Real Life Hogwarts

So, you've got your acceptance letter in hand to start studying at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and you have the list of required textbooks for your required courses, but before we hit Diagon Alley, let's see what courses you will actually be taking, shall we?

Hogwarts Courses of Study

Year 1:

Transfiguration

Charms 

Potions 

History of Magic 

Defense Against the Dark Arts 

Astronomy
Herbology
Flying

Additional Courses Year 2:

Arithmancy 

Muggle Studies 

Divination 

Study of Ancient Runes 

Care of Magical Creatures 

Additional Courses Year 3:

Alchemy 

Of course, these are just the Departments. You still need to decide on the specific courses to take, baring in mind you must take a minimum of one class from each of them. Students who wish to take more than one course concurrently must speak to their House Leader as well as the Headmaster for approval. Certain classes have pre-requisites or are year specific. Let's see what our options are, shall we?

Coursework Time Management Dilemma

I am doing an online course through a different university in Astrophysics because the PhD program I want to get in to requires you to have credits in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. I have the Biology and Chemistry (Biology of Florida Plant and Animal Life, Introductory Chemistry, and General Chemistry 1 (+labs)), but the Physics course I took was only given as "Credit" under a Natural Science listing, so instead of taking a general Physics course, because they are boring, I am taking Astrophysics. To be honest, part of the reason is for the title (Astrophysics sounds way cooler) and part is for the PhD (it's a Planetary Science program).

However, I am now in the second week of the course and we have to complete 3 sections per week. Each section has around 8 video lectures and a question to complete for each lecture, worked examples, practice problems, and required homework....FOR EACH SECTION! At three sections a week, I'm struggling to do anything else and with my courses starting in September and the required field work where we will be away for several days every month, I'm concerned I'll fail the course simply due to a lack of time. It doesn't help that a bunch of the arithmetic is skipped or glossed over during the videos so I'm having to learn the math and the physics at the same time, but the sheer quantity of work is staggering.

I'm just not sure what to do. I want to complete the course, but I also do not want to sacrifice my actual required coursework for the credits...and I still need to study for Statistics.

Magazine: Organic Times

Check out my article in the Organic Times Magazine created completely by WUR MOA students! Page 9.

Critical Thinking & Internet/Life Skills through the Game of Life

The last few days I have been planning my holiday trips and I realized that the skills I use to find locations, make judgments on hotels, budget flights and food, plan my activities, and pack my bags are all things that students in high school are not taught. However, these are not just important skills for planning a trip, they are the foundation of how most of us 'adults' deal with our day-to-day lives.

Teaching Agriculture via Games: Settlers of Catan Classroom Activity

As part of my Masterclass, I came up with an energizer activity with the theme of agriculture using the popular board game Settlers of Catan. I only have 20 minutes for the game, but you can expand this out to be as many days as you want, or even take an entire grading period and use it as a base. I love using games to teach, because it doesn't feel like teaching, and there are so many options out there now to teach like this, that I'll include a list of games I've used in my own classroom. Enjoy!

EcoSystem Services and Other Types of Sustainability Rant

This was originally a 2 second FB rant because I was studying for my Organic Agriculture and Sustainability exam and I realized we spend so much time preaching "organic, organic, organic", but what we really need to be saying is "sustainable, sustainable, sustainable".  Organic doesn't mean anything if it dies every year or can't be adapted to different environments. In Europe, hydroponics isn't considered organic because the plant needs to be in direct, unimpeded contact with the soil. There can be no barrier to the roots and any soil, so if you have contaminated soil (let's say in an urban environment) and you put a waterproof membrane down and clean soil on top, you can't call it organic....how pedantic is that?

Teaching Resources for All Subjects

With school back in session for many, I thought posting some of the resources I've used would be helpful. All of these are free and online, so you can use what you want or share with your kids. The Multiple Subjects section is probably the most useful of all of them, but take a look around and use what you want. I'll keep updating as I come across sources.

Have fun!

Education: Wageningen University (Netherlands)

Next month I am moving to the Netherlands to begin my Masters in Organic Agriculture at Wageningen University & Research. My goal is to complete the Double Degree which involves going to school at WUR and also attending ISARA in Lyon, France. The Double Degree will be in Organic Agriculture and Agroecology. At this point, I do not know if I will be able to complete the program due to enrollment, but it is my hope that after I speak with my adviser at WUR I will have a better idea as to if this is an option for me.