Goodbye Gardens? Shifting Focus 2022 to 2023

 While excited about this year and the opportunities and  challenges it presents, I have been reflecting on the work I did last year, but did not blog about. 

 Teaching after Covid Lockdowns in 2022  presented many restrictions and I  pivoted quickly to an almost totally outside learning environment teaching in the very well ventilated gardens of the school.

 The above screenshot is a snapshot of the opportunities that this disrupted and different  teaching environment provided. It is a spreadsheet of all the crops planted, when, by which class and where. It was a very helpful use of technology when trying to manage sixteen gardens.

I have always been keen to get our school gardens flourishing, literally and as learning resource. 2022 gave me the opportunity to show the students and staff the value of food producing gardens. I received positive feedback from many staff, and most importantly, a commitment from them to take control of  teaching with their gardens now that I am back inside.

I will still continue to support teachers with their gardens and look into where the CoL cohort's interests may intersect with the gardens. 

 

CoL 2023: First Day Feed-forward from Student Technician

 I had wondered over the summer holidays how many of prospective students I had talked to about the  CoL initiative would remember this group which we had named 'The Technicians'.

As I passed some kids in the hall and asked them whether they'd had a good holiday one replied, "Yes!  Can I still be a Technician this year?"

Seeing this student show up on  the first day of school was a great to see, their anticipation and  enthusiasm for our endeavour was a real bonus and great way to start the year! 

Ipu Wai for the Gardens

.                                          

Over the holidays I thought  about how I could help our students keep their gardens watered. I bought every classroom an Ipu Wai  (Watering Can) and decided to permanently label them.

I used a mix of ancient technology- stencils, 20th century media- spray paint,  and 21st century technology- our laser cutter. I look forward to students using these both in the garden and as an example of how to use design and technologies to improve  everyday objects, especially with my CoL cohort.

Painting with a stencil and spray paint under time pressure helped me think about how I will work with my Technicians.

It looks easy, and the results are great but there are so many moving parts to take into consideration- especially when working with potentially dangerous materials!