Showing posts with label gardening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gardening. Show all posts

Saturday, 12 March 2016

when looking closely reveals a bigger picture


Students in rubber boots may explore the otherwise "off limits" (to the big kids at recess) muddy puddle just outside of our yard. These three made many observations about the quality of the mud: sticky around the edges, splashy in the deepest section, squelchy when boots were dug in deep, "creamy" like coffee, slippery when dragged along the dry pavement.

The weather has changed drastically these past few weeks. We've gone from sledding to puddle-stomping to listening for returning birds, all in March. This time of year the season's cycle seems to affect kids of all ages, whether in anticipation of March Break or simply something ancient in us that responds to the longer days much like flora and fauna around us seem to sing with spring. Inside inquiries (rolling, balance, creating noise and music, exploring number patterns, and more) seem to hold interest for less and less students, and thus we naturally respond by looking around the room for what we educators may move, remove, or enhance. Outside, the world is in a state of rapid change that is near impossible to ignore.

A glorious day at the end of February. We spent a happy afternoon exploring a fresh snowfall.
March brought a wondrous new snowstorm, providing our class fresh material to explore in new ways - a large group of us played at this tunnel, big enough for a kindergartener to slide or shimmy through, and sturdy enough to walk upon the bridge (though we only tried one action at a time in case the snow bridge collapsed).

The next week at school followed an unseasonably warm weekend, melting all but a few large piles of snow which continued to melt into rivulets and trickle down the sloping tarmac into several drains. Our favourite puddle was back.

This year we have had flora growing in the classroom, from our usual green plants to our more recent "garden with and without soil" under the big windows. It began with a spark, one student's idea back in December. She'd brought her gardening tools to school and showed them to Pooneh, who encouraged her to draw up a plan for how we might start a garden in the new year, as it was close to the winter holiday. Upon returning in January, we noticed our classmates down at the far end of our pod, room 105, had started a window garden with vegetable scraps and herbs. This reminded me that we had a sprig of mint that had been sitting up on our windowsill all winter, quietly growing roots in the jar of water it was in, hidden by the bigger plant in front of it. It all came together perfectly to engage more students in FC's gardening plan. With visits to our friends down the the end of our pod in room 105 for inspiration, Pooneh and a group of students started a gardening centre under our windows. It began with scraps of vegetables in water (onions, garlic, carrots, anise, herbs), then some flower seeds I'd saved from my mother's garden, then finally beans (by request by students who remembered growing and eating our beans last year).


 The tweet above shows what inspired us to take a group of students to visit Lada and Carmen's class, to see how they were investigating growing in a different way than FC had drawn up in her plan. A small group went to see it with Pooneh and were excited about what they saw.






We started a documentation space to share the story of the garden, first with these few images and the letter three students wrote to the Kindergarten friends in room 105, requesting a visit to see their garden. As our garden began to grow, this space filled with their drawings and observations of the vegetables and herbs. It is now full, leading us to prepare a book for further entries so that we can add to it daily and have a place for students to look over the shared documentation.









Students definitely show interest in the changes they see at this table, but gardening is patient work. Students visit the garden each day, and may talk about or draw what they see, touch the plants, even ask questions... but longer exploration and play doesn't usually happen here.

A moment of longer engagement with the gardening centre - perhaps because mint is such a delightful smell, students spend time picking leaves to rub between their fingers to release the heady scent. AC noticed something unusual in the pattern of the leaves while she looked closely to the details in order to draw the fallen and picked leaves.

Gardening is patient work, but harvesting or exploring the end results is very inviting work - using a mortar and pestle to grind herbs or spices is always a popular choice in our class. In past years we've ground up dried leaves and flowers for our potions centre, while this year the ground herbs have been added to the play dough we make each week with students. It adds a lovely scent and colour that is more meaningful for those who did the grinding.
Nature inquiry naturally blossoms outdoors, and this time of year, as we strip off our winter warm gear, unzip our jackets, and finally feel the warmth of the sun on our hands and faces, well, this is the time that "looking closely" pays off even more than usual. Observation skills honed in the fall (those changing leaves and chilly frozen-puddle mornings), used during quieter moments outside in the winter (catching snowflakes, digging under snow to examine grass frozen under ice, listening to the creaking of trees or the shatter of icicles), these skills are naturally called upon when every day is different, such as in spring. What magical change might we see at the park?

This morning, while out with my daughter and her friend, I walked under a huge maple tree that was dropping delicate flowers. I picked up a handful and carried them to a chair in the sunlight. The girls came over to see me after a playing a while. They wondered, what were these weird and wonderful things on my chair? Out of context, they were exotic. I explained that they were the first sign of spring on a maple tree, preceding leaves. That little tidbit of information was enough for me, as a child, to be fascinated with phenology (though I only learned the word a few years ago). I became enthralled with birds and trees, insects and wildflowers, and other flora and fauna around me that showed patterns over seasons that I could learn to read. Little clues tied to other little clues (blackbirds returning, maples flowering, sap running, days lengthening) helped me see the bigger picture of seasonal change in all its sensational glory.

Maple flowers found nearly camouflaged on brown and green grass, looking more striking against the blue chair.

This moment today brought back a phenology memory from last spring. I distinctly remembered students searching and inspecting tree blossoms - delicate, tiny things that most people don't even notice amid the brighter flowers of spring. I had created the storify story below to share with our families how students in our class were developing incredible skills in observation and deduction. I was delighted and more than a little proud of these kindergarten scientists looking closely, noticing details and patterns in their environment, and creating meaning out of their experiences in nature.





Note: an interesting twist to this story occurred to me when I looked up the storify link today. This was our first tweet from that particular class at nearby Clifton PS. Our classes were linked by a common educator "hero" to our students, Rob Ridley. His questions and focused collaborations (like #KindergartenBioBlitz and "The Lost Ladybug Project") and his thoughtful responses to our queries lead many educators to follow and "tweet the Ranger" as our students do. The teacher in this class tweeted the query to us, in particular, because she knew of our year-long focus on the skill of "looking closely". I didn't remember it until now, but that teacher was Emily Krahn. We had met and collaborated on PD a few years back, and this year she'd moved from Clifton to join our growing team at Thornwood PS (where we now have 7 K classes). Emily is now my neighbour, in the middle of our long pod classroom that begins with room 105 (where the gardening investigation so inspired us) and ends with room 109, our room. I wrote a story about making connections, and didn't even realize how connected we were. After March Break I will revisit the documentation from this day with senior students who took part in the investigation. It may well spur more phenology study amongst our newest students who've joined our class in the last few months of winter.

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Thursday, 19 September 2013

where the grass grows tall

Kindergarteners explore and play in the "wilds" of our Mississauga Valley grounds.

At Thornwood PS we have a feature that is both unassuming and spectacular, and it is the focus of this post. People who follow me, or my class on twitter no doubt know how important the "no-mow zone" is to me and my classes. Every day we post pictures of our new discoveries, and ask our online friends for help identifying the interesting living things we find, be they flora or fauna. Our second week of school was a celebration of the long grass area with our PLN and our good friend in the environment, "Ranger Rob" and his #KindergartenBioBlitz project. For more background on why I have been spending even more time outside this year, you may also see my  Looking Closely in the Meadow post at the collaborative Looking Closely Blog, started by dear (but not near) friend Heather McKay. 


Early summer and approaching fall in the glorious green.

As I am only in my second year here at this wonderful school, I did not get to see the way this beautiful project unfolded. Through conversations with Dianne Brown, the teacher I quickly came to know and look to as the teacher most passionate about environmental justice, I learned about the hard work that went into creating our precious space. I have been asked time and time again on twitter to explain how we managed to create the no-mow zone, and how other schools could follow suit.

When we stop and look: wildlife in the long grass.

For that reason, today I would like to introduce my first guest to the blog. We have discussed how challenging it will be to share the story briefly, and as such this will be a multiple-part post. The rest of the story now, from Dianne.

My love for nature began as a child growing up on a small farm near Spencerville, south of Ottawa, and close to the St. Lawrence River. The South Nation River, a small tributary, ran through our farm and I spent many hot summer afternoons and freezing winter days there. I remember taking a shovel to the creek one winter day plus my brother’s skates, determined I would not return home until I knew how to skate. Covered in bruises, I returned triumphant. I also remember choosing to be with my father working the farm while my 3 sisters took care of business in the house. When all our chores were done we were off to the woods with tarps, hammers, nails and anything else we needed for construction, my favourite being our fort. I was happiest when surrounded by nature.
The trees hide the creek in behind, but if you listen, you can often hear the ducks. Photo: DB

When my children were little we spent many glorious hours exploring green spaces in our neighbourhood. The school they attended in Etobicoke, Broadacres PS, became involved in an extensive greening initiative under the guidance of the Evergreen. This project was documented with photos and videos which are still used as a model today. Over a few years the flat landscape was transformed into a renewed swale, flower/vegetable gardens, pathways, log and rock seating areas, and shade trees. The classrooms at Broadacres moved outside and the engagement of the students was deep and fulfilling. Students with special needs were able to have alternative spaces for activities. My hope is to create a similar environment for our students at Thornwood. It is important for our students, many of whom live in apartment buildings, to have experiences in the outdoors during their time at school.

Many years and many life challenges happened before I entered teaching. This may sound crazy but the first day I walked into Thornwood as a supply teacher in March of 2006, I said to myself, “I’m going to teach here one day.” Here I am, and here we are involved in a transformational green initiative! How’s that for a dream come true? 
Long shadows point to where the beloved outdoor classroom would someday grow. Photo credit: DB

In June 2009 I attended a Professional Development presentation by Robert Bateman’s Get To Know Your Backyard Neighbour organization. An announcement was made that there was an EcoSchools meeting at the end and everyone was invited to attend. Yes, I did. The next year Thornwood became an EcoSchool and the following year, Thornwood was chosen by Evergreen/Brickworks and Peel EcoSchools to receive a $10,000 grant for school ground greening! Fate? Divine intervention? My dream for Thornwood moved one huge step forward!
Over the next 2 years of planning with students, teachers, parents, representatives from the Peel Board, and our consultant from Evergreen/Brickworks, we came up with a design that included a play structure, seating areas, mulched paths, shade trees and shrubs, only to be advised by the Board’s Facilities Department and the Credit Valley Conservation Authority that our school sits in a flood zone and no structures could be approved on the east side of the school. Half our design was nixed. This was a huge setback until the idea of allowing a portion of the yard along Cooksville Creek to naturalize was proposed by the Evergreen/Brickworks consultant. That idea triggered a whole lot of thinking about exploring what flora and fauna would return to this area. We were allowed to plant native flora that suited the zoning as long as the lay of the land was not altered, and voila, the No-Mow Zone was born. 
A splash of deep red dogwood in the meadow: the promise of something new. Photo: DB
 
Dig day! Community involvement makes a real connection to our place. Photo: DB
The tape marks the beginning where the no-mow zone will be. Oops, mowed again! Photo: DB
The new trees, standing alone. Photo: DB





In June of 2010 Thornwood hosted Dig Day for approximately 150 parents, teachers and students. It was such a huge community-bonding experience and parents want more. We added a total of 12 trees to the school yard, 4 of these marking the outline of the No-Mow Zone. These trees will provide shade for students and a habitat for wildlife. We also planted native shrubs that will provide winter interest with red branches and berries to feed wildlife. The next challenge for the No-Mow Zone was getting the message to the grass cutting contractors to mow around our naturalized area. The first summer that message did not reach its destination. Our next strategy was to spray paint small dowels and hammer them into the ground and wrap yellow Caution tape around them. The dowels were broken by soccer balls and the rest disappeared. We decided to put 2”x2”x4’ stakes in the ground and wrap more Caution tape around them. That worked for a while but gradually the stakes disappeared. The good thing was that by this time it was very obvious we were growing something! The mowing stopped and the demarcation of this area needed no protection. 
The lovely chicory that gives the late-summer grasses the beautiful blue hue. Photo: DB

The long and the short of it. Photo: DB

After 2 unusually hot and dry summers, and many hours of watering, the new trees and shrubs showed signs of survival. It was a challenging couple of years for the new green space, but it looked like it would definitely become an outdoor classroom; an area of exploration for whoever wanted to take advantage of it. My teaching partner and I purchased scientific tools, a large assortment of Dollar Store magnifying classes, bug bottles, and butterfly nets. We signed out books from the library that would help with identification of species as well as stir excitement for future exploration in the No Mow Zone. All these items were placed on a cart lent to us by a colleague, a dim sum cart, yep! No money from budgets for us… and we were set to be naturalists, scientists, and explorers extraordinaire. 
The hot, dry summers took a toll but the hardy native trees survived. Photo: DB

Sweet-smelling white clover. Photo: DB

Phase two of the Big Dream relates to the history of the setting of our school, a First Nations settlement. While the Grade 3 Social Studies curriculum touched on Early Settlement, and a comparison of ways of life pre-European contact to our lives today, the deep, spiritual connection First Nations people had to nature was picked up by our team as a Big Idea that still drives our teaching today. 

Stay tuned for the story of the development of the No Mow Zone, and how we intertwined becoming a Gold EcoSchool with our TLCPs, in Math and Language.       



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