The end-of-term hecticness and poor flu-shot appointment planning mean that I have postponed my final Bowker Creek Watershed adventure to the winter break. Note to self, avoid scheduling flu-shots the night before a planned adventure. In place of a reflection on my watershed exploration, I have decided to take some time to reflect on this project as a whole, what I learned, and how I hope to carry it forward on my path in education.
1. There are so many ways to adventure
In this project, I tried to approach adventure in lots of different ways. I started this project by framing adventure as an approach and an attitude rather than as a grand expedition. More than anything else, adventures are about getting curious about something, challenging yourself, and having a great time, and there are so many ways to do this. In this project, I took this approach and applied it in all sorts of different ways. From exploring my literal backyard to following my tap water on my bike to nature journaling, there are so many ways to adventure. I hope to carry this attitude into the grand adventure of daily life.
2. You don’t have to go far to find some adventure
My project this term was entirely self-propelled and all of my adventures were within 50km or so of where I live. Although I’ve lived in this area for most of my life, I felt like this project provided an opportunity for me to learn a bit more about the place where I live. There is a lot to learn about and see without having to leave the city and I think that engaging in adventures in this way helps to nurture a sense of place. As a result of this project, I am more motivated to explore the place that I live and engage in activities that care for the human and non-human communities that I am a part of.
3. You can bring adventure into the classroom
Something I also took from this project is that it is very possible (and can be super fun!) to incorporate adventure into schools without having to go far or spend a bunch of money. I think that there are lots of different ways that this can happen and I hope to bring this approach into my science and social studies classes someday. Whether it be adopting a stream as part of a science and stewardship project or taking time to observe our ecosystem up close or learning more about the place where we live and learn by walking through the history of it, there are so many accessible and easy ways to incorporate adventure into the classroom.
Below, I’ve included some images from an AI art generator with prompts related to backyard adventures and schools. Although I’m not convinced that AI has much experience with backyard adventuring, I do think that it has captured some important elements of what it can look like.
A watershed is the land area where all of the rainfall and snow melt within the area eventually ends up in the same creek, stream, or river. The Bowker Creek Watershed is the watershed that the majority of the UVic campus sits within. In fact, the headwaters of Bowker Creek lie on the west side of campus along the Alumni Chip Trail (see map linked below from the CRD). This means that a lot of the rain that falls on campus (and snow that melts), ends up in Bowker Creek. A map of the full watershed, including where the creek is culverted and where it is visible can be seen below. In total, the creek runs about 8km, with only 2.5km that is visible and not culverted underground. Throughout this project, I’ve been thinking about learning about this watershed in some way, and what better way to do it than to go on an adventure! The plan for this adventure is to travel the length of the Bowker Creek Watershed from the wetlands at UVic to the estuary and outlet of the creek into Oak Bay.
To make this plan a reality, a little bit of organizing has to happen. I need to:
(Hopefully) Find some friends to do it with
Learn a bit more about the watershed
Plan a route
1. Find some friends
Anyone want to participate in this wonderful and wacky adventure? Let me know before the end of next week (October 24th). I haven’t decided how to travel through the watershed yet. I’m leaning towards running or walking. Biking could also work and would be a significantly smaller time investment, which at this point in the term is a serious consideration. I’m open to anything if others want to join in the fun.
2. Learn some more about the watershed
Bowker Creek lies within l蓹k虛史蓹艐蓹n territories. Prior to colonization, the creek and it’s tributaries ran through an extensive system of marshlands filled with Black Cottonwood trees and surrounded by Douglas Fir and Garry Oak ecosystems. Anadromous species like coho and chum salmon once spawned in the creek and provided an important food source for the l蓹k虛史蓹艐蓹n people. This is reflected in the name of a island near the mouth of the creek. What’s now commonly called Mary Tod or Jimmy Chicken Island, is known in l蓹k虛史蓹艐蓹n as Kohweechella, which means “where there are many fish”.
Today, much of the creek has been transformed by colonization, which led initially to agricultural development and more recently to extensive urban development. As of now, 70% of the stream is contained within underground culverts. Throughout the watershed, some of the rich terrestrial ecosystems that covered the landscape prior to colonization still exist. For example, Mt. Tolmie, which lies just south of UVic, has an intact Garry Oak ecosystem clinging to it’s slopes. The creek also hosts a limited number of freshwater larvae and worm species, but very few fish. Some fish are found at the mouth of the stream where it runs into Oak Bay, and this estuary is known as a great spot to observe many bird species.
In total, I think that this will be about a 10km walk/run. It may also be a little bit longer if I end up biking because some of the trails might not be bike accessible. Below I’ve sketched out the route based on watershed maps like the one linked above. I used Google MyMaps to make this map and was able to copy code directly from MyMaps to enter into my WordPress Code Editor (a new skill for me!). Some of the trails that I know exist along the creek do not show up on Google Maps so the route is not entirely accurate but it’s close enough.
For our EdTech inquiry, Adam, Jayda, Gen, Kailey, and I explored the use of technology in outdoor education. We focused on four main areas where technology could be used: navigation, safety, learning about your environment, and documenting your experiences. My focus for the project was apps that can be used to learn about our environment and I focused on the apps Seek and eBird. I discussed both of these apps in a previous post here.
We decided to make a video about what we had learned walking (or hiking?) through some of the ways that we had found that technology could be applied.
A form of art that I really admire is nature journaling. I’ve never nature journaled as a consistent and dedicated practice but it’s something I have tried and decided to give it another go as part of my series of backyard adventures. Nature journaling involves creating an illustrated observational journal grounded in your experiences in nature. It does not involve any special artistic skills and you don’t need any fancy art supplies to do it. The process of making a nature journal is a really great opportunity for a backyard adventure. It involves getting outside, getting curious about the world around you, and (in my opinion) having a lot of fun.
Nature Journaling is collecting and organizing your observations, questions, connections, and explanations on the pages of a notebook using words pictures, and numbers. You do not need to be an artist or a naturalist to begin. These skills can be learned by anyone, and you can develop them with deliberate practice.
Below is a video about starting a nature journal featuring John Muir Laws, a nature journaling aficionado. It includes some stunning examples of what nature journaling can look like and some steps for getting started. Another amazing example of nature journaling comes from Lyn Baldwin, a professor at Thompson Rivers University, who has some amazing examples here and here.
My Nature Journaling Experience
Feeling inspired by people like Lyn Baldwin and John Muir Laws, I’ve tried out nature journaling a couple of times at a park I love to visit. I’ve included a couple of examples below, one from last spring and one from this fall during this project. I have really enjoyed the experiences I’ve had engaging with the environment I am a part of and art in this way and I hope to make more time for it once the term is over.
Some photos of my most recent nature journaling adventure. I went out close to sunset and was treated to a stunning sky show. I labelled some of the things I saw and tried to also illustrate some of the sounds I heard (e.g. car alarm and kids playing). I just used pencil for this drawing because I had limited time but I would like to add colour with watercolours or pencil crayons.A previous nature journaling adventure in the same park but in Spring when there were leaves on the trees and flowers coming up. This illustration focused on smaller scale parts of the park, like individual plants and was done in watercolour and ink.
Nature Journaling in the Classroom
I would love to include nature journaling as a practice in a future classroom. I think it is a really great way to integrate art and creativity into other subjects, especially science. It is also a great way for students to start to build a relationship with the environment they live in and are a part of. The practice of nature journaling integrates really well with sit-spots as well, which I discussed a bit in an earlier blog post. Below I’ve linked a bunch of resources I have found for integrating nature journaling into the classroom, including prompts for journaling, lesson plans, and examples.
John Muir Laws’ website has some amazing resources for nature journaling. They offer free online lessons every week and have tons of ideas and resources for teachers, including:
This week, we were prompted in class to think about what education might look like in the year 2040. I immediately thought about the introduction to Rob Hopkin’s book, From What Is to What If: Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want. The first chapter of this book is titled, “What if everything turned out okay?” and takes the reader on a tour of a future world that has moved away from fossil fuels, industrial agriculture, and capitalism, and is moving towards the cultivation of resilient local communities. Reading this, I find Rob’s vision filled with veggie gardens, bicycles, and bakeries really inspiring. The first introductory chapter is available on the publisher’s website here. If this vision resonates with you, you might also appreciate this video here that (literally) paints a picture of a similar future that I find super inspiring.
In part of the excerpt, Hopkins envisions what education might look like. I’ve included a part of this in the quote below. What I find really interesting about this vision, is that there is really no mention of technology. The focus of education in this future world is community, play, and learning meaningful skills. Perhaps this isn’t because technology isn’t a part of people’s lives and instead because technology just plays less of a role or a completely different role in people’s lives.
“In our community, the kids seem to have radically different feelings about school than they did ten years ago. The education department鈥檚 decision to eliminate testing, to give ample space for unstructured play and to provide students with opportunities within the community to acquire meaningful skills that enable them to live happy and healthy lives by their own definition means that most kids here now love going to school. My son, for example, recently upped his cooking skills by spending a week at a local restaurant.”
Rob Hopkins Imagining the Future of Education in Chapter 1 of From What is to What If?
Rob Hopkins vision for the future resonates with me in a lot of ways and I think that technology can still have a place in it. I appreciate the move away from testing and towards meaningful skill-building. The focus on community-engaged education is also something that really excites me. I think technology can fit into this picture as well and I think the pandemic was a really great learning experience in this regard. For me, it highlighted a lot of great things that technology can bring to the table. For one, it makes learning a lot more accessible to people regardless of where they live or their ability to access a physical campus. This accessibility is something I hope gets carried into the future. Another thing I think came out of the pandemic, was the ability to communicate meaningfully in real-time with people around the world. I know that this technology existed before the pandemic, but my awareness of it’s possibilities increased greatly after being forced to use it for the better part of two years.
So, what do I hope the future of education involves?
After a good ramble and some reflecting on a vision for the future that I admire, I’ve come up with some ideas of what I hope the future of education involves. I’ve drawn on some of my ramblings above, some of my experiences this term, some things I’ve been thinking about, and some of the things we’ve been talking and learning about in this course. This list is not exhaustive, nor is it complete. I’m sure as I learn more I will have things to add and change.
Less focus on testing and more focus on meaningful skill-building (borrowing from Rob Hopkins). I think the B.C. curriculum is moving in the right direction with how everything is becoming competency driven but I’m not sure I’m observing this play out in schools in ways that are drastically different than when I was in high school with the old curriculum. I really like how Rob Hopkins focuses on kids learning the skills they need to live their lives “[happy and healthy by their own definition]”. Not everyone will have the same things that they want to get out of education and the learning opportunities that are available should reflect this (and already do to some extent).
Engagement with the wider community as a tenet of education (also similar to Rob Hopkins). I reflected on this in my first reflection in this course looking at High Tech High and how they created some accountability to their community with their end-of-year showcase. I really hope that this becomes more widespread in the future of education. I think that creating meaningful connections to the community also helps students to recognize the relevance that school has to their lives outside of the classroom. Maybe there won’t even be classrooms. Maybe ‘school’ as we know it will be completely embedded within the wider community. Whoa.
More time outside learning about the world by spending time in it. This is really related to the last point and is really about connecting students to the more-than-human community that they are a part of. In his great essay, “What is an Education For?” author and environmental educator David Orr writes that “All education is an environmental education. By what is included or excluded we teach students that they are part of or apart from the natural world”. I think that this perspective is really key to bring into the future (and present) of education.
Technologyfor accessibility and meaningful connection. I think that technology will be a part of the future of education and I hope that it is in ways that make education more accessible and foster meaningful connections between people around the world who may otherwise not connect. We learned a bit about the possibilities of technology for accessibility in this class and how it can completely transform learning experiences for some kids. I think this is awesome and hope that accessible technology is something that becomes more widespread in the future of education. I also think technology provides really cool ways to connect with people in completely different places around the world and bring them into your classroom. I hope that connection-building and sharing is also part of the future of education.
Below are some of the results of entering a couple of the key words I’ve been thinking about into an AI generated art website. This is what AI thinks of my vision for the future. Of course, there are lots of bicycles (partly because I included them in my description). There are also lots of things that AI came up with that I didn’t explicitly include. Check out the intergenerational learning happening in image three!
This week, we were fortunate to have Chantelle Morvay-Adams from BC EdAccess join our class. BC EdAccess is an organization devoted to advocating for and supporting people with disabilities and their families within the BC education system. Chantelle brought a lot of her personal experience navigating issues of access within the education system into the discussion which I think added a really important lens to her presentation. We have been talking about accessibility in other classes as well and this was a really great reminder of our responsibilities as teachers to address the needs of all students in the classroom.
BC EdAccess Exclusion Tracker
BC EdAccess has created an exclusion tracker for students and/or their families to report instances where they have been excluded from school activities or school altogether. The purpose of this tracker is to confirm the existence of exclusion within the school system, examine the types of exclusion that take place, and to empower students and families with the tools they need to self-advocate. I found it really eye-opening the level of exclusion that students with disabilities are experiencing in schools. In the 2021- 2022 school year, 4760 incidents of exclusion were reported.
“In order to eliminate the discriminatory practice of excluding children with disabilities, we must continuously expose how, when, and where it happens in schools.”
Nicole Kaler, Chair, BC EDAccess
Below is a list of some of the ways that students are being excluded within the B.C. education system that have been reported through the tracker:
Only being allowed to attend for a partial day
Not being allowed to attend school until an EA is available
Excluded from field trips
Excluded from extracurricular activities
Excluded from certain courses because materials are not adapted
Excluded because of concerns over adherence to COVID safety protocols
Moving Towards Equity and Inclusion
After Chantelle spoke, we had discussions in small groups about some of the systematic barriers that exist within the education system and how we might dismantle them and create inclusive classrooms. Some of the ideas that came up in this discussion and that have come up in other classes are listed below.
Asking students and families how you can best support them
Creating and maintaining open lines of communication with families
Apps are a great way to bring information about your environment with you on your adventures. Some of my favourite apps are ones that I can use to learn more about the ecosystem I’m a part of and the place I live. Below, I look at three different apps that I use and that I think have a place on every backyard adventure.
1. Seek by iNaturalist
Seek is an app that uses image recognition technology to identify plants and animals in any environment. If you’re outside and come across a species you are unfamiliar with, you can point your phone camera at it and use Seek to try to get an ID. Depending on the quality of your image, Seek will narrow down what it is, moving down the taxonomic hierarchy from kingdom to species. Something I really like about Seek is that you don’t need internet to use the app, which makes it great for adventures without service. You can also connect Seek to your iNaturalist account, which allows you to record your observations and contribute to a wider citizen science project. Fun fact: You can also download data from iNaturalist and run analyses of your own!
2. eBird
I’m fairly new to the world of birding. When I went on my first birding adventure, we used eBird to keep track of the birds we saw. One of the really cool things about eBird is that you can look at the species that have been observed at hot-spots, which are popular birding locations in your area. The app will tell you what species others have observed at this location previously, giving you an idea of what you might encounter. All of this data that is collected also contributes to a wider citizen science project as well. Another great app to use on backyard birding adventures is Merlin Bird ID, which is super handy for bird ID.
3. Rockd
If you’ve ever wondered about the geology beneath your feet, Rockd is the app for you! Combining geologic maps and field-geology, Rockd is a great app for learning about and observing local geology. Like Seek and eBird, Rockd has a community-feed, where people can share their geologic observations with the public and contribute to citizen science efforts.
This week in class we had a discussion about online learning. This was not the first time I’ve participated in this type of discussion and it was interesting to hear a whole host of new and familiar perspectives on people’s experiences learning online. Personally, I found online learning challenging. I found that I really missed the social connections that came with being at school in person and I found it really difficult to separate my school life from the rest of my life at home. On the other hand, I was also able to live outside of Victoria for the majority of the pandemic, which is something I am grateful to have had the opportunity to do.
In addition to learning online, I was also facilitating programs for youth in a rural community. Being a simultaneous online learner and facilitator was a really interesting experience, and I feel that I learned a lot about how online learning can be really useful in certain circumstances. In particular, I learned a lot about making learning more accessible and some of the ways technology can work online and in-person to increase accessibility (e.g. adding closed captioning).
Summary of Discussion
Below I’ve made a table of pros and cons that came up in our discussion of online learning. Although I don’t think it’s ‘future of education’ (or at least hope not), I do think that online-everything that occurred during the pandemic provided an opportunity for reflection about all sorts of aspects of education.
Pros
Accessible from anywhere in the world where there is internet
Closed captioning is available for lectures
Classes can be recorded and watched later if you have other commitments (e.g. work) or if you are unable to attend class (e.g. if you’re sick)
You have more time for other things because you don’t have to commute
Can be more affordable depending on program
Connecting with guest speakers around the world!
Cons
Less social connection
Harder to build relationships with fellow students
Hard to separate school and personal life when working/living in one space all the time
Can create inequities depending on people’s technology access
So much screen time!
Instructors were not always prepared or given the tools they needed to succeed in an online environment
It can be quite a bit of work to move a class that is usually run in-person to an online environment
Have you ever wondered where your tap water comes from? Have you pondered the route it takes to get to your sink? These questions spurred my latest backyard adventure, following the water that comes out of my tap as far as I could on my bicycle. On l蓹k虛史蓹艐蓹n territories in the City of Victoria, our water comes from the Sooke Lake Reservoir which lies within the Sooke Hills Wilderness Regional Park.
It’s not possible to bike all the way to the Sooke Reservoir because the Greater Victoria Water Supply Area, which surrounds it, is not open to the public. Instead, I rode my bike to the Humpback Reservoir, which lies at the entrance to the Greater Victoria Water Supply Area, and which used to be a part of the water supply system. This also happens to be where the main water line that feeds my tap branches off. I tried to follow the route of the water line as closely as I could. Conveniently, the route that this main water line takes happens to be close to the Galloping Goose Trail, so I was able to stay on a separated paved bike path most of the ride. Along the way, I took photos of the route and some of the infrastructure that transports our tap water.
Tap Water from Sink to Source: A Photo Essay
The water coming out of my tap at home.My bicycle getting ready to go!A piece of the Sooke Flowline that used to bring water into Victoria from Sooke Lake and some of the history of the city’s water system just on the north side of the Selkirk Trestle.Biking along the Galloping Goose Trail.Oh look, a pipe! This is one of the main pipes carrying water into the city beside the old Sooke Flowline. The pipes are often underground, but are exposed here as the run over Millstream Creek.One of the pump stations I came across along the way next to a lovely marsh area.Me holding my water bottle, filled with tap water which has now made the same journey from source to sink, twice.The Humpback Reservoir right next to the Sooke Hills Wilderness parking lot. This reservoir used to be part of the water supply system and sits right where the main line that brings water to my house branches off.Some of the informational signs at the Humpback Reservoir and the entrance to the Greater Victoria Water Supply Area.Some cool concrete art I noticed on my way home. It says “We are all part of the water cycle” on the way down the stairs and on the way back up the other side, “Water is the blood of the Earth”
In a previous post, I looked at a framework to guide inquiry that’s used at the Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry (PSII), an innovative high school on 聽l蓹k虛史蓹艐蓹n territories in Victoria, B.C. We were lucky to have Jeff Hopkins, the principal of PSII, join our class to talk about the school and some of the projects his students are working on. I found Jeff’s discussion to be really inspiring. We’re learning about the concept of inquiry in all sorts of classes, and it’s really neat to see how Jeff and PSII have run with it and are implementing it in real and meaningful ways.
A Tedx Talk by Jeff Hopkins where he discusses PSII and the future of education.
Key Takeaways
1. Emergent Curriculum
One of the terms Jeff used that really stuck with me was “emergent curriculum”. My understanding of emergent curriculum is curriculum that emerges from student interest and ideas. I think this is a really interesting, powerful, and engaging model for co-creating curriculum. One of the main questions I had about PSII is how they line up this emergent curriculum with the B.C. curriculum that they are having to work within. This is something I feel like I still don’t understand fully, but from what Jeff said, it sounds like this can sometimes be a bit challenging. PSII is trying to move beyond simple coverage of curriculum within a system that is still trying to check curriculum boxes.
Some of the areas of study learners are focusing on at PSII.
2. Assessment of/for/as Learning
One of my other main takeaways from Jeff was his focus on assessment as a tool of, for, and as learning. We haven’t taken a class in assessment yet in this program, but have been learning a little bit about it in a couple of our classes. Jeff’s perspective on assessment was really interesting because it is really embedded in everything that PSII learners and teachers do. When I think about my high school experience, we did a lot of learning followed by assessing (Assessment of Learning) and a lot less of assessment as part of the learning process. I’m really interested in learning more about assessment and the different ways it can work, which is something I didn’t expect that I would have a lot of interest in coming into this program.
Interesting info session about how math is approached and assessed as PSII.
Resources from Jeff
Jeff shared a whole bunch of resources with us, including some of the books, videos, and ideas that guide his work at PSII. With all of the resources being thrown at us, I thought I’d compile a list so that I can come back to them later. Here are some of the things he shared:
