclipse crossed the United States from the Pacific to Atlantic Oceans, giving us a rare opportunity to observe one of nature’s biggest coincidences.

A few tips as the big day nears…NASA photo, eclipse20170811

  • Never look directly at the sun. Solar eclipse glasses block out everything except for the actual sun itself. My kids were surprised how small the sun looks when using eclipse glasses.  Beware of price gouging online.  The Science Center of Iowa is currently selling eclipse glasses for $2.50 per pair. Indirect viewing is an option, too.
  • Watch something. NASA’s YouTube channel is pretty fantastic. Try downloading the NASA app, too.
  • Read something. Wendy Mass’s Every Soul a Star is a favorite young adult novel about three kids whose paths unexpectedly cross in the days leading up to a solar eclipse. As the story opens, Allie’s family is preparing a campground that is the only US viewing area of an eclipse. Bree’s only goal is landing a modeling contract, and Jack tries to remain invisible. A story of self-discovery, transformation, and life change – the themes cross generations and connect us all.
  • For other reading: NASA’s website has lots of details. If you are looking for a book about the history and science of eclipses, check out Tyler Nordgren’s Sun Moon Earth.
  • Talk to someone. I have been a little disappointed how few people I know are excited about this natural phenomenon.  I’m just so excited to share with others my fascination with science, nature, and space.
  • Do something. Participate in NASA’s citizen science project. Collect temperature readings and cloud observations before, during, and after the eclipse.  Upload them on the free app and share your data with researchers.
  • Get out there and experience. Simply step outdoors around 1pm Central Daylight Time) to experience a partial eclipse.  The Science Center of Iowa will host an eclipse viewing party on the capitol steps at 11:45 – 2:30pm.  The sun will be 95% covered but we will not have complete darkness unless we travel to Nebraska or Missouri to the zone of totality when the moon’s shadow passes overhead.  This will be my first total solar eclipse, but I have read it is something that must be experienced – words cannot describe it.

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