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Home » Empowering Learners 2016 » Filed notes 03/27/16

Filed notes 03/27/16

By jzhou
March 27, 2016 - 18:26
jzhou's picture
Ahmed

Field notes 03/25/16

 

What:

This week all children were on spring break, so I went to farm this Friday. In the beginning, we plucked out the weeds in the soil and raked the infield dirt.  I went to get some topsoil and spread them out on the field. Then, we planted some green beans in two rows with each of them 2 inches apart. Afterwards, one person was watering the field when I helped packed the soil to support the root and put away black bags. In the end, the teacher told us that we could stop by and get some veggies if we stay here in the summer.

 

So what:

It was a brand new experience and I have zero knowledge about gardening either in Chinese or in English. This situation really forced me to ask questions and express my uncertainty to people. I cannot pretend to understand by conjecturing from the context and fill in my own understanding and experience.

 

Now what:

I would like to know more about gardening terminology and how this experience would enrich children’s learning and development.

 

 

Comments

alesnick's picture

Submitted by alesnick on March 27, 2016 - 19:50

I appreciate your bravery in being clear about not knowing, which I believe is the beginning of wisdom.  I also appreciate your "now what." 

jgu's picture

Submitted by jgu on March 28, 2016 - 16:01

I really like your "So What" part. You connects your experience with the materials and discussions in our class. You bring the concept into real life and understand it through experience. 

Mmacdougall's picture

Submitted by Mmacdougall on March 28, 2016 - 20:59

I think your uncertainty about gardening terms fits in a bit with my general experience in my field placement. Though I generally have a handle on what exactly is happening, I am not always sure I have grasped the culture or the terminology of my school. It is comforting (? not sure this is the right word?) to see that I am not alone in my uncertainty,even if yours is not coming from working directly with students. 

Your experience here, without the students present, really embodies for me this idea of empowering learners. You are using your own learning to pave a path for your students who can find growth and enrichment in the space of things you are actively learning. 

sidsiddiqui's picture

Submitted by sidsiddiqui on March 28, 2016 - 23:16

I really also appreciate your confusion and not knowing about this experience. I feel like theres a lot of new stuff that we learn in fieldwork and that is so important to our experience for class and for education as a whole. It's important to realize that you can learn something new every day.