Commentary

The current projects I had intended to reflect on and integrate into this OP that were stated in my LIPD and last OP have been put on a stand still.  The reason being an opportunity that was offered to me at work, and I felt like it resonated well with my passions and me.  I do however have the attention towards Non-violent communication in my home life; it is just not something I see myself documenting for a future OP report anymore.

I chose to engage in this project because I thought it would be a great experience on a personal, and professional level.  I wanted to show my work that I have the capacity to take initiative with projects and develop something tangible and functional that can be used as a learning model for future developments. 

How do these projects effect your learning pathway? This project was adapted into my learning pathway and it is overall going to benefit me in the long run.  It has the opportunity to expand into many other OP's in the future and that is something that inspired me to go with this project.  

I am on time with where I wanted to be for OP's and their deadlines.  Although, I have deviated from the original LIPD projects I had specified.  This month was going to be focusing on community and how to bring people together.  I ended up working on a worm bin for this OP.  I am happy with this change because it helped me focus on goals I had set for myself in my LIPD.  Overall, the goals were always more important to me than the projects themselves and I'm glad I have a foundation to look back on and hold me accountable.

1. Learnings: I learned that 3 and 4 year olds definitely are capable of brainstorming and designing systems as a group.  They had a lot of input when it came to our worm compost design and for the most part they were attainable and achievable visions.  There were certainly a few that didn’t make the mark because they were too obscure.  With feeling their pull and energy for this worm bin made me passionately hold the fact they were my clients and I respected every idea they suggested and honestly communicated why some ideas were not possible.    I think the highlight from this was creating something unique that my preschool center hasn’t seen but also coupling the children’s passions for worms.  With this project we were able to jump into a full-blown worm curriculum that held the children’s attention enthusiastically.   Challenges that I came across were rather silly, as I stated before it was just that there were some ideas/visions for the worm bin that were not realistic or logical and so the opportunity for me to be supportive unfolded.  

2. Goals: Even though this wasn't the content and project work I had intended on for this OP I feel like I embraced it and created something tangible.  Overall, I feel that I set goals and a timeline for myself that was attainable and felt that I had a lot of support within my work to accomplish this project on time to reach the May 1st OP bus.

3. Incorporation of Feedback: In this OP I have made note of who my collaborators were and how they helped me throughout this OP process and what their roles were.  I also have included more graphics and hand drawn artwork for this OP to diversify my media input. 

I feel like the reviewing experience is a very important part of the OP process. I feel like it has developed my critical evaluation skills in a positive way.  As this is my 4^th OP I feel like I have obtained an understanding of the review process as a whole and have a better sense as to what some of the questions are asking and what to look for in my OP.



4. Dissemination Efforts:  My project has served as a stepping-stone to composting in our pre-school center.  It has inspired the children to want to know more as well as the other teachers in the center.  The other day we had a family gathering with the parents and children of our center.  The families got to see what their children have been learning and the kids were so ecstatic to check on our worms and to show their parents what they made.  It was a very liberating moment to take in their appreciation.  As for the Gaia U community, I feel like I have reached out a few times with very little feedback, so it doesn’t seem to be super resourceful to me, or maybe it’s just that people aren’t that interested in the topics I am focusing on.  I did however, receive a text in response to my vision for this OP that stated, “your idea of using an aquarium is great!” and that opened the door to fruitful discussion. 

Designed/Improvised interventions

How was I intervening in the situation and why? I was intervening in the situation because even though I had clients, they were young clients that didn’t know much about composting or worms.  I was listening to their desires and visions for the compost bin but also telling them when certain desires were not realistic. 

When did I intervene and why then? I intervened after the brainstorming phase when it came to designing our system on pen and paper. I chose this time because I thought it would be rude during the brainstorming phase where the clients could have taken that I wasn’t listening to them fully.

Context 

Influencing elements of the context were…

Space

Environment

Logistics 

Who else was there? The clients were there as well as my co-teachers and I.  

Outcomes and goals

What were the outcomes I noticed?

Everyone seemed to accept the additions I made to their lists for designing the worm bin. 

What outcomes did other people notice? 

Everyone thought it was super cool that they were able to see into the worm bin and see all of the layers and they liked that it could fit right under our table where our grow light is located for the plants.  It all tied together in one area of the room.

Which of these outcomes met my goals or the goals of a client?

It was aesthetically pleasing and small scale which were goals of the clients.

Which of these outcomes will contribute to my long-term goals or the long-term goals of a client? My clients enjoy the fact that it doesn’t take up too much room and is very self-sufficient and low maintenance. 

Where there any challenging and/or surprising outcomes? It surprised me how much the children were into the designing portion and their ideas that actually simulated real life logistics of a worms needs.  

Did or do any of these need remedial action and could they be seen as positive emerging directions? I definitely see this as an encouragement to listen to each person's ideas in life, regardless of age.

Un/learnings

What will I do differently next time and, if I were mentoring another person to navigate a similar situation what would my advice be? Listening is vital, and then figuring out the hidden message too.  I would definitely have the children/client be even more hands on in the future.  I had a lot of overwhelming fear that things would break or worms would die.