journal entry from Boys & Girls club and the farm

Went to the farm with the Hawks and Falcons today. We are going to show and tell about potatoes. The Hawks are 4 and 5 year old youngsters and are like a gaggle of geese. Young volunteer Mr. O'Brien is very good with these young people. We had to find potato plants with them and after Mr. Curtis dug the mounds, the children counted and collected the potatoes.

Our goal for the day, according to Mr. Curtis, was to plant a memory in their minds about where and how the food they eat is produced. There is mud, and bugs and weeds and sweat and work involved before food gets to the table. One of the little children was very afraid of dogs. There were four puppies that followed us around. I was surprised that one of the senior staff was very opinionated about how this little girl, blubbery and crying was supposed to "get over it now, or sit on the bus..." Very little compassion, but on the other hand, there are a lot of kids to manage.

For the Falcons, 2nd and 3rd graders, we spent some more talking/lecturing time. We told the children to use the scientific method with potatoes. Observe:, How do potatoes grow? Where is the "seed" potato that we planted earlier? How long does a potato need to grow before we choose to harvest?. How many potatoes were harvested on average from each plant? Why did some plants have more potatoes than other plants in the row?

It was fun to put some fresh onions and green beans with the potatoes and talk about how to make a meal. The objective was to start an internal conversation within each child about where and how food gets to their table. Students get to take some of the produce home. We presented a contest for the best story/paragraph for each student to attempt. The prize will be lunch at McDonald's on Friday. The topic of the story was to relate to our experiences at the farm this day.

2nd time at Boys and Girls clubs

Wow, I had a ton of fun at the park with the Hawks. The bus was broken so we couldn't complete the expected DragonFly project at the farm. I was impressed with the ability of staff to innovate and figure something else to do. I accompanied the staff and volunteers to a small park behind the community police station. Miss Sheri, another educator, and Mr. Curtis the farm owner conducted 3 mini-lessons to the kids before they could play on the playground.

1. Baby potatoes, seed potatoes and how potatoes grow from the "mama" potato
2. How to say your name when asked by a teacher or some one in authority. "My name is....Scott McCloud."
3. How to spell your name accurately when asked. For example, I would have to spell my name by saying, " Capital S, cee, oh, tee, tee, capital M, cee, Capital C, ell oh, you, dee."

My thoughts and fears before this first engagement paused and retrenched my opinions of this activity. Like many humans, any new experience with an institution and community that has already been established elevates my anxiety. They have a way of doing things and a way of looking at the world. As a stranger, I am either going to blend in and minimize disruption to the existing community or I am going to upset the apple cart so to speak. I absolutely was afraid that I would be an unwelcome intrusion even though I was part of an expected group. This tension between wanting to be successful in the endeavor and not wanting to be a disruption to the existing norm is important for teachers to monitor and work through.

Miss Sheri and Mr. Curtis put their stamp on the kids. They had specific objectives and behaviors that they expected and where not shy about pushing the Hawks to perform. I want to get to this level of comfort and authority, but will never have the time with these students to pull this off with affection rather than autocratic rule. It was clear that the Hawks liked the staff and volunteers. Especially Mr O.

I am going to continue with the Hawks and the dragonfly project on Tuesdays and Thursdays.