Introduction to Fieldwork: Expeditionary Learning in Schools 

            Through my experience in Field Work, I have gained a greater understanding not only in the concepts of teaching, but also my greater role as a civic learner as well as developing personal techniques to improve upon in my future journey as a leader of Marines. I came into this class seeking to “make an impact with young people in the same way that my teacher [had] done for me in my academic journey” (Field Journal 1). Additionally, at the beginning of the course, I understood the challenges I would face, specifically offering enthusiasm in an environment that I am not used too. However, through the immersive classroom experience, I ended up performing well in terms of enthusiasm but found knew challenges that I struggled with, such as communicating a lesson in a way that both entertains and provides the perspective I want to get across.

I did not know what to expect for the first day of class. I knew that this was not going to be like all the other English classes that I had taken. This was especially true when I learned that I had to help teach a 6^th grade class. The field journals allowed for me to self-reflect on this and other points. I said in my first field journal titled “Self-inquiry” that “I was willing to give it a shot” (Boslego 1). It had been over three years since I had been to even high school. None the less, as my first visit approached, I was excited. This was a new opportunity and I was looking forward to applying myself.

To start, our readings and in-class discussions offered new concepts of learning that provided useful when we eventually entered the classroom and then when generating our teach-ins. Initially, we studies the history of education while then getting into more modern day and practical concepts of teaching. John Dewey’s educational philosophy reflected similar dimensions as the EL Educations core principles and PBT, in addition to reflect various aspects of my self-discovery experience as a learner. Through his “My Pedagogic Creed,” he emphasis’s that education should focus on the growth of individuals and their preparation for their future. In order to do that, he believed that the community must reflect that of “real” life and the qualities one will need to be successful. Key aspects of that were to instill the certain disciplines like respect into students, which is very similar to PBT emphasis on creating classroom norms. Also, he suggested that a collaborative education experience is essential to learning. Dewey’s methods reflect the core principles, focusing on the curriculum, the role of the teacher and the environment, each trying to “penetrate below the surface” (Dewey, 99) in order to prepare individuals for their next step in life. Understanding Dewey’s education philosophy along with the outlines provided by EL Education and PBT, I attempted to create an experience, in my classroom visits, for students that replicated those some principles. Specifically, I attempted to make personal connections with students while in the classroom. For my partner and I, we were given the opportunity to answer questions from students in our class and from that exchange we allowed them to become familiar with us, while we also got familiar with them. I took various pieces of information from that visit, but the most important being their infatuation with the role that VMI cadets play in promoting the ideal of health within the Rockbridge Community. As a result, I wanted take teach-in as a chance to capitalize on that and make an impact on these students that would last.

With the creation of the teach-in, my role in the community when from unknown to serving as an example for students to emulate. Prior to starting the teach-in process, I taught back to Dewey’s Experience and Education, where he focused on the habit development that occurs in school. As mentioned before, the emphasis of school should be on the growth of the individual in order to prepare them for their future goals. (Dewey, 108). Seeing as both these students were interested in being physically capable while there also seemed to be a general health issue in the greater community offered me a great opportunity to make an education, civil and personal impact on these kids. Specifically, I aimed to offer a mode towards self-discovery for each student in the realm of health. Through that process, I understood my greater role as a community leader.

In the end, I think the EL principle of success and failure was true for my experience. Going through an experience like this for the first time, I took risks in it and for the most part, I think that I have succeeded. I was challenged by the transition to online classes and the added difficulties of creating an online classroom teach-in. These new difficulties showed how important the use of technology in the classroom was becoming during the pandemic. In my second field journal “21^st century learning,” I wrote about how “teachers are trying to prepare students for the digital age” (Boslego 1). I saw that to a great degree in how Maxwell and I ended up teaching the class and how they were being taught with Chromebooks.

 

 

How to Eat: The Individual Journey of Nutrition

By Maxwell Gallahan and Paul Boslego

INTRODUCTION

This learning inquiry aims to promote positive citizenship and an opportunity at self-discovery for the students focusing on developing techniques and knowledge for a healthy lifestyle. The question that we hope students can answer be the end of their journey is “How could Rockbridge county or Maury River Middle School improve its environment to create an environment that promotes health for them as individuals, for the school as a whole and then for the community?” The inquiry will be utilizing various activities that all involve the domains of health, biology, math and English. The target audience is 6th graders in Rockbridge county and trying to not only focus on addressing their standards of learning for health but also hopefully expanding their knowledge of health in more practical means. The inquiry will address specifically the Virginia Department of Education’s standards of learning for 6th graders, namely, to help students “Analyze the benefits of following [the] recommended daily allowances for macronutrients when selecting beverages and planning meals and snacks” and “Analyze the recommended daily intake of macronutrients (carbohydrates, fat, and protein) for adolescent males and females.” In addition, the inquiry will try to cater to the education in the Rockbridge county environment, one where it can be difficult to execute a healthy lifestyle for various reasons. Explicitly providing tips, information, and strategies to combat their difficult environments while also hopefully developing ideas to make the environment more health friendly. In reference to EL education, Core Practice 30 (ELEd, 72), boosting and empowering student achievement, as well as Core Practices 5 (ELEd, 9), promoting social, emotional, and physical wellbeing, both are present in this inquiry and are the goals end points at the end of the educational experience.

COMMUNITY EXPERT OPPORTUNITY

In addition to the knowledge they can provide, implementing community experts will offer students a chance to converse with some who understands their community and can provide students advise on how circumvent those certain issues. There are various community experts that we could tap into to provide expertise and collaborate with the students. Linda Miguire, a dietary consultant at the Rockbridge Area Health Center, offers clear expertise in the field that we are exploring, specifically dietary guidelines. In addition, she is are community source that understands the environment that these students come from, meaning she could provide advice on how to combat environmental factors when struggling to execute a healthy lifestyle. In addition to Linda, the VMI physical education department offers another great resource to tap into that can provide additional in county expertise. Namely, Jim Greiner and Diane Moosman are those in the department that I have had contact within terms of both dietary consulting and physical fitness. Ideally, if one of these experts could visit the classroom, they could answer the students on various health related issues in addition to providing their own unique knowledge too the students.

COLLECTED RESEARCH

On the first visit, the students quizzed us with various questions. Many of the questions had to do with our own health or sports related questions. That showed that the kids were active and/or into an active lifestyle. Then, we got to ask a few questions about the kids and their leisure time, and many of their answers revolved around sports or other activities that are encompassed in a healthy lifestyle. However, there were still a fair amount of overweight kids in the class. So, it was clear that they had some of the puzzle pieces to the equation, but not all of them.

On the second visit, we asked the class what they knew about a healthy lifestyle and what kind of health education they had received. Their responses to the first question consisted of generic responses such as: eating fast food is bad, exercise, eat vegetables, etc. The students indicated that they had some education from the physical education department. This education, however, was extremely brief.

This research more than anything shows the surface level education of nutrition and exercise in Rockbridge County Schools, however, there is not a lack of interest. It shows the emphasis is not present and education efforts are directed elsewhere to more quantitative endeavors, such as test scores. It may also indicate that there is a lack of education coming from their families. Their families may think that they are unable to eat healthy or that they do not have the time to prepare healthy meals.

The students research will consist of utilizing various sources, such as Healthline and US government sources, in order to figure out the healthiest options that they can implement into their diet within the environment they are presented. This research will be shown in our scaffold activity and then the students will have the opportunity to utilize those sources in our immersive 3-day diet activity.

POTENTIAL ACTIVITIES

One potential activity is talking about different apps or websites that students can download and use to understand the nutrition they are getting. Many of these apps break down all the nutrition information in a context that is easy to understand. These apps also give calorie allowances based on age, weight, and height. They also can provide guidelines for safe weight loss. And through the app they could understand their daily diet and bring that information into class and understand how that does or does not meet their body’s needs. Depending on each individual diet, we would provide strategies to help them create a meal plan for them and their families that  ensure they are receiving their macro and micronutrients. Here, they will also be focusing on how the food makes them feel, both short term and long term during this process.

With all that combined, we can make a lesson plan that talks about nutrition and food choices and then allow the students to use their Chromebooks to figure out what they are eating. They can then determine if their nutritional goals are being met or not. Then they can compare and contrast their findings and try to defend their findings. This activity would be focused on food that they would find and have available in Rockbridge County. On top of this, the student would have the opportunity to put together a shopping list, with a budget, that is healthy and could pay for food for their whole family for a week

Another option is to create a lesson plan revolving around evaluating nutrition labels to determine if what they are eating is good for them or not. Options for accomplishing this could be: reading physical nutrition labels and evaluating them, looking up things they have eaten that day and evaluating them. The students could then create a poster that is posted around the school or they will present their findings in a relevant capacity.

The last option is to create a lesson plan that helps students choose the “healthier” option. It could be done by comparing nutrition labels, knowing which foods need to be eaten more/less…etc. Options for sharing their finding could be a presentation to another class or making posters on it and having them displayed throughout the school.

GOALS/ CALENDAR

Week 1: (Education week)

-Educate the students on various macronutrient and dietary standards

-Educate the students on exercise and the various avenues that they could take

-Educate the students on mental health exercises and stress management

 

Week 2: (Experiment week)

-Students will try different food, then go do physical activities

-Students will do a mental relaxation routine before one lecture a day

-Students will think about how different food makes them feel and make notes on their normal diets

-Record and consolidate all information gather this week

 

Week 3: (Proposal Week)

-Analyze the information gathered from the prior week

-Develop dietary plans and shopping list for feeding their family for a week on a budget

-Then students in groups will provide one proposal for the principle and one for their parents that could help improve their environment to truly execute their individualized health plan

FINAL PROJECT SHARING OPPORTUNITIES

The final sharing opportunity is to either allow the students to present their proposals to their class or their principle if that could be set up. Both of those presentation will be about figuring out ways to improve their own diet plan as well as improving their communities health. Additionally, they will give their shopping lists to their families and have to pursued them to follow the plan. This gives them the opportunity to consolidate all of their knowledge into proof as to why an environmental enhancement should be made in the community and what its benefits would be. This gives them an opportunity to both collaborate on their individual findings, compare, and then utilize their communication skills to get their point across.

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

1.https://issuu.com/carilionclinic/docs/2018_rockbridge_area_community_heal

*See pages: 60-3, 81, 85, 91, 103, 106-7 for statistics on the health and socioeconomic factors affecting it in Rockbridge County.

 

2. FoundMyFitness.com, Dr. Rhonda Patrick podcast

*Dr. Rhonda Patrick provides scientific information on health, providing easy to understand answers on various health questions. She provides great insight and is someone who provides an unbiased perspective on health.

 

3. Healthline.com, General health advice

* Healthline provides extra information on various common health questions. It can be offered to the students as an easy reference source to look at when they have a question on something health related.

 

4. https://rockahc.org/wp/

*This is a health organization in Rockbridge county that can provide a local expert to bring into the school and help the kids speak with an expert in the field, Linda McGuire, a dietary consultant.

 

5. http://www.schoolnutritionandfitness.com/index.php?sid=1495836575694&page=nutriandfit

* This is the homepage for the Rockbridge County Schools Food Service Department. It lists the current health and fitness goal for students in all grade levels. Such goals include physical activity five days a week, eating a healthy diet, and controlling portion sizes. It also includes resources for teachers, parents, and students.

 

6.https://ed.ted.com/lessons?category=nutrition&page=2

* The nonprofit behind Ted Talks has a series of videos on health and wellness. The presentation within these videos is designed to help educators explain health topics to a younger audience. These lessons focus on things such as: obesity, what are carbohydrates, added sugar, and misinformation about nutrition.

 

 

Final Classroom Portrait of Rockbridge County and Mrs. Dowless 6^th grade class

The learning environment of a Rockbridge County 6th grade classroom is filled with group learning, guided discussions, independent learning, and lectures. Additionally, the environment itself reflects so many of the major characteristics suggested by EL Education and Project Based Teaching, such as classroom Norms and many displays of individual expression. Though the Rockbridge county school system serves as a place to unite all of students, it is undeniable each student comes from a different background. The Community Academic Research Alliance at Washington and Lee University conducted an investigation into these matters, and according to their report entitled, “Poverty in Rockbridge,” many of Rockbridge County students come from impoverished households. However, there are also many students who benefit from the surrounding institutions, being VMI and W&L, either directly or indirectly. Accounting for the differences in student’s backgrounds, teachers and administrators must understand this perspective when enacting different strategies within their classroom and schools respectively.

In our experience, working in Mrs. Dowless’ 6th grade classroom, Maury River Middle School understands that and does well with implementing strategies that connect the students who vary widely. For one, the teachers invest in their students’ success and constantly stay aware of the varying abilities of those in their class, focusing on those who need help while allowing those who are better off to conduct more independent learning. Additionally, the classroom environment itself is conducive to learning and interactive learning through the organization of the tables, easily moveable and put in small groups, and a classroom pet which makes the classroom more inviting. On top of that, the school as a whole does well implementing technology, specifically centered around computers, into their curriculum. They assisted those who may be less fortunate with providing loaner Chromebooks so all students can have the same educational experience regardless of their background. Though an educational environment may always have room for improvement, Rockbridge County’s Maury River Middle School is on the right path towards fostering success for their students.

With the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, everything has changed, for both us and our partner teacher. Specifically in the Rockbridge County environment, the movement from class in person to class online greatly  affects our ability to connect with students who may either need the extra motivation or have a poor home life and need a place away from home to do their learning. In addition to those factors, as mentioned before, some students may not have access to a computer or the internet at home, which again inhibits their learning. Accounting for those factors, teachers are working hard to figure out ways to circumvent those challenges. For Mrs. Dowless, she is currently utilizing google classroom to try and reproduce the positive classroom environment that she had at school. a completely new environment. As the pandemic continues on, this struggle will continue on and  the Rockbridge County school system will continually try to recreate the positive environment that they successfully create in their schools.

 

Works Cited

“Poverty in Rockbridge.” Washington and Lee University, my.wlu.edu/the-shepherd-program/academics/community-academic-research-alliance-(cara)/rockbridge-community-profile/poverty-in-rockbridge.

 

 

Model Card

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