Week 1 Update - Mr. Braden’s Builders

Hey Farm Families!

Mr. Braden here with our story of the first week of farm school! As it was the first day of the semester it looks a little bit different than the other weeks will, but we got a lot of important things done along the way.

As usual we started the day out with a large group game until everyone was arrived and settled. Then we gathered our groups for the first time and made our way to our classroom to start our day.

My group starts each day with setting their intention for the day, whether that's to have fun, learn things, make friends, whatever it is; we speak it out loud.

After that we discussed our agreements and a rule that pertains to being with us this semester. It's a longer discussion but a necessary one to having a great year. Here are some highlights:

Agreements:
1. I will be safe with my hands and feet
2. I will speak respectfully
3. I will respond when a mentor calls for me
4. Stop means stop, no means no
5. I am committed to reaching resolution with my peers (conflict resolution)
6. The platinum rule- treat others how they want to be treated.

Rule:
1. If you can do it, you can do it. If you can't, you can't. This means that if you can sit with friends/doodle/fidget etc. and still pay attention without being a distraction, you are welcome to. If you cannot pay attention or become a distraction to yourself or others, you may not.

After that we had short lesson on using a sun stick to find the directions near us. (You need 4 sticks and 30 minutes, please ask them about it). Ate our snacks and began our tour of the farm.

Our tour stopped by chickens and the greenhouse, the composting toilet, the German house, the bees, the wildflower fields and all over. It continued a bit after lunch as we have a lot of space to cover.

During lunch, after we ate, they organized games together and had time for observed, but not instructed, free-play.

After lunch we completed out farm chore of adding compost tea to the peppers in row 14 as a group. (Ask them about the smell.) We learned a bit about compost and compost tea, and then headed back to the classroom.

At that point we closed up out day with a debrief and headed to pickup. We had a great day, and I'm looking forward to many more!

Best,
Braden