A Year Round Up: Looking Back at 2016!

Looking back, this past year has been blessed with new beginnings. Therefore, lot’s of learning happened. My 2016 mantra has been A CURIOSITY DRIVEN YEAR. Therefore, a year of questioning, What if? With a bit of curiosity in my back pocket, I set out to learn as much as I could so I can better serve my community of Natural Teachers.

Last year was my first time doing this exercise and I am a little late this year; however, I wanted to make sure I snuck this in before the first week of January closed. Enjoy!

BLOG: So what happened this year in The Seedling? For starters, I enjoyed writing and wrote a lot more this year. Blog post topics included everything from Math Outdoors, Tom Bedard’s Framework for Creating Spaces for Play and Bee Stories….to Inspiration from Nature Based Quotes and Technology Kids and Snow.

LIVE GARDEN INTERVIEWS: I have to say, I still love collecting Garden Stories! This year I ventured to several outdoor classrooms with my video camera in hand. I captured not only a variety of outdoor spaces but also many garden stories…and it’s all live. Stay tuned! These interviews will be showing up in e-Workshops and e-Courses in 2017.

THE CITY OF LITTLE FREE LIBRARIES: In 2014 we installed Our Little Free Library at the end of our driveway. Since then we have noticed Little Free Libraries popping up everywhere within our community in Beverly, Ma. There have been at least 7-9 Little Free Libraries installed at various locations. I had no idea how the ripples would spread. Thanks to all the Little Free Library Stewards.

OUTDOOR CLASSROOM LEARNING LAB: Thrilled to have hosted my first workshop in the Backyard Learning Lab. A staff of early childhood teachers used this off-site teacher training opportunity as a mini retreat. Teachers were invited to enter the outdoor space as a child would. They truly enjoyed exploring all the outdoor learning stations. Keep an eye out, as I am already scheduling more half day workshops in my Outdoor Classrooms Learning Lab for 2017!

CERTIFIED WILDLIFE HABITAT: Happy to announce that The Outdoor Classrooms Learning Lab is now a certified Wildlife Habitat from the National Wildlife Federation. In recognition, the garden is proudly featuring a beautiful New Sign!

E-WORKSHOPS: Launched my first e-Workshop called Exploring Nature in Winter.

E-COURSES: Fine tuned and re-launched my e-course Series: Teaching in the Dirt: Designing Outdoor Classrooms; Teaching in the Dirt: STEAM Outdoors and Teaching in the Dirt: Becoming a Natural Teacher.

On-Site Indoor/Outdoor WORKSHOPS: Facilitating live Outdoor Classrooms Workshops is always a treat! I started taking my on-site workshops outdoors. It was fabulous to be practicing what I preach and demonstrating first-hand how to deal with some of the environmental challenges teachers’ face! I continue to be filled with gratitude for these opportunities.

PINTEREST: You can now find me on Pinterest better than ever! 

THANK YOU to everyone who joined me on the Outdoor Classrooms Facebook Page Facebook in 2016.  I look forward to sharing an adventurous 2017 with you all. Looking forward to growing this great community of gardeners, farmers, teachers, parents, cooks, and outdoor enthusiasts.

Tell me, what are your Outdoor Classroom goals for 2017?  What would you like to learn more about?  What would you like to improve or implement? 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I welcome 2017 with a new mantra: ONWARD! 5% MORE!

What is your 2017 mantra?

Share in the comments below.