Piping Plover

I woke up today fortunately feeling better than the previous day.  I got a little ahead of myself thinking that I could jog with Kira.  Although I appreciated the beautiful scenery and the fresh, cool air, I soon realized I wasn't quite ready for any amount of activity over sitting around with a cup of coffee this early in the morning; our run quickly became a walk.   The neighboring houses surrounding the community college were stunning and reminded me of movie settings in New England: beautiful, colonial style homes with washed wood siding and lawns spilling with foliage and flowers.  We made our way to the beach and watched the dogs run free across the beach and into the water.  We made it back to our room just in time for me to lay down for a few extra minutes before breakfast.  I still needed a little recuperation time.
    After a breakfast of oatmeal and a blueberry muffin (Maine blueberries?), we headed downstairs for our morning workshop.  This is the workshop that has led me to you---my platform on the WWW through the Piping Plover.  We began the workshop working in teams to design a site map or mind map of Fading Footprints on chart paper.  Carol, Nicole, and I looked at Fading Footprints from both the expedition view as well as a web design view.  A share session followed from all the teams, and we were able to learn more about how others approached the same assignment and interpreted Fading Footprints.
    Following the site map acitivity, we jumped right into creating our web pages for our bird species.  David walked us through a few details, and we were off.  The format was created, and I researched to fill in information on the Piping Plover.  So far, I think I have all the necessary components in place, but will need to complete these daily reflections. 
    I shared lunch in the campus cafeteria with Kira, Ashli, Robin, and for a short time, Leah.  There are several nice breaks within our day to enjoy each other's company as well as make new friends. 
    We were all very excited after lunch to experience David Sparks of Sparks Ark.  I tried my best to video document the experience using the 5 shots we learned yesterday, but was still able to enjoy David's funny stories of his experiences protecting wildlife found by both himself and others in the Portland community.  He shared with us a few animals under his care: a flying squirrel, a box turtle (endangered in Maine), a skunk (de-skunked) a chinchilla, a sparrow fawn (born on the 4th of July), a barred owl (GO OAKHURST--hoot-hoot!), and a gigantic boa (that Kira, Robin, and Raka had wrapped around their shoulders).  It was wonderful learning from David's expertise, and I enjoyed hearing first-hand about  providing safe environments for these animals to thrive.  Best of all, us Oakhurst girls were able to get some great camera shots with the barred owl to take back to Decatur.
    The rain began pouring outside as we transitioned to our first art class with Ellen.  We went through the process of griding our bird photos supplied by Ellen, and moved into creating our own gridded rendition.  We finished off the long, but relaxing process with a carbon copy of our bird drawing on watercolor paper.  I am really looking forward to learning the watercoloring techniques Ellen has to share with us.  Painting is not something I am very experienced in, and based on the products and tips Ellen shared with us today, I know that I will take away some valuable information.  I can't wait to see what everyone's final painting will look like.
    I escaped to the room I am sharing with Kira after the art session for some rest time.  After a needed phone call home, I used the rest of the time before dinner to read my novel and take a brief nap.  Just what I needed.
    Dinner was tasty and enjoyed in the KcKernan center with a beautiful view of the sail boats tethered across the rocky shore.  The weather was brisk outside, but the girls and I walked --------Okay, thank goodness David just looked over my shoulder and said that my thoroughness wasn't really that necessary.  Whew, because I sure didn't want to write this much for each day.  All right, on to the teaching connections...

The first thought I had as we began dissecting Fading Footprints in regard to product was backward design.  It emphasized the importance of effective planning for a more meaningful learning experience focused around the guiding questions and an authentic product design.  Throughout the workshops thus far, I have really focused on the shortcomings of my team's expedition, with specific attention to planning and product design.  I am hoping that as this week progresses, I can walk away from this summit feeling confident on planning future expeditions that capture meaningful learning for each student that can be shared with an authentic audience through effective product design.

Each day seems is so packed with learning experiences that when I reflect on what we have done so far, it seems like so long ago, when actually it may have just been this morning.  Today included a visit to Kennebunk Port in which we observed and learned about Maine's endangered shorebirds, the piping plover and least tern, from the Maine Audobon Society.  Joy and Jordan took us along the beach and pointed out nesting areas, the different species, and conservation efforts. 
    In the afternoon, the group read an article on the design of Fading Footprints as an expedition.  This left a valuable opportunity to look at some of the bones of this expedition and reflect on our own third grade team expedition.  I am going to save those thoughts for my teaching connections reflection.
    The afternoon of watercolor technique was both valuable in direction, but also draining in the amount of patience and effort required.  I attempted to do my best work, but quickly lost interested.  I hope that I can muster up more patience for my final bird painting. Hmmm...

The most valuable part of this summit so far has been the article and following discussion.  I was able to really reflect on how we (the 3rd grade team) can modify or rewrite our expedition for the upcoming school year.  Although mentioned previously that I know that we need more intensive planning, the criteria and details laid out in the article gave a framework that we can start to develop out own curriculum around.  I am really looking forward to the workshop when David and Scott will share the baby steps they took their students through to create the quality product of their expedition.  My hope is that as a team, we are able to create an expedition (maybe 2) that are well planned to execute meaningful learning and represent it in a real-life product.

We had a beautiful morning on Scarborough Marsh.  Linda, a member of the Maine Audobon Society, took the group on a canoe tour around the brackish marsh.  We had a brief information session on the wildlife of the marsh, and were fortunate enough to have a perfect, serene morning with several bird sightings.  The marsh visit was not only informative, but also a valuable reminder of the natural beauty around us that we all must work to protect.

I think one of the most valuable pieces I took away from today aside from being sure I prioritize more time to be surrounded by and observe nature, is to plan rich field experiences for my students.  I want to make sure that I prepare my kids for these learning experiences with true objectives and expectations on what information my students should walk away with.  I also want to emphasize their role as professionals.

I spent most of the day working on the computer.  I used the time today to edit some video (which I probably won't finish), load up some pics (check them out on my account ), and construct a concept page on technology with Nicole and Melanie.  I also finished by bird.  I truly enjoyed the watercolor.  I think this is definitely a skill I learned this week that I hope to continue for just personal enjoyment.

I love all of the hard copies of planning and assessment sheets we recieved today.  I know that once I can sift through the paperwork, I will have awesome examples to modify for my own use in the classroom.  I am really excited to get on the ball and begin planning our expedition as well as other units this school year.

To be honest, I have really enjoyed this summit and have learned a lot, but I am more than ready to go home.  I miss my family.  Seeing the beautiful beach and surrounding scenery is making me anxious to enjoy what is around me and be done with all the work the summit brings with it.  Composing the content pages was a valuable experience because we had to synthesize the information we have learn, and I enjoyed seeing everyone's work, but I am over it at this point.  Keeping everything within context, I am ready to move on to something else...like going to read a book on the beach.

To see what I have learned on technology, check out the technology web page under the index.  I use a lot of technology in my classroom, but hope to improve my website design capabilities by learning more about writing code and functioning successfully with software like Dreamweaver.