The Climbing Tree The day is warm, but not hot. A beautiful mix of wispy and fluffy clouds hang in the sky as the wind takes the fluffier ones over the sun at irregular intervals. My hair flies around my face as the gold truck I am sitting in the back of bounces down the carved dirt path to the climbing tree. My middle sister and my mom sit with me as we dangle our legs off the edge of the truck, trying to drag our feet along the overgrown grass as we move. A particularly large bump sends me careening into my mom’s arm, laughing, as she steadies my sister on her other side. I look around again as the truck dips signaling we are at the little ditch that makes this path completely unpassable when wet. We are almost to the tree.
Granddad drives the truck in closer and the three of us sitting on the back scoot towards the front to avoid getting thrown off as the vehicle kerthumps over the bumpy terrain. The vehicle stops and I can’t help but wonder if this is the time we will get stuck as Granddad always jokes. I don’t think on it too long, however, because my sister and I have a mission; to see who can get to the tallest point of the tree first. Dubbed “The Climbing Tree” for a good reason, the long thick tangle of branches stretches wildly up and out in all directions; it is easily the tallest thing for what must be miles around as there are no buildings or other trees anywhere nearby. The closest thing in height being the tangle of berry bushes that grow along the outside of the tree to the southwest, skirting around the marshy area the tree protects. There are four thick limbs that make up the base, connected near the ground at approximate shin height. The long expanses of wood spread up slightly before two of them stretch out over the marsh while the other two reach skywards, in competition to see which could catch the sun first. Smaller limbs and branches weave in eccentric patterns providing perfect foot and hand holds. Most of the branches are sturdy enough to hold our weight as my sister and I race to the top, supported by the rough bark that grips the soles of our shoes, and it seems the tree plays with us as we duck to avoid its clumsy efforts to grasp at our hair. I am at the top now, and the sun has decided to show itself once more-it feels warm against my skin. I look over at my sister then, she is also at the top and standing on the same branch I am perched on. I won I think, but so does she, so we stare at each other in a silent standoff for a few moments before I roll my eyes. She smirks at me, thinking she has won- she hasn’t- and I let her. I had more important things to explore up here. The birds circle above our heads, chirping and squawking indignantly at having been startled away. Below, the gently rolling hills of the Saskatchewan prairies sweep out in all directions in a patchwork of yellows, golds, greens, green-blues, and browns. Small splotches of darker greens are the only indications of the surrounding farmhouses. I can see the farmhouse where my grandparents live, and from out here, it looks as though it would be suitable for a small family of ants. I close my eyes and take in a breath, the faint musty smell of the wood I am trusting with my life and the deep earthy smells from the marsh just blow me reaches my nose. I feel a sense of pride up here. Not because I made the climb or because I was so high up, but because, here, I am part of a larger picture. One that does not end beyond my immediate contact. I came with my family today with the intent to play, to climb, to observe, but not necessarily to understand. Up here, I feel like I can go anywhere, accomplish anything, and suddenly, the Climbing Tree is more than just a great place to play. It is more than building cattail bouquets and picking Saskatoon berries and watching frogs and birds jump around. This feeling is not understood very deeply in my young mind, but it is peaceful, and I feel ready to tackle the world again. Jumping back into the truck, I glance back at the tree. The birds are settling back into its branches. I find it a fitting end to our adventures out here for the day. Perhaps I can convince my grandparents to let us hide in the bales later…
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This week’s readings are primarily based around development; socially, physically, and cognitively. The textbook posed questions such as how does physical development affect an individual’s social development and vice versa, what is the importance physical activity and its relationship to cognitive development, and even, can we multitask? The textbook discusses many things, but the above are a few points that stood out to me.
There were a few things that surprised me in this reading (Chapter 3, pg. 63-74 and Chapter 8, pg.258-291). First being that early maturation in youth can be the cause for issues- both immediate and distant. For example, females who begin their menstrual cycles earlier are at risk of mental health issues as well as a chance of higher body fat later in life. Males who mature early are often popular because they fit into the norms of “masculinity” because they generally are tall and broad-shouldered. However, these boys tend to have behavior problems when they grow older. On the flip side, males who mature late are picked on for their smaller stature but characteristically grow to be more creative, tolerant, and perceptive. While these statements may not be true for every individual, I did see these trends within myself and my classmates growing up, especially with the males. Another thing I learned was that parenting styles could be summarized into four main categories. I had expected more to exist, though I do not know what they would have been. Authoritative (democratic), Authoritarian (strict), Permissive (friend), and neglecting (uninvolved). These parenting styles, and different combinations of said styles can have a broad range of impacts on an individual’s life. Personally, my parents fit into the authoritative category, and their support is the reason I am who I am today. Lastly, I found the section on multitasking to be fascinating. In today’s world, everybody is constantly in a rush. We often think that multitasking is a helpful tool to get things done faster. However, there has been proving fact after proving fact that this is not usually the case. There are two types of multitasking according to our book, sequential and simultaneous. Sequential is when a person switches back and forth between tasks. We often believe this is allowing us to do things at once, when in fact, our focus is only on one task at a time. Simultaneous is when a person’s focus can overlap onto several different tasks, though this only works in cases where the tasks require various areas of the brain. (I.e.) walking and chewing gum). My question for this week: Is it possible to have control over some of the things that influence our lives? For example, why do we allow ourselves and social media to continue enforcing strict social norms when we know it hurts many of our youth, continuing into adulthood. EOE224 Week 1 Outdoor Education. This is a bit of a new concept for me. Sure, I had the odd teacher in elementary and high school who would take our class outside, however, going out for classes tended to be unproductive subject-wise, so it was used as more of a reward. In grade six or seven, my class got the opportunity to build an outdoor classroom for our elementary school with benches and a small garden area with different species of plants and flowers, but the classroom has gone largely unused by most teachers.
So, I suppose my question (one I plan to explore in more depth throughout the semester) is, “what is Outdoor Education?” When I mention to people that I am taking EOE 224 (Outdoor Ed) I often get asked what that means and what I plan to do with it? At one point, someone was concerned that I would only be able to work at the school in Saskatoon which offers an extensive outdoor program. Clearly, this concept is one that is not widely understood. Now a few days into the course, I would like to start with my definition from first impressions. Will it change? I am not sure, but it will grow and expand either way. - Outdoor Education is an opportunity to expose youth to the wonders of nature while still being taught the school curriculum. I believe that an individual will learn better when learning styles are combined, and they can see the practical uses for what they learn. It is my hope that Outdoor Education will provide us future educators will the tools necessary to be able to combine curriculum and nature. Practicing stillness, as we are encouraged to do in this course, is something I have not done since I was young. I was introduced to the concept in summer camp, and we called this “Tree Time.” Encouraged to go into the forests and find a tree that was separate from everybody else’s tree, we were given a few minutes to sit and observe the nature around us. What did we hear? What did we see? What was special about the tree we chose to sit by? I loved this practice and would continue to do similarly when my family went camping. Looking back on it, I did this less and less as I grew older and became more immersed in the world of electronics. Just this summer when my family went tenting, we all had our phones out, and I never ventured into the woods alone once. Yes, we were outside, sitting around a campfire, roasting marshmallows, cooking outside, and sleeping in our tent. Not one of us noticed anything different from previous times we had done this, but for me, coming back was different somehow. I didn’t feel as refreshed as I normally would have. Looking back, I think perhaps that I felt this way because I did not acknowledge the nature around us. I made no connection to the land we were staying on. Here in ECS 200, I believe we will be discussing Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Biological Model of Human Development and tying it back into what we will learn in the lectures and seminars throughout the course. As this is my first official blog post, I would like to stray slightly from the 3-2-1 format that we will be experimenting with more in the near future.
Bronfenbrenner’s model lays out in simple terms, the basics of human interaction and development. How an individual reacts with the world and how that world will impact the life of the individual. The model is constructed of five ecosystems, defined in our textbook as “physical and social contexts in which we develop”; we have the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and the chronosystem. Having an understanding of these systems and the effects they can have in all aspects of a person’s life could help us as educators relate to and empathize with our students, perhaps leading methods of teaching that better fit our students. In our first seminar, we were divided into small groups and given a chance to discuss the impact each factor of the Human Development model. To summarize, my group spoke about how each piece of the model could be both positive and negative, affecting the individual’s world view to some extent. I learned the basics of the Bronfenbrenner model while taking psychology back in high school, however, reading the textbook's interpretation has clarified some aspects and built on others. For example, I was unaware of the chronosystem (the time period the individual lives in). I also had never considered that the systems could affect a person internally (hormone levels) as well as externally (beliefs, behaviors, values, etc.) So now I understand Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Biological Model of Human Development a little better, but how do we apply this knowledge for everyday purposes? I will likely explore this further in future posts. |
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