Session 1: Land Based Libraries

The presenter Mardelle Sauerborn questioned her own idea for this presentation. What is a land based library? Is that a real thing? What can that mean to us? Stories are inherently linked to land, and language is the voice of the land. Those are the main messages I took away from this session.

Mardelle referenced a story called Lila and the Raven. This story stuck with me because it more than one way, it’s heartbreaking. A new girl, Lila, starts at her school and is bullied and mocked for being who the other students perceive her to be. With the help of raven, however, she creates a costume to express who she truly is, and suddenly the students are interested in her and like her. But she never changed. She was always who she was, and if she hadn’t shared who she was, she would still be who she was. The message of this story to me was that there is value in people that we cannot see and perceive, and just because we don’t have the privilege to know who they are, doesn’t mean that we should mock or ignore them. This is an important value, I think, to both work on as a person and to impart to students. Respect. Respect that which you know, and do not know, and respect others.

Session 2: Indigenous Youth Working with Invasive Species

The session started with a review of invasive species, which I am familiar with from both my boat test and a recent Biology course I took online this summer which touched on it in one of the modules. A big focus in this presentation was empowering students to change their own environment and make a difference. Lesson plan ideas included sending the kids outside to find local species, identify invasive species, and work with their community or through fundraising to make a difference in their own communities. Sources of knowledge ranged from flower-identification apps to local Elders and knowledge keepers. Willie Poll also provided us with a link to get involved at https://bcinvasives.ca/get-involved/volunteer/.

Session 3: Inspiring Student EnvironMentors, via Songwriting, Recording, Storytelling, and Video-Making

Peter Lenton and Remy Rodden filled my afternoon with educational songs, composition activities, and fresh ideas for conveying concepts in the classroom through the media of music. My favourite song was “Proud like a Mountain”:

I found the song to be very uplifting, with a good melody and musical construction, which made me think of the ways it could be used in a music classroom to teach songwriting. Their next song, which is about cycles, could also be used to explore musical cycles – from Rondo form to the verse/chorus cycles of song.

 

In addition to learning something about song structure and construction, this song would also interweave learning perfectly in a classroom. “Proud like a Mountain” can also be used in an English classroom to teach similes, and then add lyrics to the song once you have eight similes for the eight lines of the verse. At the end of their presentation, Remy and Peter also gave us educators permission to use their music in the classroom and borrow the melodies for making our own songs in the classroom, provided they aren’t making any money.

Ultimately, I found the C2C Conference to be an educational and enjoyable experience.