Lesson Title: Water Consumption
The goal of the lesson is to encourage students to understand the idea of water consumption and how it affects all living organisms. Students are also encouraged to come up with creative ways to improve water usage. For the lesson, students will be engaged in a lot of group learning and group work guided by the assistance of multiple teachers. Students are divided into two groups for different activities with 5 minutes for each one. One group learn about what water consumption is and the other group review about the water cycle and how different components of it are represented in the environment (droughts, rain shadow effect, and pollution). After spending time discussing and learning about the topics, students are split into small groups where they work together to think about ways to improve water usage. At the end, each group would share to the class about their ideas and explain why it would work.
Going into teaching for EASB, I did not have a lot of expectations about what was going to happen. I constantly told myself to be open-minded and be very flexible in terms what I was teaching. However, I was really nervous to be the first person in my group to teach. I felt that I had to make a good first impression on the students and set the expectations for my other group members. Also, I was the only person on my team who does not know a lot about environmental science or is majoring anything related to the environment. I came into EASB not knowing anything except for knowing how to teach and create lesson plans, After teaching my first class, I felt really confident and had the energy to power through my other classes. Even though I have previous teaching experiences, it was very humbling to be the first person to teach and also getting to observe my other group members who never taught before teach for the very first time. A good teacher is also a good student so I believe that I learned a lot more than I expected. it was awesome getting to listen to how my group members created their lesson plans and learning so much about environmental science.
What I really enjoyed about being in Curlew was the fact that I was surrounded by nature. Coming from Seattle, it felt strange to be in a place that had a lot of trees, mountains, and animals. However, it felt good to be able to get away from the city for a week and to take the time to connect with nature. My team and I spent a lot of time outside because we wanted to experience how nature plays a huge role in the community members’ lives. One of the memorable activities we did together was when we went running on an old railroad track that went on for miles. It was very good to run in nature and to be constantly surrounded by nature. Afterwards, we went back to the school and spent some time swinging on the swings and playing on the playground. Even though these activities were very simple, it felt amazing to be out in nature and a good reminder to all of us how important it is for humans to connect with nature. I forgot how much I enjoyed being outside and I want to get back into doing a lot of nature activities. I believe my experience in Curlew showed me that spending time in nature allows humans to take a break from the fast-moving society and to really enjoy what is right in front of us.
Overall, I am glad that I got the opportunity to teach in Curlew with other people because it was the first time where I spent more time observing other people than teaching myself. It was also my first time where I had to teach about a subject that I did not know a lot about so I had to learn to reach out and depend on my team members for support. I learned a lot about different aspects of environmental science and understood why people like my team members are so invested in caring and advocating for the environment. It was a very humbling experience being able to spend time supporting my other team members in their lesson plans and encouraging them to be excited about teaching. I felt that I was able to use my teaching experiences not to teach but to support my team members throughout the lesson plan development and teaching process. Volunteering with EASB was one of the highlights of my senior year. I learned a lot about the importance of working and relying on other people for support. I also learned that it is okay to not know a lot about something. It is not the amount of knowledge but it is the will and drive to learn that makes up the experience.
The goal of the lesson is to encourage students to understand the idea of water consumption and how it affects all living organisms. Students are also encouraged to come up with creative ways to improve water usage. For the lesson, students will be engaged in a lot of group learning and group work guided by the assistance of multiple teachers. Students are divided into two groups for different activities with 5 minutes for each one. One group learn about what water consumption is and the other group review about the water cycle and how different components of it are represented in the environment (droughts, rain shadow effect, and pollution). After spending time discussing and learning about the topics, students are split into small groups where they work together to think about ways to improve water usage. At the end, each group would share to the class about their ideas and explain why it would work.
Going into teaching for EASB, I did not have a lot of expectations about what was going to happen. I constantly told myself to be open-minded and be very flexible in terms what I was teaching. However, I was really nervous to be the first person in my group to teach. I felt that I had to make a good first impression on the students and set the expectations for my other group members. Also, I was the only person on my team who does not know a lot about environmental science or is majoring anything related to the environment. I came into EASB not knowing anything except for knowing how to teach and create lesson plans, After teaching my first class, I felt really confident and had the energy to power through my other classes. Even though I have previous teaching experiences, it was very humbling to be the first person to teach and also getting to observe my other group members who never taught before teach for the very first time. A good teacher is also a good student so I believe that I learned a lot more than I expected. it was awesome getting to listen to how my group members created their lesson plans and learning so much about environmental science.
What I really enjoyed about being in Curlew was the fact that I was surrounded by nature. Coming from Seattle, it felt strange to be in a place that had a lot of trees, mountains, and animals. However, it felt good to be able to get away from the city for a week and to take the time to connect with nature. My team and I spent a lot of time outside because we wanted to experience how nature plays a huge role in the community members’ lives. One of the memorable activities we did together was when we went running on an old railroad track that went on for miles. It was very good to run in nature and to be constantly surrounded by nature. Afterwards, we went back to the school and spent some time swinging on the swings and playing on the playground. Even though these activities were very simple, it felt amazing to be out in nature and a good reminder to all of us how important it is for humans to connect with nature. I forgot how much I enjoyed being outside and I want to get back into doing a lot of nature activities. I believe my experience in Curlew showed me that spending time in nature allows humans to take a break from the fast-moving society and to really enjoy what is right in front of us.
Overall, I am glad that I got the opportunity to teach in Curlew with other people because it was the first time where I spent more time observing other people than teaching myself. It was also my first time where I had to teach about a subject that I did not know a lot about so I had to learn to reach out and depend on my team members for support. I learned a lot about different aspects of environmental science and understood why people like my team members are so invested in caring and advocating for the environment. It was a very humbling experience being able to spend time supporting my other team members in their lesson plans and encouraging them to be excited about teaching. I felt that I was able to use my teaching experiences not to teach but to support my team members throughout the lesson plan development and teaching process. Volunteering with EASB was one of the highlights of my senior year. I learned a lot about the importance of working and relying on other people for support. I also learned that it is okay to not know a lot about something. It is not the amount of knowledge but it is the will and drive to learn that makes up the experience.