Back to School!

It's the first day of the new school year for us here in Costa Rica. Given the fresh slate of things, it feels more like the time to make new resolutions than December 31st does.

So we had a family discussion about our goals and resolutions for the coming year and, as a whole, decided we'd like to go a darker shade of green in our lifestyle this year. That includes challenging ourselves to re-use everything.

It started today, with Steve packing the kids lunches in...the clear plastic zipper cases that their new sheets came in yesterday. Michael, starting middle school, decided that "re-use" to him meant sticking with his old beat-up lunch box rather than potentially enduring quizzical stares from his new classmates about his see-through lunch tote. Will climbed out on the limb with Ryan and opted for the sheet packaging.

Sandwiches were wrapped in these nifty napkin-like contraptions that Steve and I picked up at the Go Green Expo in Atlanta this past June. It reminded me of when I lived in Japan nearly 20 years ago and people--women AND men--would bring their bento lunch box to work wrapped in what looked like a woman's hanky. They also wrapped presents with the same type of cloth. It gave me an idea of what to do with the kids' old sheets...

What are YOUR resolutions for the new school year?

"The Best Earth Day Ever!"

Earth Day 2009 in the Jacobus household was declared "the best Earth Day ever" by the kids.

The day kicked off with Steve and I heading off into the rain forest with an additional cameraman and Will's 4th grade class to shoot video for an upcoming Super Natural Adventures segment on the eco-system of the rain forest. What a fulfilling way to recognize Earth Day!

Late in the afternoon, Michael called from school to say his teacher was offering extra credit to kids who went to see Earth, the "new" movie from DisneyNature (who knew Disney had a nature division?? Everyone's getting in on the act!). The movie in fact is the massive documentary Planet Earth re-edited into a kid-friendly, movie-length feature. Those Disney people are SMART.

Normally, a movie on a school night wouldn't be remotely in the cards. But the kids had little homework and we all decided it would indeed be a great way to cap off Earth Day together (after playing outside for while first, of course!). The movie, like the original documentary, was gorgeous, concerning and inspiring. As we watched, each of us was thinking of our own Super Natural Adventures filming and the role we are trying to play to, like Planet Earth/Earth, get kids concerned about the state of the environment but also encourage them to positive action, not despair.

As we walked out of the theater, a massive lighting storm was lighting up the mountains. "Who wants to head up the mountain to check it out?" Steve asked. We were all in!

We drove and drove and drove--higher, darker night, brighter lightning--until we were at an amazing look out point, where we felt closer to the sky than the city far below. The lightning show was a spectacular, wondrous display by Mother Earth of her natural beauty and power. The fact that this was happening on Earth Day wasn't lost on any of us.

As we got back in the car, one of the kids starting singing, "Happy Earth Day to you..." to the tune of happy birthday. We all joined in and the lyrics sounded most poignant as we added the "...and many more!' line at the end of the first verse. We all then had a big laugh as Will started in on Verse 2: "How old are you?"

As we wound our way in the darkness back down the mountain, the conversation turned melancholy, with the kids stating they felt human beings had really messed things up for nature. "Would you be willing to radically--radically!--change your lives to make a difference?" I asked them. Without hesitation, they all chimed, "Yes."

This is how these seeds get planted with the Jacobus Family. Don't be surprised if in a year or so we REALLY have fallen off the grid...

Super Natural Adventures in the Classroom

Now that 2009 is in full swing we can truly appreciate what little free time we have, both as parents and teachers. I know I have my work cut out for me this spring if I want to keep all my proverbial balls in the air. One exciting new project I’m working on is getting Super Natural Adventures into the classrooms of my two youngest sons (or more accurately, getting those children out of the classroom!) Both Michael and Will are going on class field trips this spring and SNA is hopping on board to film their adventures and turn them into segments to post on the website.

Each field trip will be different in the content (and characters) but they will both get the children out of the deductive, structured style of learning they’re all too accustomed to and out into the wild world of inductive education. With inductive learning, children become co-teachers of their lessons as they are able to experience the world first hand and draw their own conclusions.

What ‘s interesting about inductive learning is that teachers don’t need to give the children information in the form of answers, but rather questions that allow them to process and interpret that information for themselves. In short, the teacher is helping the students learn on their own. In the article, “The Many Faces of Inductive Teaching and Learning” by Michael Prince and Richard Felder, it is stressed that internalization of information occurs when children are able to connect what they’re learning in the classroom to the outside world. (Cue SNA video clip…)

Super Natural Adventures is a perfect example of inductive learning and can be used in any classroom for any age group. Simply determine which unit of your lesson fits in with the SNA content (i.e. environmental issues, ecosystems, animals, and the list goes on…) and plan a field trip with your students to explore and learn first hand. The kids will be in charge of researching the content, developing a story line and ultimately shooting the video. And the real bonus is that once they post the video online, they’re able to share their experience with the rest of the world, which gets them more than a little enthusiastic about doing the project!

Let me know what video ideas your class comes up with!