This month, I have been researching outdoor education opportunities to do after my CLM internship. \u00a0I decided that I should first get my feet wet in the field by assisting Park Ranger Julie on a trip to Headwaters Forest Reserve for students from a local elementary school. \u00a0The two major goals of the outdoor education program that I had recently applied for echoed in my head as the school bus arrived:\u00a0 first, help the kids relate to each other and, second, help the kids respect their environment.\u00a0 The bus parked and out poured forty excited, talking, running, climbing kids.\u00a0 One girl came up to me and told me that a person\u2019s attention span is their age, plus two.\u00a0 At the age of 10, her attention span was 12 minutes. \u00a0She asked my age. \u00a023 years old.\u00a0 My attention span is 25 minutes, she told me.\u00a0 Several kids told me that I look like I am 16.\u00a0 Maybe my attention is really 18 minutes. Accomplishing the goals might be easier said than done considering those stats.<\/p>\n
Amid all the chaos, Ranger Julie managed to corral the kids together and focus their attention as she told them about Headwaters.\u00a0 She has 12 minutes, I thought.\u00a0 Our lessons along the trail lasted this amount of time or less, as well. \u00a0Underneath the canopy of old growth redwood trees, I would pick up a feathery needle cast and explain that it was a clue that redwoods were near.\u00a0 I showed them the hilt shape of the base of a fern leaflet, a clue that it was a sword fern.\u00a0 I would pluck a redwood sorrel leaf, hand it to the kids, and then instruct them to rip it in a half, hand it to their neighbor, thank nature for the gift, and then eat it. \u00a0Savor the sour taste. \u00a0Despite my attempts, though, I struggled to maintain their focus for even 2 minutes, let alone 12. \u00a0By the end of the day, the constant complaints from the kids made the three mile hike seem more like a forced death march. \u00a0My lessons were drowned out by endless, scattered, children chatter.<\/p>\n
Were the goals of the hike met?\u00a0 Perhaps not to the extent that I expected, and the experience taught me how little I know about teaching kids about the outdoors.\u00a0 However, I did eavesdrop on a conversation between two students, Shawna and Cole, and noticed how much they related to each other as the conversation passed back and forth easily between them. Their 12 minute attention spans were fully engaged. \u00a0At the end of the hike, Shawna approached me and, in her hand, was a piece of redwood feather.\u00a0 \u201cThis is from a redwood tree, right?\u201d She respectfully returned it to the forest floor.\u00a0 On a small scale, perhaps, the goals were met after all.<\/p>\n
This month, I have been researching outdoor education opportunities to do after my CLM internship. \u00a0I decided that I should first get my feet wet in the field by assisting Park Ranger Julie on a trip to Headwaters Forest Reserve … Continue reading ![\"IMG_1327\"](\"https:\/\/dev-clm-blog.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/IMG_1327.jpg\")
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