Here We Go Again

Click for September Video Blog 1

September 2, 2019
It's starting again tomorrow.  The first day of 180 that I get to spend time with students both in the traditional setting and in the charter school setting.  I love my job because every day is a new challenge and every student walking through the door is full of potential and possibility.  I'm especially excited this year to move forward with our Expeditions and introduce the Opportunity idea in conjunction with the other learning cycle resources we've already done.

Nearly Thirty years ago I decided this was a good idea for my senior pic.  Nothing is permanent.

September 3, 2019

First day for freshmen at SOAR.  A good time to move about, see the school and get used to how things are going to be.

September 4-7, 2019

What a whirlwind of a week!  We've established some ground rules and gotten everyone started on the path towards the new Learning Cycle.  I'm up to my ears in blog posts and student meetings and excited to get going on some of our first Expeditions.

An Opportunity arose on Saturday and I took it.  My wife needed to do a 20 mile run in preparation for the marathon coming up and I accompanied her to do a little fishing and then some wandering around.  I took a couple of videos by myself along the way and I'll include them in the next video blog I put together.

One of the things I came across was a mushroom.

Found a mushroom near the beach.  It kind of looks like an edible one but I don't know enough about them to take the risk.

The mushroom in and of itself wasn't anything particularly amazing.  I do think it looks like an edible one but, since I don't want to end up walking around in the middle of the campground clucking like a chicken, I don't eat things I find in the woods.  It does open up the possibility of me doing a little Exploration into the types of edible plants (Consume - not literally) and then some Investigation into finding them in the woods myself and documenting the areas that they can be found (Create) and then put together a little local guide to outdoor consumption of delicious natural foods (Curate).

As an Observation I cut one of them open with my knife and documented what it looks like inside.  I can always check it out later if I want to.

After taking a pic of the mushroom I wandered to the beach and noticed a picnic shelter up a flight of stairs.  I've been to the campground and the boat landing many times but never taken the time to go and look around at everything.  Side note: I kind of want to get a metal detector to Explore with.  Anyway, as I found out later the campground was built by the CCC.

I love a good perspective picture.  There are many of them I take this way.  I guess this one just makes me feel a little small when I look at it.

Again, I won't remember everything about the signs posted around the area, but a quick pick gives me documentation I can use later.

 Before I left the park I started looking at my boat and thinking about design.  If I were to be Inspired by this I would try to look at different hull designs (in person and on the lakes, not online) [Consume] and then build some different designs with a 3D printer or some other means [Create] and test them for flotation (buoyancy) and how well they get propelled through the water and see if I can come up with a design that works better or at least as good as the others.

Had a little time to kill before meeting my wife so I started to think a few thinks about the boat and figured I'd better take a pic to remind me later of the thinks.

Again, perspective.  I was actually lying on the tailgate of the truck looking up at the sky thinking about clouds and trees and weather patterns and naps and all kinds of stuff.  Pic reminds me of this Opportunity.

At the end of the weekend I'm glad I took advantage of the Opportunities that presented themselves before me.  I might not have gone fishing and could have just cut the grass or done some other work around the house.  Instead, I recognized that the opportunity was there and I stepped up to the challenge of making something of it.  I tapped into my natural curiosity and just started asking questions and documenting what I saw and thought.

September 8, 2019

Having a little time on my hands I was able to take a drive out to the Nicolet National Forest just east of town and check out a few things.  In addition to a nice ride, I was able to Explore a topic I've been interested in for a long time.  I created some videos while I was out there and tacked them on to the end of one I'd started Creating over the weekend.  Now that it's all done it can be watched in the link below.  I really enjoy making a video when I've discovered something because I feel like it captures the moment a lot quicker than if I take a picture and reflect on it later (like I'm doing now).

I didn't take video of everything I encountered and the whole time I was thinking about what pics I would use in my video vs what was just worth a quick snapshot.

Lower Ninemile lake.  Last time I was here (5 years or so ago) there was no dock.  Says something about the rising water levels.  Upper Ninemile Lake is now just a swampy field.  They changed the flow at the dam and it went away.

Another stone building off in the distance at Franklin Lake Campground. I wonder what it was used for and if I could get access from the forest service (Department of Agriculture) to check it out.

Just like I saw at Anvil, there were mushrooms I thought might be edible.  This could be chicken of the woods, but I'm not sure and wouldn't take the risk to try it without knowing.

At the end of the day I spent just a couple of hours wandering around and looking at my surroundings.  I stacked the deck a little by going to locations that I knew were related to earlier Observations but I still wasn't sure what I was going to find.  There's more just outside town that I can further Explore but I need to do a little research to find out if it's just going to be more of the same or if there's something unique I might find at one of the others.  Since the Nicolet National Forest is so big (640,000 acres) it's not feasible for me to go to all of the sites, but now that I've been Inspired I can focus my research into maybe one aspect of the topic.  I have documentation from last year related to the topic including information I obtained at the University of Wisconsin - Madison when I was down there.

Opportunity - Observation - Organization

When is a Door not a Door?

August 14, 2019

This is going to be a little sporadic and quite possibly long.  A lot of opportunities have come up and I've tried my best to record them with my camera with the hope of going back and reflecting on them when I have time.  Seems as though I'm pretty busy and active much of the time so I haven't had time until now to sit down and go through the pics.

I love to be in my boat.  Specifically I want to be out in the morning when there's no one else there.  Unfortunately that also means there are sometimes no fish.

Somehow I got roped into eating breakfast for dinner.  Stupid deals I make with students!  I hate breakfast for dinner.

Very cool to watch the Eagle catch a fish and then eat it on the log.

Decided to take a cruise on the chain and check out what's out there.  It's in a blog somewhere.

While wandering through Bewabic State Park I stumbled on a forest dedicated to a Christmas Tree.

I love how the building looks.  Created by the CCC and, specifically, my grandfather-in-law.

Generation after generation.  This is my daughter with my grand-niece out at camp.

For the first time I've seen the next stage after a spider drops the egg sack.  I picked up a board and there were hundreds of little spiders running around.

Fished the morning on Anvil lake before practicing some diving skills in the lake.  Followed around a bass for a while just outside the swim area.

Waiting for my wife to finish her 13 mile run I took time to enjoy the lake waking up and the beautiful day.

One of my curiosities some summer is to attend a bunch of local festivals around the state.

Out camping in Door County we took a morning run/bike through the trails.

Even though the pictures above span over a few weeks I took time to snap a quick pick or record a short video wherever I was.  This gives me a chance to look back on it and remember what cool thing I did or what awesome Opportunity I stumbled across.

Canada

July 20-27 2019

First and foremost, it's a vacation so there wasn't a lot of standards-connected events going on.  However, I had fun, saw old friends and thoroughly enjoyed my time.

As is the case wherever I am, I'm usually the first one up and have a few minutes to enjoy watching the world wake up with me.  Sometimes I read, other times I just go for a walk around camp.  On the first morning, I enjoyed my first cup of Canada coffee and said hello to a wonderful week.

The small building is the fish house.  We clean up to 56 fish on the first day.

There are new owners this year for the camp.  They have big plans for some improvements and updates to the facility.  I'm not sure how I feel about it.  I think it's time for the changes, but on the other hand part of the charm is the rustic, simple atmosphere.

New gravel and foundations for a main office building are just the start of the changes

The old garage that was just outside our cabin was torn down the first day we were at camp.  I was able to score a couple of old Jerry cans that were slated for the landfill.

The week was productive in more ways than just catching fish. We took time to explore the north side of the lake and found big walleye action as well as the adventure that comes with being on remote lakes.

Along the meander getting ourselves ready for the main lake and fishing

Adventure walking the boat through the causeway to get to the north end

The reward of being on the north end included this 25" walleye.  What a fun day!

In the end it's not the way everyone wants to spend their vacation time, but to me it has all of the elements that make it perfect.  I just completed my 13th year and don't plan to ever stop.

Waving Goodbye

July 29 2019

Video Blog 7

No grand adventures since returning from Canada a couple of days ago.  In fact, leading up to leaving for Canada there wasn't much going on in my world either.  While I maintain that there's always something to discover, it's also OK to take a few days off.

Today was different.  After installing a toilet and getting a few things done around the house, I decided it was time to say a final farewell to my hands-on Exploration and Investigation of the frogs at Laura Lake.  We headed out in my new Expedition Tool:

The old truck "Chewie" has been replaced with the new and updated "T-3"

The weather was very windy and the lake was full of waves.  On the way out we saw one large tadpole at the bottom of the lake but didn't come across any others.  To be fair, there was a lot of rocking about and it was hard to see into the water.

Check out Video Blog 7 for some live action shots of the Expedition.

Waves

More waves.  And a daring sailboat off in the distance.

Even more waves.  They were fun to surf on!

Overall spending a couple of hours out on the water in less-than-ideal conditions was still fun and it gave us a chance to look around and play in the water.

I've taken advantage of many Opportunities so far this summer (one month to go until school!) and I'm sure there will be many more.  I had a thought over the past couple of weeks:

Sometimes Opportunities don't abound and we have to make our own.  There will be several focuses on how to do that (a little more traditional) and plan for Expeditions rather than just Observe whatever Opportunity arises.

A Devil of a Time

June 13, 2019

Woke up early to accompany Rachel to her Devils and Dirt race near Devil's Lake State Park.  I'm not a runner, but she likes to punish herself with this race every year.  It features running up and down hills and it's a personal competition for herself to complete.  She's running the half marathon and it's humid (85%).  There are hundreds of people all with the same agenda.  I'm sitting in the truck with the A/C on writing my blog.  To each his or her own.

Hundreds will start together and try for their best time.

The longest lines aren't for registration but for the chance for a porta-potty before running.

Hundreds with nervous anticipation before the race.  Check out the video blog for a look at the race start.

After an hour and a half Rachel was only 3 miles from the finish.

Looks like a walk in the park.  I would have passed out after the first 1/2 mile.

Finishing strong and still smiling!

I'm very proud of what she accomplished.  It's a hard race with a lot of hills and the truck temp right now reads 88 Degrees.  When you find something you're passionate about it becomes less work and more enjoyment.

Geology and Kettle Moraine

July 12, 2019

On our way west to celebrate the life of Grandma Helen, we stopped off to visit a college friend in Kettle Moraine State Park.  We weren't planning to camp, but I figured it would be a great opportunity to do a little pre-research (Organization) before getting there (Opportunity).  So I looked around a little and decided to go to a reputable source right off the bat so I wouldn't have to vet the sourced that came up from a random search or watching a video and then researching to double check the information.   Having an organization that can be a great source is wonderful.

The Wisconsin DNR site was my choice for information about Kettle Moraine and the information provided I will trust as good. 

So, armed with a little information and a focus for the Investigation and Exploration, I may even try to seek out a geologist for the state as a live resource.  We'll see how today goes.

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We started out the day with bright sun waiting for the college friend to get here.  She was only ten or fifteen minutes out when we arrived so I took advantage of the opportunity to walk down to the nature center, hoping to come across a naturalist or someone to interview further about the geological features of the area.

What a beautiful place to visit.  Unfortunately today the sign hanging said it was closed for a private event.  I'll have to come back sometime when I'm in the area and catch a naturalist.  

Since the nature center was closed we went up to the observation tower instead.  Video Blog 7 will have some features of the area and thoughts about the Expedition before I started walking around.

I estimate about 50-60 feet up in the air for a look around the area.  You can see the interstate in the distance as well as evidence of houses and towns.  I've been to other towers where I see nothing but forest surrounding me.  Fire towers were used back in the day to keep an eye out for forest fires.  Kind of an obsolete thing now with the technology we have.

A lot of steps to climb to get to the top!  Five flights of these stairs.  Makes a nice perspective shot.

After looking around at the landscape for a while and creating a short video introduction, I went back down to a shaded picnic table for a quick lunch before heading out to Explore the area a little.  I didn't really know what I was looking for so it stopped being an Investigation and turned into more Exploration.  As I walked and thought about the change, I realized that a lot of the Opportunities I'm faced with this summer are all about Inspiration and Exploration; building a repository of experiences that I can draw on later as I spend time Investigating what I've seen with other resources.  I'll use the Internet, library, live resources and even additional Expeditions to supplement the experience.  I've also realized that the reason I "know a little something about everything" is because I take time to Explore the Opportunities and find out first-hand what it's all about.

This led me to another think.  Since we live in an area (WI) that has seasons and some of them are not conducive to outdoor Exploration, an Expeditionary curriculum as an option at SOAR would be best served by taking advantage of that natural change in the seasons.  Here are the thinks:

• State park and forest series of expeditions.  Plan a cycle of park visits that utilize the hands-on opportunities that abound in the various parks.  Planning will include Investigating what opportunities are available, where the locations are and then connecting them to the learning targets we have.  I'm thinking maybe it would be a four year cycle of Expeditions - rotating through relevant parks at specific times to capitalize on the opportunities.  There should be resources available at each of the parks.
• Summer series of Expeditions.  Since many of the resources are available during the summer, small groups could go together (like the creative writing one this summer) and share in the experience.
• Winter Expeditions to Investigate the findings.  This could be at universities, museums, libraries . . . anywhere we can think of.
• Student-centered learning expeditions that are organized and planned by students.
• Community support.  There must be grants and support available for this kind of learning.  I need to locate and organize fundraising.

So I continued to walk along the paths provided in Kettle Moraine.

Some of the path was paved and nicely accessible to everyone.

Other parts were mowed and, I assume, went up and down through the Kettle Moraine geological formations.  They looked like hills to me, but the significance of the location and forest suggest there was more that I wasn't seeing.

Some of my experiences lead me to believe that this area of Kettle Moraine is more focused on the prairie restoration and less on geology.  I read the signs and followed them to a really spectacular little spot.

The idea of a place for bugs intrigued me and was worth Exploring.

Only part of the garden has paving stones.  Each tan stone has a dedication as a fundraiser for the garden.

Plants have identification tags with common and scientific names.

Interesting how the pod looks when opened.  I usually associate all of the seed distribution with the fall, but these are ready to go mid-summer.

I stop and think about the variety of colors on the flowers.  An adaptation made by the plants to attract insects to help spread pollen.

I actually didn't see a lot of butterflies in the garden.  There were a few and I imagine I could spend time here cataloguing the different types and learn to identify them by characteristics.  There were also bees and dragonflies hanging out here.  On the other hand, it was a very peaceful and enjoyable place to walk around.  Relaxation was a bonus.  It kind of makes me want to set up our own garden at SOAR and have a local place to observe the butterflies.  I also had a think about the exclosure in the school forest.  This garden had a similar fence and I can only assume it was to keep the plants safe from herbivores munching away.

According to the passive learning opportunities (signs), the area also has a lot of hawks and owls as raptors (thanks Bob!) and it would be a good place to spend time observing them.  We also noticed many different sounds of songbirds and I would love to do a year-long or more Ornithology Expedition to identify different types of birds we have in our area.  That may become a side project that I start soon (like I need another!).

I couldn't help but stop and note the irony (ELA!) in one area.  On one hand is a sign reminding visitors about conservation and stewardship:

A sign reminding us to stay on the path to not disturb the natural environment

And on the other is a bench for people to sit with weed killer sprayed all around it.

It saves time and money when you don't have to pay someone to trim around the bench.  Unfortunately it's contrary to the stewardship message being sent by the park.  I guess there always needs to be a balance.

Overall it was a great experience that I'm glad I had the Opportunity to have.  It was only a couple of hours stop on our way somewhere else and we got to see an old friend, stretch our legs and I found wonderful opportunities to learn something new.