Who did I work with when I managed school gardens and taught after school garden clubs consisting of second through fifth grade students? Did I work alone? No, absolutely not! There was a team of people essential to making the garden clubs work. My post today was inspired by this photo (see below) from 2014…
educational reform
When Leaders Don’t Listen
What happens when leaders don’t listen? Unfortunately, I know. Frustration results. Restlessness results. Even anger can result. Resentment can fester. Emotions can run high. Communications falter as concerns seem to fall on deaf ears. Essentially, you put your organization at risk for loosing good people, people who cared enough to speak up, people who were…
Slice of Life: Subjects of Substance
Lately, my posts have been pretty light. I’ve been thinking about why that is. Most likely it’s because I need to organize these posts before I write them. I need to find the facts to support my case. I need to be firm in my opinions and back them up. And, I just have not…
Slice of Life Tuesday: Enrichment Learning through Experiential Lessons
When I started Evergreen Garden Club in the fall of 2004, its main purpose was to provide student enrichment through hands-on activities using an outdoor environment such as the school grounds. The first group, now adults in their mid-twenties, researched local butterfly species and host plants to enable a well thought out conversion of an…
Working for Resolutions: A Call to Action
What are you doing, personally, to make living during the COVID pandemic better for others? Anything? Or, are you just complaining? Be honest here. Are you actively trying to make life livable during this crisis? One of the debatable tenants of Environmental Education has become a guide for my life. It is that there MUST…
Slice of Life Tuesday: Expected Words
As many of you have written over the last few weeks, I am at a loss today as far as what to post. My head is swirling with phrases, statements, admissions, and retorts but none seem to say what I would like. Nor do I relish the swift backlash that social media tends to release…
The “F” List
We have to learn to allow for mistakes. During this time of the COVID 19 pandemic, we’ve seen teachers quickly change gears from one learning platform to another. Students had to follow suit, just as quickly, as classes went from in-person to screens over the course of a weekend. But, are we allowing for mistakes? …
Insomnia: All is not Right with the World!
At 3:30 a.m., I arose from my bed after lying there for over an hour, not sleeping. Nights are sometimes hard for me. I go to bed and my mind refuses to shut down. Or, it shuts down for a short time and then ramps back up again as bothersome issues rise to the surface…
Slice of Life Tuesday: The Benefits of Distance Learning
Why would a student or family CHOOSE to learn or take classes digitally? The answer is easy – because there are benefits for students that exist on this learning platform! In the late winter of 2011, our family made the researched and conscious decision to allow our oldest son to finish high school online through…
Learning Digitally, #SOL Day 28/Year 3
Recent weeks have been especially hard on educators as teaching and learning took on a new form. Digital learning. Online classes. E-Learning. There are many names for it. As I’ve discussed before, distance learning – yet another name, is not something new to our home, my sons, or me. So, personally, we are doing well….










