A week filled with adventure as we set out our mason bee cocoons at the farm, went to Ironwood library, visited Burnett Secondary to play games with Grade 12 psychology students and made homemade waffles. The waffles really were a vehicle for honey. We established we wanted to eat something with honey, in honour of all the honey bees, so we decided on waffles.

We ate our waffles outside on the balcony, with a slight drizzle of rain falling, misting our jackets and waffles! Comments made during waffle eating:

Little Emily: I love you bees!  The honey tastes like wax.
Nicholas: I love you bees but not when you sting me.
Loreli: Yummy honey!
Wayne: I like the waffle.
Cash: I don't like the honey.
Luca: I only like the honey.
Cole: I don't like the waffle but I like the honey.
Alexa: I like it because it is yummy.
Sidney: I like the honey the most.

Cracking eggs is tricky business!

Whisking is so much fun



Adding the dry ingredients

We had a lot of energy after we ate our waffles and honey so we went to the playground and ...

• danced in the rain
• played tag in the rain
• played soccer in the rain
• dug in the sandbox in the rain
• sang "grown up " songs in the rain
• played superheroes in the rain
• looked for bees in the rain

....until we were all so wet and cold that we had to come in to defrost! Wet pinnies were thrown off, jackets tossed on the floor, socks yanked off, wet pants stickily pulled off wet legs and then...ahhhhh, dry, warm cozy clothes.

After lunch we started to learn about bumblebees- very different from mason and honey bees which was very interesting. Emmett asked the children if they were a bee would they rather be a mason, honey or bumblebee.

The responses:

Colin: Mason, because they don't sting
Cyanna: Mason, because they don't sting
Bryn: Honey, cause they make honey
Loreli: Queen honey bee, cause they lay eggs
Alexa: Mason, because they don't sting
Nico: Honey, cause they make flowers
Zev: Honey, cause they collect stuff to make honey
Luca: Boy mason bee, because they don't sting
Kayla: Mason, because they don't sting
Emily: Bumblebee, cause them live in a family
Wayne: Mason, cause they don't sting
Chloe: Bumblebee, cause they are nice
Nicolas: honey and a bumblebee
Sidney: Bumblebee, cause they are cool, cause they hibernate
Cash: Drone Honey, cause they sting
Brooke: Mason, cause they don't sting
Cole: Honey, cause they get nectar.

And me... if I were a bee... I think I would want to be a female mason bee. They love to take of their eggs, providing them with food and lodging. An ECE bee- what could be better?

What continues to resound so strongly for me as an educator is how important place based, experiential learning is for our children. They legitimately care about bees now. They have developed a connection to them, just as I have. I lie in bed on rainy, windy nights worrying about the bees, wondering what they are doing.  Creating these relationships is vital for the growth of all of us. I see my role as an educator to support this learning and help to build these connections. That said, I am going to check on our bees!

Emily

A most special week in school. Maybe it is the spring air, maybe it was the time off, maybe it is because we are all growing... but we had so much fun this week.

Wednesday
We went to the farm with a big planting agenda. I am happy to report that we did get everything planted but not before we..

ran
jumped
picked dandelions and made bouquets and rings
dug in the mud
picked up worms
looked at birds
noticed buds on trees
tripped on the paths
looked for mushrooms
hoped to see the coyote
shared sea shells from the depths of our pockets
looked at the developing play area
walked backwards and sideways
made up songs
felt the wind

We then got down to business and put in lettuce, spinach, peas, carrots, yu choi sum, and beets. Seeds went in rows, seeds were dropped who knows where and we all had a glorious time. We also worked on our bee books, ate lunch and gobbled up delicious purple sprouting broccoli that was generously gifted to us by Chef Ian Lai from the Richmond Schoolyard Society. Kids begging for broccoli and kale- now that is truly a gift!!







Friday
We painted our mason bee houses today and enjoyed mixing colours and carefully planned designs that might attract the bees. We will put the houses at the farm next week and we are all hoping those little tubes get filled!



Before class, I went into our closet to get a basket and came out with our projector! Go figure! The day appeared to be sort of dark and gloomy so it seemed appropriate to play with light. We placed a variety of objects next to the table for the children to freely explore. The following conversation was generated from one interaction:

Zev: Rocks can be in a treasure chest
Loreli: Yeah, and we can make a whole jungle
Zev: Treasure is in here. Goody, goody, right? That's enough
Loreli: We can make it bigger
Zev: Oh no, there's crashing rocks. Breaking rocks
Loreli: Let's put them in a gem case. Gems need cases so they don't fall out
Zev: Hmmm. Stones. Monkeys. Jungles need monkeys, right?
Loreili: Yea, let's make some
Zev: Monkeys climb in the tree. Hey, look, the jungle shows up on the door 9 he moves the projector). it shows up on the ceiling and the floor.
Loreli: Maybe we can draw it on paper to show our mom and dad. Isn't that a good idea?
Zev: Yeah!
Loreli: Then they can see it too.
Zev: Barrels of water. We need water.

I enjoyed this conversation on many levels. Firstly, this is a relatively new friendship forming. Secondly, they investigated the light and seemed intrigued with the shadows and they also developed a story along with it. The story evolved very naturally with each child building on one another's ideas. Ideas were accepted and not negated. There was a sense of openness in this conversation. I like that they can let a conversation flow into a whole new dimension without care of its continuity or logic. How can we sustain this sense of freedom in our thoughts and conversations? Should we?



We did a fire drill (boring but necessary). We emptied our compost and fought about who got to stir it first.

We ran all the way around the turf, holding hands, cheering each other on. We played Star Wars, fairies, animal kingdom and wrestled.



We brainstormed a list of words that start with the letter "P".


We worked on our bee books. Today we drew the life cycle of the honey bee.

We have all fallen in love with mason bees and the children can tell you lots of interesting facts about them. We will paint our houses next week and get ready to put them at the farm. Needless to say, excitement is high.

In the meantime, we are now learning about honey bees. The children are fascinated with bees and are deeply intrigued by these intelligent and well developed insects. We discussed their complex society, the job of each bee, what they eat, honey, royal jelly, life cycle and of course, the stings that are often associated with bees.

On Monday, we decided that we would play a bee game on Wednesday whereby we could take on the roles of all the bees in a hive. Of course, every girl said they wanted to be the queen so we decided that we would have a meeting to discuss rules and role assignments.

Today, as soon as we opened up the discussion Chloe said she wanted to be the queen bee and Alexa then added that she also wanted to be the queen. Chloe responded with "I have an idea. We can all be the queen bee and have different hives."

The discussion continued on like this:

Chloe: I will talk about the rules first. Put up your hand if you want to be a queen? OK, each one of us can be queen. I will be queen of the first hive.

I said: If all the girls are queens in different hives, I think we may have a problem in our hives.

Zev: But there are lots of queen bees, we need drones and worker bees too (we spent lots of time going over these terms so I am glad he remembered the terminology).
I said: Yes, if all the girls are queens we have no females to be the workers.
Zev: Maybe our teachers can be the workers.
Nico: We can make some boys as drones.
Loreli: Maybe we can share, we can take turns being queen bee.
Chloe: I don't like that idea I have the bestest idea- we can pretend to be queen in our own hive and pretend we have worker bees too. Everybody agree?

Everyone did agree so we all spread out around the room and pretend to have workers, drones flew in and out of our hives and all was well. Then we proclaimed Yvette to play the role of the queen and we divided ourselves into drones and workers and buzzed around the room, collecting pollen, going in and out of the hive, cleaning the hive and doing all the things bees do- it was exhausting being a bee!

I love the children's interest in these insects. The questions keep emerging, the understanding deepening and a respect for these creatures is developing. If we explore animals, nature and landscape with our children they will grow to love and respect the world around them. It is all about making connections.

Emily

When I think back on the last few sessions, the word that stands out for me is...negotiations. Peer to peer negotiations, teacher to student negotiations, teacher to teacher negotiations. These negotiations have taken on many forms; some peaceful, some adversarial but always with a positive learning outcome. The learning that takes place throughout these processes is extraordinary and I am so pleased that we have the time in class to allow for these processes to take place.

I enjoy listening to the evolution of the negotiation. It is like watching a story unfold. It can start in a very quiet, controlled simple manner or it can begin like a volcano suddenly erupting. The middle part can be slow, especially if there is a stalemate. Bodies become agitated, eye contact either intensifies or completely vanishes, voices either increase in volume or are silenced. And then, the moment of some sort of resolution which is either going to make both parties happy, only one happy or both complacent.

I have heard these negotiations throughout the days relating to art projects, lining up, building materials, snack and lunch spots, bus seating arrangements, sticks, shovels, buckets, mason bees, sharing ideas at circle....the list could go on.  There have been tears, followed by giggles. There have been hurtful hands and hurtful words. There have been hugs, apologies and hand holdings. We are on this journey together.. a journey of learning to live and work together, in some kind of imperfect way.  We can learn that sometimes we do not get what we want when we want. We can also learn that making others feel good, makes ourselves feel good.

I myself will have opportunities to practice these skills as I embark on my own new journey of building a house with people I have never met. I am certain I will grow and change my perspective and I look forward  to developing myself as a person; after all, isn't that what we are here for?

Emily

P.S. Here is a picture of our mason bee house. Thanks to the Hugh Boyd woodworking students and their awesome teacher, Simon Nowak, for helping us with the build! Next step, painting and then it will be ready for our bees.


P.P.S. This is one example of our finished amaryllis. Look for pollen, pollen tubes, ovule, stem, and leaves.

I am in awe of these children. They have retained so much information about pollination, the mason bee life cycle and their homes. They have many answers and even more questions. They have requested to make a bee book project, which we will begin next week. Many children put in their thoughts on how the book should be compiled, what information should be in the book and how it should look. I am thrilled they are designing their own art projects now!

Below are a few examples of their replications of how mason bee tubes are filled. Look for nectar/pollen balls, eggs and mud walls. They know the terminology and understand the sequencing-yes, math is in everything!