Evaluations

I am so thankful for my Wild Wanderers team, a successful term of classroom lessons and field trips would not have been possible without them. Evaluations from my teammates helped me to understand the way that my ecological knowledge, adaptability and passion for helping students to regulate their emotions makes me an effective educator. My team was able to rely on one another's strengths, and to support each other in areas that we were less confident in. We worked together to improve our ecological knowledge, through extra team meetings and visits to Mt. Pisgah Arboretum, and remained dedicated to integration of JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion) and SEL (Socioemotional Leanring) frameworks. Due to the hard work of myself and my team, we were able to both develop our professional skills, and build positive relationships with our community partners and participating 4J schools. Our presentation at the University of Oregon Undergraduate Research Symposium highlighted the incredible amount that we have learned, and our improved confidence as educators. We were able to develop and effectively teach three 30-minute classroom lessons, and a full day field trip lesson. 

Evaluations from Dr. Kathryn Lynch, our program director, highlighted my ability to effectively manage classrooms and student emotions, through a flexible approach to classroom and field trip lesson plans. Dr. Lynch and I share a passion for integrating traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and recognition for the Kalapuya peoples as the stewards of this land since time immemorial. I felt empowered to bring this knowledge to first graders in a way that was educational and age-appropriate. Dr. Lynch also gave me positive feedback about my ability to manage and engage with student emotions in the classroom and on field trips. Shellsea Miller, our graduate student advisor, spoke to me about my visibly improved confidence as an educator throughout the term.