Clean and Clear and Under Control!
Today was quite the clear out. We begin the day by clearing out the shed at the back of the garden. Needless to say (based on the images below) it was quite the mountain to climb. As we began removing bins boxes bags and tools of all sorts the interior of the shed went from a 3-dimensional space to a 2-dimensional space. Laying out old contents on the ground we took stock of what could be kept and what could be removed. Countless items used for projects used throughout the years streamed forth as we sorted through every nook and cranny. Previous projects from past gardeners astounded us, and the feeling of spring cleaning grounded us.
Experiencing past Orchard Gardeners tasks, I felt ardent gratitude for the materials available. Seeing how the shed was chalked full of resources, and organizing those tools so we may use them more efficiently was absolutely freeing. No more do we have to wade through a slew of storage unknown to us, now we are able to understand and harness the chaos. Vindicated, as if the clutter and chaos of the work we had done and undone was justified in our pursuit to be the best garden based learners/teachers you ever did see.
The shed is now completely totally awesome and organized, and we will definitely not clutter it up again (I promise)!
Is this Code for Something???
After lunch were rejoined by our steadfast leader Dr. Susan Gerofsky, and had a guest in; all-star computer science teacher Erica Huang, who is a master in computational thinking and coding, and a previous Orchard Gardener. This is where we began coding in the garden (I said what now!?). First, we introduced ourselves and shared our connection to computer science and coding, and we were asked by Erica what coding was in our understanding. Varied responses, but all at least mentioned a relationship to it being a language. Then, we talked about how coding could be used in our classrooms with our subjects.
We were lead through an unplugged coding activity, where agreed-upon commands were created by a group of 3. Two group's members would hide an object, and one the other member would be a robot who followed prewritten directions to find and pick up the object using the agreed-upon commands. Much like a robot though, the robot team member had to follow each command literally. This activity was full of giggles when blunders came to the surface. Understanding how troubleshooting works, and why and when problems occur when writing and interface became apparent. Plus, it was a ton of fun! If you have the chance, try this in your own classroom.
Next, we were taught how binary numbers work, and how parity bits work. Much like the metric system, binary numbers work in sets, but each factor is 2. So, 001 is 1, 010 is 2, 011 is 3, 100 is 4, 101 is 5, 110 is 6, and 111 is 7. This was explained using sticks and stones (no broken bones today though), and gave a great visual representation of the way we encapsulate bits! Speaking of bits, the next bit of knowledge was parity bits, in which a quantity of bits is calculated to contain an even or odd number of '1' bits, and then an extra bit is added to the quantity to make the total either 'even' or 'odd' parity. Erica showed us how this is done by adding a stick or stone to a 5x5 grid. To the 5x5 grid of randomly placed sticks and stones, Erica added 1 stick or stone to make the number of sticks and stones, so that each column or row had an even number of each. The grid was then 6x6. If we were to change a stick for a stone or stone for a stick (1 for a 0 or 0 for a 1) then Erica would be able to know, as each column or row could be checked for an even number of sticks or stones, and if it had an odd number, the column and row could give the x y coordinate of the altered bit. We were not told how this worked at first though, so we assumed Erica was able to use magic, but after learning how the problem worked, we thought it was magical nonetheless.
Continuing onwards, we had a nice chat, and Nicole built stick monuments which showed how wonderful having interactive learning tools can be. In a classroom, something like the activities we went through could totally be used to keep students engaged if they are fidgeters (I know I still do). Many questions were asked, and Erica was able to enlighten us further using a breadth of knowledge and expertise that left us inspired and desiring more code!
Signed Seeds Seldom Sown
(if I learn how to plant seeds, I will tell no one, but there will be signs)
Finishing up the day we went back to the opulently manicured shed. Picking some wood pieces to use for signs. I cannot reveal to you yet (at least I don’t think I can) what the signs will be for, but there will be signs. We put on a base layer of paint to prep the surface for painting. Then, we went to the shed and looked through the catalogue of seeds stored inside. Neatly organized, we looked through and sorted out any seeds based on their “plant by” date, and set them to the side, returning our fresh seeds (kind of oxymoronic) to the shelves. Capping off with a quick look at the Orchard Garden sign so it can be repaired tomorrow and hung up so the bees know who to blame for all the weeding.
(The bottom image is a bag full of bags we found in the shed, a staple of all roofed buildings which humans inhabit it seems)
My father has always said that his shop teacher in high school always said, and now I say, “If you don’t have time to clean, you don’t have time for the job”. This rang true. A clean workspace is a clean mind, is a clean garden, is a clean workflow, is a clean lesson, is a clean learning experience, is a clean conscious. And so on. Having the ability to change the shape of lessons and adapt them to your environment is fundamental as an educator. Whether that is simply making a space easier to work in or working differently with the space. We prep and plan for these things, but an error in the code of our plans requires on-the-fly computation and reordering of priorities, sometimes adding new tasks into the mix. It all flows together really, how we practice and pursue our goals and thereby the goals of our students in a learning environment. It is like how music is organized sound, reaching a goal is organized chaos.
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