Introducing The State of EE

So I've been hinting at a big project that I've been working on and I am pleased to announce that it is finally ready to be released for your listening pleasure! I've been busy working on a new podcast series, The State of EE, which will feature some of the cool environmental education that is happening across the nation. There is so many great environmental education things going on and this is a chance for me to highlight some of the cool things that I've found. Each episode will consist of a few segments highlighting things such as a nature center, residential nature center, a state park, and much much more. There is a lot to explore so the best way is to dive right in!

Still working on a bit more original cover...

The first episode features Delaware and is already posted for your listening pleasure. I will be making a post about this specific episode soon which will include timestamps, sources and some extra cool bonuses that I may have stumbled upon. These state posts will also be sporadically updated with other opportunities and information that I find regarding that particular state. It's going to be a blast and hopefully turn into a great future resource as well!

The eventual goal is to get the series up on iTunes though it will take me some time to figure out RSS. Any tips on that would be really appreciated! For now the series will continue to be posted on Soundcloud until a solution appears. Also, bear with me as I figure out how podcasting works. I am still figuring out the best setup and format so I expect that there will be a bit of variance in the first few episodes as I sort that out. The good news is that I am planning on getting a better microphone soon which I am really excited about!

If you or your nature center would like to be highlighted in an upcoming episode, let me know. So far Twitter and comments below are the best ways to let me know. I'm always looking for ideas or help so contact me and we can work something out.

Episode 1-Delaware: https://soundcloud.com/eenatureguy/the-state-of-ee-delaware

2014: My Year In Review

 "Celebrate what you want to see more of." -Tom Peters

2014 has come to a close and it is the perfect time to reflect on how the past year went. Personally, I had a year that challenged me to step outside of my comfort zone to become a better naturalist. Here are some of the things I did in 2014 in regards to EE:

 -Completed an unpaid internship at an area nature center
 -Graduated from college to earn my B.S.
 -Got First Aid and CPR certified
 -Spent the summer working as a naturalist at the nature center I interned at
 -Worked as a naturalist at a residential ELC

 -Took classes towards my Graduate Certificate in Environmental Education

 -Attended a state naturalist conference
 -Started this blog

I would like to think that I had a pretty successful year. At the very least, it certainly kept me busy! From what I've learned during my adventures of 2014 is that gaining practical experience is key. Make it a priority going into the New Year to try new things and to put yourself in situations that are going to allow you to grow both personally and professionally. Don't be afraid to network and make those important personal connections with fellow naturalists. Who knows, those connections could come in handy and help you land the position you are looking for down the road!

In all, 2014 was one heck of a year. I am really proud of all that I have accomplished so far and I am even more excited what's left to come (including some awesome ideas for this blog!). I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and I look forward to the adventures that are to be had in 2015!

The Best,
eeNatureGuy

Purposefully-Framed Play: A New Spin on an Old Idea

 "Teaching children about the natural world should be seen as one of the most important events in their lives."-Thomas Berry

Part of being an environmental educator is understanding how people learn in order to develop meaningful lessons that resonate with your learners. One theory, experiential learning, was popularized by David Kolb and explains learning as a process of students learning by doing. This theory has since been expanded on and a new theory play-based learning has been developed. This theory expands on Kolb's original ideas and, though geared towards younger learners, is applicable to learners of all ages.

Play-based learning is a theory which explains how children are able to learn through playing, which is both a pedagogical and experiential activity. Cutter-Mackenzie and Edwards (2013) investigated three types of play to try to determine which type of play is the best suited for learning environmental concepts. While there study was geared towards younger children, I believe that it can be applicable to any age groups.

What the authors found “purposefully framed” play was the most effective type of play at getting concepts across. Purposefully framed play provides an opportunity for learners to first explore and try to make connections on their own followed by the teacher modeling and discussing the play. Afterwards this teacher/student interaction the student gets another chance to use the materials again. After participating in purposefully framed play children were able to describe the goals, outcomes, and some conceptual ideas more so than other types of play (Cutter-Mackenzie &Edwards, 2013). The interactions between the teacher/student is really what helps make this type of play meaningful.  

Purposefully-framed play combines open-ended play, modeled play, and teacher/student interactions to enhance the play experience. This method of play best supports environmental education, especially at a young age, by giving a purpose to the play (Cutter-Mackenzie & Edwards, 2013). Engaging in purposefully framed play can also support “deep learning” in that it allows the teachers to engage the students in environmental content by allowing the students to gravitate towards environmental activities of interest (Cutter-Mackenzie & Edwards, 2013). This means that with intentional planning, students can be directed to learning objectives as long as the educator is properly prepared.

This pertains to environmental education not only at a young age but also when working for older learners. This is well illustrated by using the example of using play-based learning to teach a skills such as using a bow drill to start a fire. At the start the students would have a variety of options of skills they could practice. This gives the students a chance to explore and find a skill they are interested in. By first setting out the components of the bow drill students are invited to try to figure out how it works (open-play). After the students experiment with the parts, a demonstration (modeled play) and a discussion afterwards (teacher/student interaction) would give the students an opportunity to not only use the parts of a bow drill in unison as well as explain how the bow drill fire starting method works. This gives them a chance to experiment and form connections on their own. Using this method also gives the educator a chance to do some modeling for the students to help directed their experiences in a way that would help them understand the concepts being covered.

Understanding how play can be used to teach environmental concepts is an important aspect of being an environmental educator. The theory behind purposefully-framed play bridges the pedagogical gap between knowledge and experiential learning by having the experience be guided with knowledge from the teacher (Cutter-Mackenzie & Edwards, 2013). This allows for the students to understand that there is a reason for the play, giving them a chance to connect the outcomes with concepts. Environmental educators should strive to follow a purposefully framed organization for our teaching styles to help link activities to concepts. If not, we run the risk of having the students miss out on concepts altogether.  

Works Cited

Cutter-Mackenzie, A., & Edwards, S. (2013). Toward a model for early childhood environmental education: Foregrounding, developing, and connecting knowledge through play-based learning. The Journal of Environmental Education, 44(3), 195-213.

The Many Facets of Environmental Centers

"In the long term, the economy and the environment are the same thing. If it is unenvironmental it is uneconomical. That is the rule of nature"-Mollie Beattie

There is much more to running a nature center then what meets the eye. The longer I have been and the more time I've spend behind the scenes, the more I've realized that the education component of a center is just one of  many cogs of the machine. This really struck home with me while working on a larger center for a summer where of the full-time positions, 80% of them involved working in something other than teaching. It really takes more than just a teaching component to run a successful nature center, it also takes business, technology, and communication savvy to make things happen.

Diagram of the how each component of a nature center works together

Education
Taking graduate level classes in Environmental Education has helped me to realize that there is so much more to education than stringing together a series of activities related to each other. There is an art as theories and learning models blend together to make a lasting impression on learner of all ages. The best environmental educator are more storytellers or director than a teacher, directing students along a unseen plot in a way that the learning isn't just heard but experienced. That being said, most centers juggle around part-time instructors which during the busy months can be a whirl of scheduling. Of any of the facets of environmental education this component ends up being the the most memorable part of the center but in reality is only one part of it.

Science/Technology
While environmental education has begun to move away from teaching solely science to a more holistic approach, I personally feel that EE centers still have an obligation to science at their core. One great way that centers across world can aid science is by promoting citizen science projects. Some programs, such as the Christmas Bird Counts, can be national projects while other such as local watershed monitoring projects, involve collecting data on a local scale. In many cases, even taking good stewardship of the nature center's land itself teaches scientific knowledge. An aspect which I feel has a tendency to get pushed to the side a bit is technology. Newer technology can sometimes be hard for many centers to adopt as it is expensive and always seems to be changing. Needless to say, technology may be tool nature centers have in connecting students to nature.

Communication
The rise of the age of social media has added a layer of complexity to the communication. Gone are the days where print media ruled. Now, sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even Pinterest have been adopted by many nature centers as they've realized social media is a powerful tool to reach their intended audience. Using social media has allowed for nature centers to reach members where they are as smartphones give the Internet at people's fingertips. While there has been the adoption of online communication, those more traditional forms such as email, newspaper advertisements and even snail mail are still extremely important lines of communication. The key is to keep communications current to fit the attention span of the current culture.

Business/Nonprofit Leadership/Administrative
This side of running a nature center is the one that I am least familiar with this one is arguable the most important. There is a lot that goes into administering a nature center, from talking to donors to grant writing to scheduling events, etc. Add onto that the legal and accounting side running the center and it's enough to make my head spin...

As you can see, the fun part of being of starting off in the EE field is that there are options of what areas you can focus on. While education may be the focus of the center, without the other facets no nature center would be able to run successfully. For this post I decided to stick to shorter descriptions of each. If there's interest, I would be more than willing to post a more in-depth analysis of each.

What part of facet of running a nature center are you most interested in? Let me know in the comments below or on tweet your answer to me @eeNatureGuy!