May
23
Another course is about to end. Graduate students are busy with final edits to projects, final questions, final harvesting of resources.
This course was my “Lavender course.” I planted Lavender bunches to replace the lavender that had been lost in the Texas snow storm- (aka “Snow-mageddon”).
Several weeks later, I am happy to report that the lavender has been through a lot and is trying to hold on after unexpected weather. First, record rain storms dumped three inches of rain on the little lavender plants. The little lavender plant became water-logged. The remnant went through soil drainage and new soil additions.
Then, there was a week of unexpected temperatures in the high 90’s where some of its leaves dried and burned and the thin, tall stems snapped.
Yet, some of the lavender remained.
This week, the lavender keeps holding on, through another weather system of sudden rain. No matter what the abrupt circumstances that seem to always greet it there are a few purple blossoms left hanging on and leaving the faintest scent in the garden.
The lavender is a study in resilience– kind of reminds me of the students in this class! So many had to pivot and adapt abruptly. Many more continue to do adjust to so many new and extra demands.
There is not one graduate student who is teaching the same environment as they were in 2019.
Not one.
Some of these students are about to wrap up a second year of unprecedented change. They have been expected to pivot with short lead-times or non-existent lead times (I wonder how their administrations can arbitrarily continue to hoist these demands on them).
” Lavender is most commonly used in aromatherapy. The fragrance from the oils of the lavender plant is believed to help promote calmness and wellness. It’s also said to help reduce stress, anxiety, and possibly even mild pain.” ~ Healthline, What lavender can do for you.
I’m grateful for the privilege of learning from you and with these course warriors!
Click here for more posts about Gardening for Academic Growth
May
14
“What I loved most about being a teacher were my students. I loved how their faces lit up when they finally understood something, the sheer excitement for learning, or just the simple day-to-day connections.” ~Phonna Blanco, Family Engagement Lead for a school district in California.
May
9
IC4 2021 STEM for all Video Showcase
Click here to see this video and over 280 videos supported by NSF funding grants.
NSF Awards: 1612824
How does collaborative STEM project-based learning change when the participating students represent fundamentally distinct cultures, countries, economic, and social backgrounds, and work together over synchronous and asynchronous internet settings? All the more timely during the current pandemic, the IC4 (ic4.site) projects seeks to understand and shape such learning through international and cross-cultural collaboration. The project continues to expand intellectually and geographically.
Does the use of videoconferencing in such STEM project-based learning settings alter intersubjectivity or shared meaning in ways that might have broad social impact?
Differences in where people live and in our cultures factor deeply into social and economic fractures in US and global society. Can students working together across such boundaries experience virtual presence and shared meaning-making through project collaborations in ways that allow deeper appreciation of each other’s differences, and reduce such fractures?
Does such collaboration from the context and comfort of one’s own cultural settings helped to neutralize anxiety and distrust of others, and in ways that are promising for the next generation learning settings that will feature more abundant international collaboration at middle and secondary school levels?
Featuring students who collaborate with one another from sites in the US, Kenya, Mexico, and Brazil, the IC4 (International Community for Collaborative Content Creation) project explores the intersection of learning, culture, and collaboration. Supported by NSF’s AISL Program, the project provides an international, collaborative, and digital makerspace that explores these questions and seeks to understand how student learning changes when collaborating teams identify themselves as teachers seeking to help peers understand STEM topics.
NSF Awards: 1612824
May
7
Reference:
Roberts, Sarah Jakes, 2018. Don’t Settle for Safe: Embracing the Uncomfortable to Become Unstoppable . Thomas Nelson Publishers
May
2
Tomorrow is beginning of a foundational course in STEM/STEAM education!
Here are some of the visuals that I embed in early course communications.
Apr
30
“… the original decision about how to use computers placed the teacher on a collision course with School’s system of control: As soon as she (the teacher) decided not to control the students, she took away School’s established way of controlling her. The question has moved from how power is distributed within the educational hierarchy to whether hierarchy to whether hierarchy is an appropriate mode of organization for education.”
~Seymour Papert, The Children’s Machine: Rethinking school in the age of the computer, 1993
Reference
Papert, S. (1993). The Children’s Machine Rethinking school in the age of the computer. Basic Books.
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