Boom, Tweet, Whoosh
Today was a full day of activity!
Breakfast was a yummy oatmeal topped with fruit, walnuts, and granola. Our morning began with an intro to the greenhouse, potting soil creation, compost, and an unexpected boom from an explosion/fire by Stinson Beach. Yikes! All calm on the ranch though, and the greenhouse is full of little joys (small strawberries and tomatoes! tiny seedlings of chard!)
The second half of the morning was a training based on BEETLES, which is a UC Berkeley Enviro Education resource. We practiced observation, student/nature centered learning by doing sensory based observations in the garden, focusing with magnifying glasses, taking different vantage points of a tree, and using the "I notice, I wonder, it reminds me of" process for examining a leaf. We also discussed anthropomorphic language use, the careful use of naming and identifying, and pancakes vs waffles.
Lunch was actually catered today! I had a nice vegetarian quinoa wrap, dining by the yurt overlooking the ocean. Soaking in sun.
The afternoon session got us to dive into some Slide Ranch natural and human history, which opened the door for how land-based education needs to reckon with settler colonialism. I'd say this is a work in progress, but am looking forward to discussing more with folks and learning different people's approaches to acknowledging the Coastal Miwok as the first inhabitants of this land and how traditional knowledge and practices is/isn't part of enviro ed. Also how to do social justice work with campers who may not come from diverse backgrounds, especially given our current political/societal moment.
Later afternoon was another hike! We are trying to prepare for camp by practicing social distancing in all activities and imagining what that will be like with kids. Lots of telephone for the hike I think, in order to communication across 60+ feet. I'm enjoying starting to learn more about the plants on the trail: I can now recognize plantain, coyote brush, lupine, field mustard, sticky gumweed, sticky monkeyflower, coastal sage...perhaps more, but that's what I've got for now. We also noticed lots of bird calls, but I am not yet great at identifying those.
I went on a late afternoon run, taking a shortcut that one of the other teachers shared in order to access the trails on the other side of highway 1. I didn't have time to actually take the trail, but I got to the redwood creek trailhead and am excited to head in and get to Muir Woods territory in the future.
I have access to the kitchen now that I am Covid-negative! It was nice to be able to get my own dinner food: delicious chard, fried tofu, salad, zucchini, and potatoes. Meals are also a nice way to get to chat with more of the other community members. Slowly, things are starting to feel more like a routine and I am learning my way around the ranch.
Breakfast was a yummy oatmeal topped with fruit, walnuts, and granola. Our morning began with an intro to the greenhouse, potting soil creation, compost, and an unexpected boom from an explosion/fire by Stinson Beach. Yikes! All calm on the ranch though, and the greenhouse is full of little joys (small strawberries and tomatoes! tiny seedlings of chard!)
The second half of the morning was a training based on BEETLES, which is a UC Berkeley Enviro Education resource. We practiced observation, student/nature centered learning by doing sensory based observations in the garden, focusing with magnifying glasses, taking different vantage points of a tree, and using the "I notice, I wonder, it reminds me of" process for examining a leaf. We also discussed anthropomorphic language use, the careful use of naming and identifying, and pancakes vs waffles.
Lunch was actually catered today! I had a nice vegetarian quinoa wrap, dining by the yurt overlooking the ocean. Soaking in sun.
The afternoon session got us to dive into some Slide Ranch natural and human history, which opened the door for how land-based education needs to reckon with settler colonialism. I'd say this is a work in progress, but am looking forward to discussing more with folks and learning different people's approaches to acknowledging the Coastal Miwok as the first inhabitants of this land and how traditional knowledge and practices is/isn't part of enviro ed. Also how to do social justice work with campers who may not come from diverse backgrounds, especially given our current political/societal moment.
Later afternoon was another hike! We are trying to prepare for camp by practicing social distancing in all activities and imagining what that will be like with kids. Lots of telephone for the hike I think, in order to communication across 60+ feet. I'm enjoying starting to learn more about the plants on the trail: I can now recognize plantain, coyote brush, lupine, field mustard, sticky gumweed, sticky monkeyflower, coastal sage...perhaps more, but that's what I've got for now. We also noticed lots of bird calls, but I am not yet great at identifying those.
I went on a late afternoon run, taking a shortcut that one of the other teachers shared in order to access the trails on the other side of highway 1. I didn't have time to actually take the trail, but I got to the redwood creek trailhead and am excited to head in and get to Muir Woods territory in the future.
I have access to the kitchen now that I am Covid-negative! It was nice to be able to get my own dinner food: delicious chard, fried tofu, salad, zucchini, and potatoes. Meals are also a nice way to get to chat with more of the other community members. Slowly, things are starting to feel more like a routine and I am learning my way around the ranch.
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