So far this year, Zoe, Diana and I have talked extensively about the SOP experience and the innards of the program. I realized the other day that we have not however, discussed what we like to call our “off weeks”. As we have already stated, after our month long, extensive training all twenty-nine grads are split into two cohorts. After the split we begin to rotate back and forth between weeks in the field and weeks “off”. Prior to arriving at Islandwood I tried so hard to imagine what this experience would be like and what I was getting myself into! I came up with many different scenarios in my mind, none of which were actually the case. It is hard to imagine a program that has so many different layers to unfold and interpret.


I would like to dedicate this portion of the blog to the elusive “off weeks”.
What are the happenings? What are we held accountable for? What do you have to look forward to? On Monday of our “off week” you and your cohort attend something we like to call, “Super Monday” from 12-2. “Super Monday” is an offshoot of the classes that you are taking that quarter. It is up to the Ed team to decide which class to dedicate those two hours to. (Don’t you love homophones?) This past Tuesday, Cohort B, (The Tiny Horses) galloped down to the pond on that rather chilly, yet sunny day to do a pre-lesson for an Arts Integration course that we will be taking next quarter with Professor Hillary. She read us a perspective story, which in this case was from the perspective of a Big Leaf Maple seed. Later, we were asked to write our own perspectives story, finding something around the pond to inspire us. No activity would be complete at Islandwood without a mind map so that is exactly what we did. We shared our perspective stories and determined what elements in the stories were abiotic, biotic and cultural. This activity was excellently modeled, a regular occurrence on “Super Mondays” and is a much anticipated activity to try in the field.


Thankfully, Tuesday and Wednesday are left free for us to complete homework for that week’s classes and the next week’s classes as you will not have any time to do homework during your SOP weeks. You are also required to visit your liason school on your “off week”. While visiting your liason school you might do a parent presentation, student presentation or teach a lesson. You may be asked to do all three depending upon the level of involvement that the classroom teacher prefers.


On Thursday, all cohort members return to the grad classroom at 9am for “lab time”. “Lab time” is similar to “Super Monday” because it is up to the Ed team to decide which class those three hours will be devoted to. At 12 you are set free to run errands, complete homework or rest until 6pm when the other cohort joins you. Class will ensue from 6-9 on Thursday night and will pick up again at 9:30am the following morning. At 4:30pm our weekend begins. The weekends for many of us include quite a bit of babysitting and homework completion. Others might take a trip to Seattle and others venture even further. No matter your pleasure, you will enjoy your weekend tremendously knowing on Monday, your adventure begins again!

Beautiful pictures taken by Minna at the bog at one of our "Super Monday" classes!

Bog Cranberries, Team-Teaching, Tiny Horses and Thanksgiving!

The last couple weeks have held many exciting activities!

For Cohort B's Super Monday session (a bi-weekly 2-hour supplemental training), we got to explore IslandWood's bog for the first time! A bog is a very delicate ecosystem, so we only teach our students about it from the edges, but for our Super Monday session, we were led through it by two of our prime naturalist instructors, Karen and Greg. We donned our rubber boots and rain gear, and braved the pouring skies to learn more about this rare and exciting ecosystem! In pairs, we became experts on different bog plant species then took turns teaching other pairs about our plant in Each One Teach One style, a teaching method we use often with students since it empowers them to share their knowledge with others.

My partner, Minna, and I became experts on the bog cranberry, a species of wild cranberry that grows in bogs throughout the Pacific Northwest. It was interesting to learn about the cultural uses of the bog cranberry in native tribes and how to distinguish it from the mountain cranberry.

We had a blast snacking on juicy, and sometimes sour, little cranberries as we taught our peers about their unique characteristics and helped them pick prime berries to taste. We then continued our trek through the soggy bog to learn about other plant species from our fellow grads, sometimes sinking up to our knees in the wet sphagnum moss. The whole bog experience was certainly a memorable one spent learning, laughing, and absolutely loving our job as outdoor educators.

Last week was supposed to be another solo-teaching week for Cohort B, but one of the schools that was scheduled to come had to drop out because their administration decided to cancel all field trips this fall to limit any potential exposure to swine flu, so most of us ended up team-teaching since there were fewer kids than expected. I had the opportunity to teach with my friend Jenn who was a middle school science teacher for two years before coming to IslandWood. We were  the leaders of Team Ravine, and boy did we have a blast! Our kids were excited about everything we did and always had interesting and thoughtful comments to add to group discussions. I was able to try out a new approach for facilitating the Community Agreement (a set of guidelines for the week that the kids come up with for themselves) at the beginning of the week and had much success. I also led a really thought-provoking discussion and exploration at the Blakely cemetery, focusing on how much the people who are no longer with us can teach us about the history of the place where they lived. I'm always impressed with how respectful and pensive the children are when exploring the cemetery. They don't hesitate to delve into questions of how the people died, how old they were when they died, who they are buried with, and what kinds of lives they led when they were alive. Those are just a couple highlights of what turned out to be a very enjoyable week. Even though Jenn and I had different teaching styles, we learned a lot from each other, and were kept laughing the whole time by our enthusiastic and humorous kiddos.

Team Ravine having a W.A.M.!

(Water Appreciation Moment)

On the last day of every teaching week, it is tradition for all the instructors to dress up with some kind of theme. Past themes have included pajama day, sunglasses in the rain, awkward tuck day, and 80s hairdo day. Cohort A even did one where they all wore unicorn horns that they had individually decorated with ribbons, glitter, and paint since their cohort's mascot is the unicorn.

Not to be outdone, this week Cohort B decided to show off the extreme pride we have for our mascot, the Tiny Horse (lonnng story involving deer tracks resembling tiny horse hoof prints...), so I made everyone "Tiny Horse Bling" using my childhood collection of My Little Ponies and horse figurines. Each team-teaching pair picked out their own tiny horse necklace, then we sported our tiny horse bling with prideful grins the whole day!

Cohort A doing our Tiny Horse gallop!

(we're obviously the coolest people you know...) 

At the end of the short teaching week, I got bigs hugs from all of my Team Ravine kids as they boarded the bus, waved goodbye as they pulled out of the parking lot, had an interesting debrief lunch with the rest of Cohort B and our mentors, then jumped in the car with my fellow grad, Kelly to drive down to Portland for Thanksgiving!

It was my first Thanksgiving home since high school because I went to college in Ohio and could never fly back west just for the weekend, and a perfect Thanksgiving it was. I truly have so much to be grateful for in my life! Lots of delicious food, wonderful times with family, long talks with friends, contra dancing, hot tubbing, game-playing, and pet cuddling filled the long weekend. I even baked a gluten-free pecan pie and two gluten-free pumpkin pies with gingersnap crusts from scratch! Now I'm rejuvenated for another three weeks of teaching, studying, and exploring before winter break!

A Windy Week in the Woods

Another SOP teaching week has passed us by, leaving the EEC grads exhausted but enthusiastic about how much we've accomplished and learned since our arrival here, now nearly three months ago. Cohort A was joined this week by Madrona Elementary and Bailey Gatzert Elementary, two schools whose students crossed the Sound via ferry to engage in a week of exploration and discovery.


Like all teaching weeks here at IslandWood, this week brought with it enough challenges to test even the most experienced of teachers. Before the sun set on day one, high winds threatened the night hike, an evening activity that involves leading field groups through forest trails without the assitance of flashlights and head lamps. For the students, there is always a mixed reaction to the night hike; some are intimidated by the forest's shadows and seemingly never-ending darkness, while others embrace the challenge and eagerly await the opportunity to experience the outdoors like never before. On this day, though, mother nature breathed down heavily upon us, and the night hike was suspended due to the possibility of high winds. Red Alder trees are notorious for falling during wind storms, and because the night hike's setting embodies a vast forest dotted with Alders, IslandWood staff decided to make safety a priority and consequently adjusted the activity. Field groups played games and participated in typical night hike activities, but all was done in the safety of open fields near campus buildings. Later, several groups ventured inside various campus buildings and continued the evening under the veil of dark classrooms, using only dimly-lit candles for light during storytelling. Although perhaps not ideal, the night hike activities challenged the EEC field instructors to think quickly on their feet, an attribute of which we are all learning the importance.

Each week, two field groups are lucky enough to be able to participate in an activity called Dirt to Dinner. Students are able to work with IslandWood kitchen staff to help prepare meals and snacks for their fellow students using homegrown ingredients, many of which come from IslandWood's own garden. It's a great opportunity for students to learn about what grows in their own back yards and how to buy and cook with local goods. This week's student chefs cooked up quite a feast with a little help from IslandWood staff.

In an exciting twist, this week also saw the creation of a new indoor evening program called Science Fair. The indoor evening program is completed by half of the field groups, while the other half go out in the woods for the night hike. Then, the following evening, the groups switch venues so that everyone is able to complete both the indoor program and the night hike. This week's new creation was credited to Kate and Emily Jane, the school liaisons. The liaisons are EEC grads who take a week off from teaching to take charge of coordinating all of the group activities and behind-the-scenes logistics. The Science Fair program encouraged groups of students to move between various stations and experiment with common household products to gain a better understanding of important scientific principles. It was great to see students engaged in scientific understanding using everyday objects in a way that really reasonated with them. It helped them learn that science is everywhere and that they are scientists, too. Kudos to Kate and Emily Jane for the extended effort!

As always, the week wrapped up with the Wednesday evening campfire at the Friendship Circle, the usual group meeting spot for morning meetings before groups are released for field study. Both schools brought a host of talent this week, with performances that included singing, dancing and poetry reading. It is custom to end the campfire with a slideshow of photos taken throughout the week. The photos show the various field groups engaged in lessons and activities during their stay here at IslandWood, and the night never fails to create excitement within the crowd. Emotions are high as students lament the thought of going home the following morning. It reminds us, the field instructors, why we're here.

For the EEC grads, emotions run high, too, as the holidays draw near. Several grads will be making the long trek home this week and next to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends and family. There are a handful, though, that will stay here and celebrate with our new IslandWood family. We'll have all the usual fixings and a guaranteed good time.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Roughing it in the Woods!

Thank you for visiting! During the past two weeks an amazing amount of growth has taken place. I was fortunate enough to have a partner in crime last week. Danielle, a fellow grad and I team taught, sharing lessons and ideas and inspiring each other to be better instructors in the field. We, (many Cohort Survivor grads) were faced with an incredibly challenging group, a face that presented itself early in our week. The team teaching experience was exemplary, (while not every grad agrees, there are many who welcome the comrade). The support during scheduling and lesson planning was so helpful and the debrief sessions at the end of every day contributed to the maintenance of sanity during the moments of exertion.

A riveting game of tornado in team Marsh pulled a Red Alder from standing to permanently reclined. The incident resulted in a terrified instructor and an unharmed, thoroughly amused student. The majority of the teams seemed to move slower this week and accomplish less in the short time that we have with the students. It is amazing to see the differences between each group that you work with. If you are not familiar with a KWL chart, you will be after a week in the field! Each group has different interests, varied previous experience/knowledge and an array of strengths and areas for improvement. Oddly enough, consistency and flexibility seem to be two of the most important factors to remember and embrace while in the field.

Tuesday night was the most amazing night hike yet. Flashlight-less instructors led their groups through dark, canopy covered trails with a full moon shining down through the branches. A few groups were fortunate enough to witness a meteor dancing through the sky. For many of them it was a first and “life changing” experience. The week continued with challenges and successes. The team’s course is an incredibly enormous moment for the students, teachers, and chaperons. The students are given planning time and after, are invited to attempt the challenge that has been presented to them. Often times they struggle with kindness and tone of voice but it makes for a wonderful debrief afterward.

This past week we did not have any student visitors as all schools in Seattle had Wednesday off to celebrate Veterans Day. Don’t worry though, we were not left without anything to do and a full week to make trouble. Instead we spent the week reviewing the enduring understandings and revisiting classes and projects that may have been put on the back burner because of the intensity of the SOP program. One of the most insightful moments was when three alumni came to speak with us on Tuesday. They shared their experiences both at Islandwood and at the UW. The advice was much appreciated by all of the grads and gave us an idea of what to look forward to and plan for.

Cohort Unicorns welcomed a brand new group of kids off of the buses today. For the next four days they will be imparting their knowledge and love for this beautiful place. Good luck galloping grads!

A Halloween Bash and a Fun Liaison Week

Firstly, I want to let everyone know about my personal blog that I'm keeping in addition to this official EEC one. The link is at the top of the list in the right-hand column, but I'll put it here for ease as well: IslandWood Endeavors. I write longer entries on that site that are more specific to my life here at IslandWood and post many more pictures. You are all welcome to follow that blog too, if you'd like!

The amount that is accomplished in a single week here never fails to amaze me. Teaching, learning, and fun make up the trio of elements that somehow manages to always pack itself into 7 days, leaving me weary but filled with eager anticipation to do it all again the very next week.

Last weekend, after the Pumpkin Carving Party that Diana described in the previous entry, the grads threw a raucous Halloween party in the Commons. The costumes were creative to say the least, including a roller skating tooth fairy (my fellow blogger, Ally), multiple characters from the Rattlin' Bog song (a tree, a tick, a Douglas squirrel), Malice-in-Wonderland (Alice gone bad...), School Overnight Program leftover queen (graham crackers, pretzel sticks, corn chips, oh my!), Green Peace, a flamingo, and a giant banana. Needless to say, we had a grand ol' time and danced, sang, and laughed into the wee hours of the night as our jack-o-lanterns carved the previous evening glowed around us.

Last week was my first week liaisoning, a term we've coined here at IslandWood for lack of a better one to describe being on active liaison duty for a week of the School Overnight Program (SOP). Roxhill Elementary, the school that I've built a liaison relationship with through leading an IslandWood orientation presentation for the students, teaching pre-lessons about ecosystems, and running an informational meeting for the parents, all at their school in West Seattle, finally brought their 5th graders for their week at IslandWood.  This meant that I, along with two other grads whose liaison schools were here also, were the go-to leaders of the week for the schools' teachers, chaperones, students, and IslandWood instructors. Our responsibilities were varied, from jumping on the buses when the students first arrived to get them pumped up about the week, to helping pass out rain jackets and fleece hats to students who needed to borrow them, to leading songs about decomposers, banana slugs and moose every morning and evening, to running Wednesday night campfire, to delivering special food to kids with dietary restrictions in the dining hall, to making sure everyone had what they needed at all times.

It was a big job to say the least, but immensely enjoyable since all of the kids knew my name, shouted greetings to me whenever I passed, and begged me to sing songs with them whenever they saw me on the trails or around campus.  Being a liaison was certainly a different role than being an instructor. I had to lead more than 100 kids at a time during Friendship Circle gatherings, evening programs, and the campfire as opposed to only being in charge of 7-12 kids as an instructor, but it wasn't nearly as scary as my nerves had built it up to be before the week started. I gained many large group management skills and learned to love the thrill of debriefing activities with a huge group and singing like my life depended on it with the voices of all those kids joining in.

Especially inspiring was the professional development session that the liaisons did with the teachers on Wednesday morning.  It's a time when the teachers can hear about ideas IslandWood has for continuing projects and environmental lessons back at their schools with the help of their liaisons. Two of the three teachers that were here last week attended the session and the ideas that flew around the room during the three hour session were so encouraging! Plans for community improvement projects, school composting systems, and neighborhood native plant guides were all discussed, and even more exciting were the plans that were made between the two teachers from different schools to bring the students from one school to the other school for a field trip to explore a local bog, do a nature-themed art project, and learn about the student-run recycling and compost program they have.  The teachers were so thrilled with this plan they could hardly contain themselves and the liaison from the other school and myself can't wait to join them for this joint school adventure! It made saying goodbye to the kids at the end of the week a whole lot easier since I could say that I was going to see them in just two weeks for more environmental fun!

That's basically the report for now. I spent the weekend visiting family in Portland (just 4 hours away!) and am now back for a week of midterm professional development, filled with lots of interesting trainings and classes. I also have a sniffly cold, but what do you expect from an educator who's around a different batch of kids every week in the drizzly Pacific Northwest? ; )