In discovering the gifts of strengths & lessons learned that ADHD has given me, I’ve been able to finally understand that it’s this ONE particular idea that I’ve been obsessing over for such a long time is the key to my productivity. That my intense concentration on all things related to environmental stewardship which I experience isn’t because I’m crazy or selfish, it is related to my interest-based nervous system. This is a characteristic of an ADHD brain and is important to be aware of because it can be a large portion of the motivation that helps a person connect the “knowing” and “doing” halves of their brains.

Interest in doing a task (i.e. having motivation) is what stimulates dopamine production and which is drastically depleted in a typical ADHD brain. When dopamine is free-flowing in the brain, a person whom is affected is hyperfocused and engages in such intense concentration that often no one can stop and can be more productive in a day than “normal brains” are in a week. And the source of MY dopamine production has also long been the bane of my existence. It’s been a source of conflict with many factors of my life, including in my classroom.

So what is my hyperfocus??

My Dream

The only way to get to your dreams is to go through the door. Not over it or around it or scaling a wall. We must purposely insert that dream key ourselves. We must go after that which we want. We must learn to take courage and be not afraid. Nobody’s dream lies within their comfort zone, it naturally is something beyond your abilities. The dream lies outside of routine. And because of this it also requires us to grow learn adjust in developed.

It’s one of those things that I’ve always kind of known because you hear it EVERYWHERE, but it wasn’t until that I truly understand what that means and the significance of it.

And, actually, my dream is simple. That society will will truly internalize and understand what the significance of the conservation messages that those of us in the informal education community mean for their lives and the lives of those around them. It’s the reason why I entered the formal realm to begin with– to build better relationships from the inside.

Zoos, aquariums, and science centers preach that environmentality IS practicality. It produces immeasurable wealth for the subsistence of a community as well as a sustainable world. Schools should be the stepping stone for this understanding by adopting environmental education as a new curriculum to teach ALL content areas. The reasons for why are worth their own entire blogs, so stay tuned. Until then, feel free to browse the vast libraries of the Children & Nature Network and the Catalyst Quarterly for peer-reviewed research on the topic.

And so I am here… sharing with you all, my readers.

My Fears

My biggest fears (perpetuated by ADHD & associated RSD) in achieving this dream, though, have been about being rejected, being ridiculed, not knowing how to relate. I just never have liked “confrontation” because it’s difficult for me to articulate things on the spot, and not knowing how a person will respond (positively OR negatively) terrifies me.

I see those fears now as barriers that had been so strong they physically blocked me from progressing. What worsens this feeling is the explosively volatile climate of our current society; it’s downright physically debilitating. This is probably the biggest fear or biggest barrier that blocks my mission. The materialism that is resulting from our consumeristic society is creating a superficial toxicity such that it is near impossible to have a discussion should you or I say one word of disagreement. There are so many closed minds out there who aren’t open to logical and proper discourse, the fear of being shot down and rejected can be crippling. And it has been… in my classroom… of a Title 1 school… where parents don’t have emails and I am forced to call home.

With my diagnosis and the scientific evidence to support it, I just don’t have the skills to argue with illogical people or be around them without completely breaking down. That’s not so say that I DON’T have the skills, but rather I’ve found my strength is not finding proper words in the heat of the moment. My strength is in my writing. I’ve always kinda of known, but am just now finding out the power of that strength.

Struggling to Make the Dream a Reality

Accompanying my fears is the fact that my head is swarming with things and ideas so much so that I physically cannot focus. Often, my body physically shuts down because it’s so exhausted. Not that I’ve necessarily been out and about running around town, because that would make sense, but purely from the mental exhaustion. I just don’t want to think or do anything.

The amount of overwhelming responsibilities that today’s teachers have to deal with worsens the situation. I mean, being in the classroom today is completely overwhelming on its own with teachers not only responsible for prepare lessons, facilitating lessons for students, and professional development, but also providing differentiated instruction for 25-some students per class period for six or seven periods EACH day, phone calls home, constant staff meetings, after school tutoring, therapist, and even a parent. The list goes on and on. How is that possible to get everything completed “within contract hours”?? Added to that, ADHD is insurmountably overwhelming on its own, too. No wonder I looked and felt like crap for so long.

Lately, I often have been finding myself not know what to do. How can I make my dream come true and simultaneously survive with this interest-based nervous system of mine? Is that even possible? Or, am I just being selfish? This is where I am today… managing daily life just fine, for the most part, yet stuck between two worlds.

A Plan of Action

A Novel Idea: The Case for Authentic Project-based Learning

So, in true “Nicole-style,” I continue to wonder because my never-stop-thinking-analytical nature MUST find a solution. And, in typical ADHD fashion, I was distracted and randomly browsing YouTube when I happened across something interesting. It a particular video that I’d seen before. As I was watching, something the speaker said had pierced me like I heard it for the first time. It was regarding the reason I am, and so many other teachers, are here doing this. He said, “I teach leaders not to take standardized tests…” He said it and truly got to me because that is where I’m at, too.

He caught me off guard because lately, honestly, this climate of testing and the pressures that accompany it have had me questioning if I’m meant for this. If I should continue on for selfish reasons or really go elsewhere.

With buzzwords going around such as “21st century learning,” “kids are learning differently,” “differentiated instruction” and the like, I am really starting to feel like they’re just being regurgitated to “say” a school is aligning to certain policies. I say that because my experience has witnessed administration saying one thing and turning around to say another. It all got, and continues to be, very confusing for this ADHD brain of mine.

At that time, the thing that particularly had me questioning my chosen vocation, though, was the pressure I felt to teach a district curriculum metric exactly as written. In other words, pretty much to teach to a script. Even despite the fact that I had a Master’s degree in environmental education and a bachelors in biology. Even though I know many of my kids would do better with a different approach, I was afraid to do anything different.

My ADHD and RSD completely blocked me from doing anything else. My interest-based nervous system blocks me from doing just about anything other than what I’m passionate about. It’s a constant struggle. And I’m tired. And afraid. And don’t know what to do anymore.

On another note, I do know what to do because I see lots of shining examples of it at other schools across the country moving the gold. I also happen to work part time under a national non-profit where I get to meet a lot of schools who are incorporating sustainability not only in their science curriculum, but also within their whole-school cultures. Many of these model green schools are also from several under-served communities. They have completely turned around student motivation and work ethic to become top leaders in their district.

The idea behind the success of those schools is what is known as Education for Sustainability. Students from Kindergarten through 12th grade are so motivated because of their innate desire to want to help; to make a difference. They want to feel useful and even want to be “grown-ups” even though they’re not. This is especially noticeable in adolescent behavior and their innate desire to take charge of something when they can’t control the hormones racing throughout their own bodies.

So if students have such a desire to want to take the lead, then why not let them? Education for Sustainability provides the most authentic of opportunities to engage students. And in this current age of massive amounts of technology (specifically digitized technology) AND with our knowledge of the world around us (both built in natural environments) AND with the many problems we face, we need a lot of ideas… a lot of brains… a lot of collaborations from all different age levels in demographics if we actually want to find lasting solutions to be able to continue life on this planet for our children and grandchildren and beyond.

Sustainability influences the health of humans so much through availability of food, access to clean water and air, as well as other resources, it is pretty much the ultimate project-based learning system.

Bottom Line

Even despite the massive amount of peer-reviewed evidence for EfS, it seems to continue to to be a novel idea. I question the reason for this. I mean could it be the over-emphasis of testing in this current education climate? Or, is it something else?

Regardless of the cause of “resistance,” for the sake of our students, we need to make some acknowledgements:

The world IS changing;

There IS a connection between humans and the environment that is lost;

Humans, many of them at least, are trashing the Earth. They don’t even care. Even the ones that do care, though, sometimes don’t fully get it;

Students have a yearning to want to feel like they’re making a difference; and

Students are also literally going to be running the world very quickly here and with the state of our society and world, we have ample opportunity to provide them with authentic project-based learning experiences.

How many licks does it take?!

Environmental Education and sustainability are interdisciplinary all-encompassing of each of the core academic areas—math, language arts, social studies, and science—so why not provide kids with a true education that develops them into leaders. They’re going to be solving the world’s problems soon enough. Why not develop and train them now? That is the definition of Education for Sustainability.

There is so much potential for schools to accomplish this mission through the lens of EfS! From engaging students thoroughly and authentically to increasing their capacity for empathy and wellness and even to increasing their academic performance… What really is holding so many schools back from accepting that and breaking the mold of education? How can make my dream come true? Is that even possible? Or, am I just being selfish? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop?!

The world may never know. And, for that reason, patience is more of virtue than some will ever know, too.

Resources

By the way, if you are interested, there are many, many books and articles you’ll find about this. And, of course, lots of opinions, too. But, importantly, there are even more recent peer-reviewed pieces containing research with data that speaks to the impact of the environment on both the academic and emotional performance of students.

I now call this 5th & final installment of the Midnight Society to an end.