Last Thursday I was lucky enough to go on a field trip to the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul with my son’s art class. The high school anatomy class students were also in tow. For about 45 kids, mostly in grades 11-12, there were three teachers and two parent chaperones. I had not…
Yesterday, Sunday, my son took another exam in his AP Stats course. He is taking the course online. It’s been a bugger, to say the least. Let’s just say it’s not just plug and chug, there is an expectation of understanding. He’s working on it. There are advantages to online courses. And, there are disadvantages,…
When I first started to practice nursing, about 35 years ago, some people believed the old adage: “a nurse is a nurse.” Institutions, such as the one for which I worked at the time, implemented cross-training of the nursing staff so we could “float” to one unit or another and cover for short-staffing in a…
Ten years ago I had my Evergreen Garden Club students participate in a large Citizen Science Project. It was co-hosted by Monarch Watch and NASA (yes, that NASA). Monarch larvae were sent into space via the space shuttle to arrive at the International Space Station. At the same time, project participants, including those in my…
Wetland Celebration Today I was part of a group of Environmental Educators celebrating our Wetlands. We hosted fourth, fifth, and sixth graders from 9 – 2pm in thirty-minute stations. I had the pleasure of seeing 177 students, plus all their teachers today for lessons on Nature Poetry. Since our stations were only 30 minutes each,…
Lately, I’ve been thinking about my own path in conservation. I consider myself a self-proclaimed Monarch conservationist, actively involved in helping to conserve and restore their habitat and well as sustaining the population for close to twenty years. But, where did my path as a conservationist start? I’ve actually thought a lot about this. Sure,…
Almost nine years ago (I cannot believe that much time has passed), I started a parent group for those families with children that had been identified as talented and gifted (TAG) in our school district. I did it out of great respect for our TAG teacher, who I asked if I could be of help…
Monday evening I was at parent-teacher conferences. My youngest son is a senior in high school and is currently involved in a large solo art project in a nearby community. He is painting a mural on an outdoor wall at a business. It is large – nearly 40 feet long. But, it is October in…
Yesterday was my last day of work at a job I’ve only had a little more than 8 months. It was a job I wanted, a job I was given the opportunity to have, and a job in what I was educated to do – be an environmental educator. But, alas, the job was not…
This morning I had coffee with a friend, a former teacher, and mentor to all three of my boys in the subject of mathematics. He appreciates the difference in all three of my sons, the way their abilities manifested, and their chosen paths. During our coffee clutches we attempt to solve the problems of the…