Becoming a Teacher, Like, For Real

     For those who don't know, I am in graduate school to become an educator, not just learn more ecology (although that's a lot of fun as well!) so this blog will now be focused on my practicum as I spend the next part of the semester learning how to teach. 

    It's my third week now of practicum, and so far I have observed one class and also taught one class of students. The class I taught was a homeschool group of 5 kids, ages 7, 10, 11, 12, and 13. They were a lot of fun to take on a 2 hour hike where we explored Merry Lea as we searched for herptiles (reptiles and amphibians). Which we did find! My roommate and co-educator Alex found a baby snake and a blue spotted salamander as we were guiding students through a Log Exploration Activity in the search for herptiles. These students were so fascinated with these wild animals, and these energetic kids sat on their asses right on the trail for a good 10-15 minutes just journaling: writing down their observations and drawing the animals. I was shocked that they needed almost no direction to do this. They were just so focused on their learning and enjoying the heck out of it. I felt their joy and excitement rubbing off on me as the day progressed.

    So, when I'm not studying the curriculum and lesson plans, teaching students, working on my Year Long Project for grad school, or going on field trips of my own, I will try to continue my blog because I had so much fun doing the earlier posts (which it helped that they had due dates since they were for a class lol). And of course I will try to model for my students curiosity by including some art or ecology on this blog to share my learning of Indiana Ecology with you all, and hopefully inspire more people to explore their world during these Covid times when we can't always connect with others face to face, but maybe we can explore the world together. Stay safe y'all and enjoy the pics below. 

A Baby Gartner Snake (species unknown to me but it's so adorable though)

Blue Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma laterale)                                             The Blue Spotted Salamander is native to the Great Lakes region of the United States, Ontario, and Quebec. They can be found in habitats such as moist, decidious forests, swampy woodlands, and fields, although there has to be a water source, typically a vernal pool, nearby for the breeding habitat. Their tail makes up 40% of their body length which is 10 to 14 cm, with the females being larger than the males which have flatter tails. Easily recognized by their black body with blue and white flecks or spots on their back and blueish-white spots on the sides and tail. They have very long toes, with only four on the front feet and five on the back.                                                                     Salamanders are amphibians and the young live in water. The eggs are laid near a water source, typically in small bunches on twigs, rocks, or plants. Females can lay up to 500 eggs a year. Blue Spotted Salamander breeding season is early spring. After a month the eggs will hatch with a well-developed mouth and eyes. At two weeks their front limbs will form, then the hind ones at three weeks. By late summer, the larvae will become the terrestrial adults. At two years old they are ready to mate. 

    These salamanders are predators and consume snails, slugs, insects, spiders, worms, and just about any invertebrate they can get their mouth on. 

Art

  One of the activities I did with the students this week was Loose Parts Play which involved the students making ephemeral nature art or building a shelter for herptiles out of loose natural materials. To model for my students, I made a spotted salamander out of materials I found along the trail: leaves, pebbles, flowers, and twigs. 

Bonus Photo of a Salamander