Winter Storm of 2011Postpones Recycling Effort

Here in Georgia, some of us have been out of school for our ninth consecutive day (including 4 weekend days). Therefore, I have not seen my environmental education students in a week.

As I reflect on our last meeting, I am hopeful that my students will be able to run the after-school recycling program with only limited supervision from me. I have selected two very responsible students to act as "student ambassadors". These two young ladies will manage the four recycling teams, as they traverse the hallways of our school. It is their sole-responsibility to make sure that the behavior of each team member is under control, that the hallways remain clean and that proper recycling rules are followed. We use two-way radios to keep in constant contact.

After the Dr. Martin Luther King holiday, we will resume recycling. At which time I will introduce a suggestion box, so that our EE Kids can have a way to submit their ideas about making our program more successful. In addition, I am adding a reading component to our program, so that the students can continue to "feed their minds with books". I haven't really worked out the details yet; however, these environmental-themed books will be available for students who either have no homework or have completed their homework for the day.

Finally, I have found out that our school district BLOCKS access to ALL BLOGGER accounts, so my students will not be able to respond to this blog at school. In the meantime, I will print these blogs and place it in our mobile library for students to read and comment. Then, I will add their comments to this site, each week. Ultimately, I will need to create some type of educational social networking site that will enable us to communicate online.

Field Notes: Zoey & Her Blog

On Tuesdays, my students and I handle our school's paper recycling program. On Thursday's, we weigh representative samples and estimate the total pounds of paper recycled.

This past Thursday, one of my students decided that we should have a blog. Zoey quickly created a blog with music and everything. The students were really excited about this creation and readily added comments to Zoey's blog without prompting!

Zoey's blog had perfect timing. I was curious about whether or not students would be interested in blogging in general, but I wasn't sure how to go about asking them. This real-world experience showed me that my students are ready for such an adventure. Therefore, I am in the process of getting approval to create a social-networking site just for my EEKids. Wish me luck!

Field Notes: First Recycling Day 2011

While many of the students completed their homework, Serge shared with me that on his way to S.C. (by way of Augusta, Ga.) he saw an area BIGGER than our school where all of the trees had been cut down. He thought that it was an area where the paper mill in Augusta needed the wood. He stated that he felt sorry about the loss of trees. I think that it is great that my students are beginning to make real-world connections with the fact that we are losing more and more trees/forests EACH DAY.

Recycling UPDATE:
Today, my student ambassadors took more control. Mikail and Zoey handled the morning announcements like professional newscasters. Great job Ladies! I told them that they are now responsible for ALL announcements for our recycling program (each Tuesday morning). In the afternoon, both girls did an excellent job of interviewing Ms. Regena Jones and with recording the actions (good points and problems) during our team recycling.

While we were collecting paper products, I realized that at one point there were students who did not have access to an ambassador or to me because they did not have an after-school radio. SOLUTION: The ambassadors will take positions on the middle hallways (between Kindergarten and 1st grade classes & between 2nd grade and 5th grade classes...where 4th grade intersect with both hallways) to make sure that communication is maintained. For the most part, they will be stationary which would allow the students to find them, when necessary. The ambassador working on K-1 hallway will then follow the team picking up Kindergarten's recycled paper to the office and Media Center.