Next Step Adventure :: mindful, creative, fun approaches to help people and organizations reach the next level
Being a parent or teacher is more challenging than ever in these post-pandemic, digitally connected times. Not that it hasn’t always been a tough job!
We need to pull out all the stops on what we know about how young people grow and learn to meet the challenges that they are presenting. There is so much we can do to help them grow strong and resilient. teaching and youth development.
The Next Step team draws from experience and experiments in education and youth development:
The experiential model, and hands-on education
Research on resilience; protective factors and other youth development research
Learning styles research
Best research and practice on parenting throughout life
At the Creative Arts Festival, we had lots of materials for experimentation–dry pigment, spray bottles for water, hair dryers, materials for collage. We let each group play with the materials on large sheets of high quality water paper.
“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.
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.”
Teachers ask a lot of questions, but many of those questions target basic knowledge or recall. We can make our discussions more effective by beginning them with “What”, “How”, “Why”, “If…then”–open-ended questions that require more thought.
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–
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.
Winter has finally arrived! The solstice brings a sense of peace and serenity to the great outdoors. Likewise, Teachers and students are getting ready for some much-needed relaxation.
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–
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.
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.
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.
think about why it is okay to not know the answer to every question posed by the students. After you have thought for a moment read on.
As we go spinning around the sun, we tend to mark anniversaries. I have one coming up tomorrow. It’s been 11 years since I cleaned out my desk at Iowa State University Extension in Polk County and started my work here at Next Step. I was there til 8 pm on my last day! Who does that?
Someone who is way too invested in work? One who has trouble letting go? Or maybe a person who has bitten off more than she can chew?
Probably all of the above, and more. Just this spring I threw out a box of slides I brought home from work eleven years ago. I was cleaning up my studio and came across several unfinished projects that brought a lump to my throat. I really wanted to make that apron, string those beads and create that lamp.
One thing I appreciated when I started Next Step was time to plan without feeling pressured by multiple deadlines. As my business has grown, and we’ve gotten busier, I sometimes feel hurried again. But the pressure has never gotten as great as it was when I was doing youth development work, writing grants, managing staff and all that went with it.
Owning my own business provides a lot of freedom, but it can be pretty demanding too. The roller coaster of work and no work can be scary. It’s much harder to know if you’re really good at what you do, kind of like looking into fun house mirrors. And of course the variety of people can put you off balance.
Balance is always a challenge. It helps to know your priorities. For a while I had this order–children and other living things, work and me. That’s changed significantly since the kids are grown. Some say if you don’t take care of yourself you don’t have anything to give others, but that’s still a tough sell for me.
I think these secrets to life, love, happiness are ever emerging. After a few careers and nearly 67 trips around the sun, I’m still learning. That’s what makes an adventure!
Art is unique in requiring that hands and mind be in the same place. Distraction and anxiety are at the forefront of challenges for Des Moines Art Center Outreach students. Art class provides opportunities for quiet, focus and mindfulness.
