[obol] 4th Grade Birders in Silverton-Addendum

[JohnPam]

Greetings,

I tried to "answer" Joel Gier off OBOL but it kicked back on me twice. So
bear with me and just delete if this is simply rehashing old topics, boring,
etc etc etc.

Classroom FeederWatch has always been one that seems to work and doesn't
cost all that much money. The only difference between Classroom FeederWatch
and BirdSleuth that I know is that there will now be 4 modules available
instead of 1 and that the materials have been updated a bit. My
understanding is that they have been substantially updated. The first module
is ready and has been beta tested by a number of teachers - including
several in Oregon. The curriculum seems to be viable through middle school
and several 7th grade teachers have highly recommended it on the Cornell
website.
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdsleuth/about . In late summer, the same
site had a 4th grade teacher praising it. Strange, I believe she was from
Oregon too!

I do not teach the unit. I usually volunteer for the field part: getting out
and looking with the students.  The teacher and I talked about going out
with small groups so we can keep a better handle on the kids. We sometimes
have 3, sometimes 4, sometimes 5. I go out for 15-20 minutes and then come
back and rotate to other kids. The teacher is very flexible but tells me
what days are best and what times are best so that is when I try to be
there. Sometimes she is too busy and sometimes it doesn't work for me. A
checklist of the students is maintained by the teacher and all the kids get
out a couple times a month, at least.

The teacher sometimes takes the entire group out but this tends to scare the
birds off and it is a bit harder to keep the kids on task. I have never been
there when she has done this large group activity. We do not have enough
binoculars for the whole group so that experience is a problem in that
respect as well. I have been out with groups of 8 while visiting Oregon
Gardens ponds. A staff member is always present on these walks off campus
and they are treated like full field trips with permission slips,
parent/sibling volunteers going along, and so forth.

If a teacher did not want to plunk down the 75$ and do BirdSleuth, you could
just go out and buy some feeders and feed, put outside the classroom window,
and monitor what shows up. Sometimes you have to be careful about certain
school grounds: feeders get vandalized eventually or disappear. Inner
courtyards, enclosed areas of other types, or open areas in front of the
school seem to allow the feeders to last longer.  BirdSleuth gives
you a curriculum that I believe fits into our state standards and hence a
rationale for putting out feeders and bringing in birds and perhaps walking
the grounds looking for birds. Also, BirdSleuth educates the educator and
does not presume any knowledge of the subject by the teacher.

Hopefully this is an adequate response to your questions. I have no "aha!"
answers.

As for optics and other donations: you beg, sometimes people respond. The
local Izaak Walton League and Leupold and Stevens have helped with
binoculars but the students went for many years with no binoculars at all.
This bothered me so I bought a couple pairs of cheap bins, asked here on
OBOL, and got some responses. The main problem with little kids is the size
of binoculars. They do not fit their faces very well. When you get the size
down, the field of view is oftentimes too narrow for the beginner to find
the bird. We spend time on learning to adjust the bins, focus, etc.
Sometimes I find them squinting through one side of the binoculars. Not a
superb view....

This is the third school where we have seen a successful version of
Classroom FeederWatch/BirdSleuth work. Sometimes it goes for 2-3 years and
the teacher moves on or gives up on the program. In this building, it is a
bit unusual in that this is the 8th year and it is still going. I think the
revised BirdSleuth curriculum kept it alive for the teacher. She really
likes it!

When I run across local teachers who teach K-8 and are interested in birds,
I push the program (and oftentimes say I will volunteer and help if they
want). Teachers are harried, overworked, running in circles trying to keep
up. Some old geezer with a gray beard babbling about birds is not
necessarily going to win them over. ;-) I almost always fail with these
selling jobs, even when they are obviously "into birds."  Teachers are
hesitant to add anything to the overflowing classroom demands.

My main point in my post was that the kids got excited over a couple very
common backyard birds. They had fun; Mr. Thomas had fun. We "counted" our
species seen & heard. The sun was bright; the day was glorious. It is great
to be alive and birding! Matter of fact, think I will go out now and see
what is beyond the backyard and lurking on the brushline. Maybe drive to a
nearby park or hilltop.

John Thomas
Silverton