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After our last class together I was inspired to think about ways that I can change, enhance, or improve on my work with our natural areas with our students. During Michael's presentation he spoke about "rock" as a being and an entity unto itself (Michael Glenney, personal communication, December 3rd, 2019). I found myself reflecting on that idea and wondering what would change with my students interaction if we changed our language from "the pond", to "pond".  Since our class meeting I have also been pondering the ideas presented by Carla and how her students named the tree "Rosie" (Carla Kirch, personal communication, December 3rd, 2019). Both of the rock and Rosie experiences have made me flip back and forth between what it means to name something and how that might build connection for students. It has been percolating in my brain in relation to my own work. I have been thinking about how the act of naming something can build connection, but can also perhaps impact the true identity, or being of that artifact.

What I see here is that my journey is not over, it has just begun. I have a lot more to learn and time to do it. I believe that this cartography will be an ongoing project for me. I also think I would like to use this idea in my classroom and see what ideas my students will come up with. A re-connecting with our natural spaces is not over when this course ends, this is just the beginning for us.

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(anonymous, personal communication. December 2nd, 2019)

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(anonymous, personal communication. December 2nd, 2019)

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(anonymous, personal communication. December 2nd, 2019)

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(anonymous, personal communication. December 2nd, 2019)

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(anonymous, personal communication. December 2nd, 2019)

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(anonymous, personal communication. December 2nd, 2019)

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How Would a World Without Wildlife Affect People?
What are the roles of plants, animals and humans in our natural world? Has this changed over time?
Does wildlife/nature impact my quality of life?
Who is responsible for protecting wildlife?
What is the responsibility of the individual in connection with the environment?

Are there consequences for being unconcerned with protecting natures balance?

How does the loss of one species impact the remaining species?

What role do humans have in species conservation?

Is it inevitable that some wildlife species will become extinct for human development to progress?

What is the role of the zoo in protecting animal species?

What do humans gain from having a diverse animal population?

Who is responsible for protecting wildlife from extinction?

How do other cultures/groups of people interact with wildlife?

Do animals have rights and are they being met?

Why is it important to care about habitat preservation?

How are plants and animals important to one another?

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Upon starting this cartography project I was drawn to putting images from my professional experiences together. This provided me for a way to overcome the idea of "aletheia" and have truth built within my images at the same time. I wanted you to be able to see all three images together to support the idea of connection.  While I want you to be able to view the images and take away whatever learning you make, I also had a certain intention when putting the images together. I want you to be able to see the connections to our shared history, our curriculum and place as it currently lives in my classroom.

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Literature that supports our "Re-Wilding"

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Literature that supports our "Re-Wilding"

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"Our languages are not lost, simply resting, waiting to be reawakened" Twin Flames (2019)

This is a video of my grade 3 class listening to an elder speak about the loss of language his culture has experienced. When he was done speaking, and thanks to the work of our amazing music teacher, my class independently sang to him "O Canada"  in Blackfoot-the language of his people. It was a powerful moment and brought tears to his eyes. It is a moment that I experienced the bringing together of cultures and the power we can have when we equip our youth with more knowledge than we had.

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"A free person tells her own story. A valued person lives in a society in which her story has place" 

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"A free person tells her own story. A valued person lives in a society in which her story has place" 

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Rebecca Solnit
(Aguilar, 2018, p. 83)

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"We believe that education is richer, for all involved, if the natural world and the many denizens that co-constitute places, are actively engaged with, listened to, and taken seriously as part of the education process" (Jickling et al. 2018, p.80)

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Exploring Curricular Connections- Pedagogy 

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Exploring Curricular Connections- Pedagogy 

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"What should the curriculum contain?...What is the best way to organize these contents?" (Egan, 2003, p.11)
There is no way for me to interact with these images and the cartography project without highlighting the importance of the questions posed by Egan. As our professional obligations dictate we do have to teach the curriculum for our grade as it is outlined in the program of studies. I think that the power for teachers is in being aware of what is included, or absent from curriculum and looking at how it is connected.

I see the space for natural provocations and explorations with the curriculum and make the time for that experience with my students. The image below has sketches of natural artifacts from our pond. Our students spent time looking closely at the artifacts, making observations, matching up each others drawings to sticks and then exploring how other cultures may interact with those same artifacts. While this activity is not implicitly expressed in the curriculum in does encompass many of the ideas from language arts, science, math, art and social studies.
Figure B: Visual Journal (personal collection, 2019)

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Connecting to our Shared History- Heritage 

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Connecting to our Shared History- Heritage 

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"Sometimes to go forward you have to go back to the beginning" (Donald, 2015, p.73)

A large learning take away for me from this course and our summer course has been around my lack of knowledge about Indigenous ways of knowing. I was educated in a time where the Indigenous views and experiences were not readily shared in mainstream education.  This awareness has challenged me to deepen my understanding and to go back and re-learn. This has also provided me with opportunities to bring knowledge and experience to my students in a new way. I heard Tim Fox speaking at a PD session and he kept saying "shared history" (personal communication, November 16th, 2019) and this stuck out for me. So often we speak about history as if it happened to other people, or is only the story of a select few. I was reminded in this time that by revisiting these stories of colonization and oppression we are speaking about our "shared history".  This image is from the exhibit at the Glenbow museum and represents for me a way for my students to gather knowledge that I do not yet hold. The fact that my students have to see the expressions of the Blackfoot culture in a museum also speaks to our shared history.

Figure A: Blackfoot Exhibit (personal collection, 2019)

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"We believe that the wild can be found everywhere, but that this recognition and the work of finding the wild is not necessarily easy" (Jickling et al. 2018, p.88)

I am very lucky at my current school to be across the street from "Wildflower Pond". We are able to go over there whenever we want and it is frequently being visited. This opportunity provides our students the ability to share their community with their teachers. They are able to teach us something about their place and we are able to build an understanding of what the pond can mean for us as a class, a community, and the larger natural world. This is a photo of one of my students finding his "sit spot" for the year. We go back at various times for many reasons. Sometimes, it is to sit and be still. Other times it is to document the spot in a more scientific way. This allows us to explore ideas around heritage and stewardship as we explore the history of how Copperfield came to be and how we can continue to take care of our place.
Figure C: Sit Spots (personal collection, 2019)

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       What is Good Here? A Journey Through the Re-Wilding of My Classroom  

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       What is Good Here? A Journey Through the Re-Wilding of My Classroom  

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There is no element of the landscape that is definitively void of expressive resonance and power; any movement may be a gesture, any sound may be a voice, a meaningful utterance" (Abrams, 2017, p.117)

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There is no element of the landscape that is definitively void of expressive resonance and power; any movement may be a gesture, any sound may be a voice, a meaningful utterance" (Abrams, 2017, p.117)