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Education Blockchain Web3

Ed3DAO UnConference 2022 in the Metaverse

Conference in the Metaverse

The Ed3DAO UnConference 2022 was one of the most interactive and inspiring virtual conference that I have ever attended.

This was a 3 day conference, full of information about WEB3 and blockchain technology, and how education can and will be affected by these new technologies.

Interactive Digital World

Using ZEP the Ed3DAO team created the most beautiful and content rich metaverse experience. They also scheduled the most meaningful presentation. ZEP is platform to create virtual spaces for events, meetings and gatherings of all types in the metaverse as if you do in real life.

We were able to explore a thoughtfully laid out metaverse and you could definitely tell it was prepared by teachers, with lots differentiating. Such a wonderful sight to see all the avatars moving around and being able to see each persons video!

Check out Ed3DAO YouTube

There are recordings of EdTalk sessions from the conference!

Also check out their DISCORD to be apart of the community!

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Divine I Am Earth Education Existence Green Lifestyle Most Popular

MAEOE 2020: The Shore

In February I had the pleasure of attending and participating in the 2020 MAEOE conference: Exploring Connections: Linking Nature, People, and Mindfulness.

The conference committee reached out and asked if I was interested in creating the logo for the conference, of course I said YES!  Art, nature, people, and mindfulness are all passions of mine. It was such a fun project to work on, and they asked me to create the logo again for next year’s convention: Climate, Nature, People and Education: It’s All Connected.

February 6-9, 2020, the Maryland Association for Environmental & Outdoor Education brought together educators, resource personnel, scientists and researchers to share their experiences and ideas at the Princess Royale in Ocean City, MD. The weather was all rainy and cloudy most of the time, but we had a nice sunny day and a beautiful clear sky for a beautiful full moon.

The weekend began on Thursday with breakfast at the Bayside Skillet, it was delicious and hugemongous!  Perfect for keeping my fueled for the amazing Leopold Educational Program workshop. Peggy Eppig shared with us the land ethic and conservation education of Aldo Leopold.

Aldo Leopold was an American author, philosopher, scientist, ecologist, forester, conservationist, and environmentalist. He was a professor at the University of Wisconsin and is best known for his book A Sand County Almanac, which has sold more than two million copies.  

This full day workshop was full of learning and inspirational moments. We first went outside to the beach to spend time in nature. The beach provided a moment of clarity as well as discovery, of self and the world around me.

Learning about land ethics was a transformative moment for me. I am ever grateful for what Peggy shared with us that day.  I see another layer to my being and how it all connects to the path of knowledge of self.  Creative expression is simply a part of the whole. Our interconnectedness to all of creation is the energy, stewardship is the interaction of our connectedness…the product is beauty and love through creative expression.

Friday was a day of  hands-on sessions. One session I attended that day was taught me how to dye with natural plants. We experimented with cranberries, turmeric, and onions to name a few. I was excited to take it back to school and share it with my students!

Friday was also full of social time! I love that MAEOE schedules in time for us to network and mingle. We had lunch, a first timers meeting, and happy hour! I also created a banner for people to fill in with their intentions for the conference! It turned out so cool!

Fridays field experience was a trip to the Indian River Lifesaving Station. That place showed me the shore in a whole new light.

Saturday sessions were jam packed and the exhibit hall was super busy. There was a silent auction in which I won a few things!  Then we had a social dance costume party in the ballroom. MAEOE had an Eco Superhero contest that Ridgely entered! My green club students turned me into Rainebow Earth Brite! The kids made everything from recycled materials! My motto was I turn litter into glitter and trashy into flashy! We didn’t win the contest, however it was SUPER fun!

I left on Sunday after a morning meditation.

The shore gave me clarity and peace, to my center and on my journey in this life.

 

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Art Earth Education Green Lifestyle Most Popular Revealing Treasures in your Own Backyard

Full STEAM Ahead

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I recently attended the Maryland Association for Environmental & Outdoor Education annual conference in Towson Maryland. This was my first MAEOE conference, and I’m excited to bring more teachers next year!

The conference theme was Full Steam Ahead, Expanding the Potential of Environmental Education.  It was wonderful to see so much integration between the arts and sciences.

I attended a painting workshop, where we talked about how to create art as an expression of ourselves, while learning techniques to be successful in the aesthetics of the artwork.

The Watershed Charter school executive director Jessie Lehson presented Growing Art through Farming, the intersection of art and agriculture. We learned to make pastels from rocks, and cut turkey feathers into quill pens.

There was an amazing presentation called When Wonder Wins, discussing how important it is to intentionally incorporate wonder into our lives.  In doing so, we are role models for our students so that they too will use the world around them to be inspired to keep growing and following their passions.

I really enjoyed the Earth Powers and Forest bathing lightening session.  Two sessions in one hour, where we discussed allowing kids to explore nature and tap in with their creative mind. We also discussed how to take moments our of our day to spend time in nature mindfully noticing our reactions and responses to outside stimuli.

Restorative Practices was by far the best session I attended, and all of the session I went to were amazing.  Dave Dahl,  from NorthBay Adventure Camp, spoke about using restorative practices and teaching out children using the M.A.E.C.E. method. Mindfulness, Awareness, Empathy, Compassion, and Engage. We participated in hands on team building activities to build relationships with one another in our 2 hour session. We discussed the self determination theory, Carl Rogers, and Dr. Dan Siegel who wrote The Whole-Brain Child.

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This conference was a wonderful learning experience and I am excited about next year!

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Existence

MAEA Conference 2015

The 2015 MAEA conference was definitely a nice experience for me. When I arrived at Centennial High School, in Ellicott City, I was happy that there was plenty of parking available because there were a LOT of teachers attending the conference. Teaching artists lined the halls with their own personal art for sale, and there were a decent amount if businesses with information and free gifts.

Julia McTighe was one of the teachers vending her creations. She makes the most unique and fun earrings, necklaces and bracelets. Along with hairpins other great art! Her shop is called A Marvelous Spark, and she is definitely that! You can follow her shop on Instagram. Julia is an art educator for Baltimore County Public Schools.

Dick Blick had a nice pencil case that included a small sketchbook, a tube of paint, and coupon for 20% off of orders of $49 or more, and free shipping. Sargent Art had a gift pack of acrylic and tempera paint samples, Sculpt-it! clay, a pencil, and lesson plans. Sax school art supplies had a small pencil case with Crayola construction paper crayon sample, a colored pencil, metalic Sharpie, Prang classic marker, and Faber-Castell gel stick sample.

There were a few schools vending like Virgina Tech, Community College of Baltimore County Catonsville, and The Art Institutes. The programs at CCBC Catonsville look fantastic! I took a lot of my art classes at Harford Community College and my teachers were also professors at MICA and Towson. My years at HCC were definitely valuable, and I learned a lot from the professors.

Art with a heart had a table, as well as The Phillips Collection, Walters Art Museum, and the Baltimore Museum of Art. The Phillips collection had a great lesson for Arts Integration called Prism.K12. It is awesome! Check it out for resources for arts integrated lessons!

The keynote speaker  was Cindy Foley, an art educator who started changing the minds of people everywhere about what art education actually is… Teaching thinking. She works at the Columbus Museum of Art in Ohio. Cindy spoke on TED talks about the importance of teaching students thinking. Her vision lined up nicely with the CEEQER model!

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Existence

Hilton DFW Lakes Hotel

My stay in Dallas was a beautiful one… The Hilton DFW Lakes was a great hotel with lots of delicious food, and a beautiful atmosphere.

There was another conference there, a Computer Science Educator conference…I scored some resources to take back to school with me since this year we are a lighthouse school for laptops! All of our 6th graders will have devices of their own.

The hotel provided snacks for in between our session, and delicious lunch every day!

Before I left the hotel I decided to take a walk around the grounds! Nature is by far my favorite place to be…and boy was it worth it. The heat was a little intense, but the scenery was perfect.