Philosophy
& Pedagogy

Michelle Griffin, Facilitator

My passion in life is connecting people of all ages with their natural world, leading to a world of humans living harmoniously and sustainably.

Field work in Alaska and Glacier National Park set me on a path to begin my adult career in environmental policy and communication. I was instrumental in creating and passing the Georgia Coastal Management Program at the state level as well as the Conservation and Reinvestment Act at the federal level. I also contributed to Right Whale, Loggerhead Sea Turtle, and Western Manatee research along the coast of Georgia.

After starting a family, I transitioned from educating politicians to guiding young minds from Kindergarten to 8th grade. My environmental policy work combined with an MA in Education led me to the role of Environmental Educator for High Meadows School, a 42-acre independent school in Roswell, Georgia, serving Preschool-8th grade.

During my tenure at High Meadows I not only taught an emergent, cross-curricular IB curriculum to all grade levels, but also provided professional development to IB classroom teachers, helping them to use the forest, meadows, and gardens to teach all subject areas.

As a huge advocate of Place-Based and Service learning, many of my students’ learning experiences include giving back to the local community, as well as seeking ways to connect with communities across the globe.

My additional experience as a facilitator in diversity, inclusion, and acceptance training led me to a new passion: incorporating traditions from different cultures to teach the common interest of connecting and respecting the natural world.

Michelle’s family includes her spouse, Mark; daughter, Katie (21); and son, Jack (19). The whole family loves to hike, camp, travel, and (the latest adventure) dog sledding together! The next planned family adventure is scuba diving and
exploring the islands of Hawaii!

Root & Rise's Educational Philosophy and Pedagogy

At Root & Rise, we lean heavily on the insights of both indigenous practices worldwide and scientific research that indicates children's bodies and minds grow and learn best with unstructured play and by performing the daily tasks of life alongside adults for as many as the first eight to ten years of life (see Resources for more info).

That is not to say that we never provide structured activities or guide play in a particular direction. For the most part, these activities arise naturally from conversations sparked by inquisitive questions from the kids, and are still largely child-led in nature. Michelle provides the opportunity to engage in activities around particular subjects, skills, holidays, etc., and presents them in an encouraging manner (and encourages giving something a quick try before rejecting it out of hand). Kids are also given a chance to support each other engaging in activities.

GAMES WE PLAY

PARK RANGER

You're a Park Ranger trying to identify what's around you. Classmates pick their species, animal or plant, and the Park Ranger works to identify and classify them by their characteristics!

ORKY SNORKY

A group of players stand in circle.
One person stands in the middle of the circle and is blindfolded.
Everyone else SILENTLY moves to a new spot in the circle.
The blindfolded person slowly turns around once or twice then stops and points their finger and says, "ORKY?"
The person they are pointing at (or closest to where they are pointing) must now respond by only saying "SNORKY!"
The key here is to disguise your voice so it can't be recognized (i.e. a low growl or a high squeak or soft whisper...etc.).
Orky must now try to guess the identity of Snorky.
If the guess is correct, "Snorky" now becomes "Orky"
If the guess is incorrect, a player who has not been "Orky" moves to the middle to be blindfolded, and the game stars again.

YOUR MISSION, SHOULD YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT

In this fun I Spy-like game, we get to challenge the kids to stop and closely explore what is all around them.

“Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to find four leaves of different colors. Now, find four leaves that seem like they come from different trees.”

When a mission seems impossible (like finding blooming flowers in winter), we get to talk about why we saw them last month but don’t see them anymore. Whatever the mission, the kids always seem ready to accept!

LESSONS FROM OUR SURROUNDINGS

DENSITY

When we play in the water, often the kids want to toss objects in: rocks, sticks, pinecones, leaves, etc. We talk about what just happened: did it sink or float? We make predictions about which new items will sink or float. We discuss our own bodies floating. We talk about the difference between being heavy and being more dense, being light and being less dense. We talk about comparably sized items and which is more or less dense: a marble vs an acorn; a baseball vs a tennis ball.

SOUND AND PITCH

Many playgrounds have pipes to hit with rubber mallets. We observe the different lengths in pipes and the different pitches they produce. We talk about the vibrations that are produced when we hit the pipes, and we connect that to the vibrations in our own vocal chords. We can then discuss how different pitches are produced from stringed instruments: thickness of strings rather than length of pipes

METAMORPHOSIS

Mason Mill has a community garden in which the class has a plot. When we are out playing and find a caterpillar, we research what type it is, what it likes to eat, and if it’s native to our environment. If we think we can provide what it needs, we safely bring it back to class base, feed it regularly, and watch as it transforms! When the moth or butterfly emerges, we get to release it to the wild in our garden plot.

THOUGHTFUL CONVERSATIONS

COMPLAINTS

“I hate mosquitoes!”

One of the most understandable feelings any southerner can have, for sure. But at Playschool, we stop to recognize the benefits of these otherwise wretched creatures. We stop to ask, “Why do mosquitoes exist? Do they do any good for the environment?” Our kids learn that just because something is annoying to us humans does not mean it’s useless or should be eradicated. In fact, our kids learn that mosquitoes are pollinators and a vital food source for other creatures, like bats.

And we get the chance to acknowledge the break that winter gives us from those itchy red welts on our arms and legs. We observe the differences we see in the world around us as the seasons shift from summer to fall to winter to spring and back again. A new morning, we hear instead, “I hate the cold!”

“But earlier you said you hate mosquitoes, and in the cold you don’t have mosquitoes. So doesn’t the cold give you something good, too?” In this, we challenge our kids to see the beauty of all nature and all seasons.

We make use of this time to point out changes to the natural order of things. “Yes, it’s cold, but it’s actually not as cold as it used to be and not for as long. And, while I love the warmth, that actually causes problems for the environment.” Again, we end up back to mosquitoes. With climate change, we see more of them earlier and later. “Why aren’t there more bats to eat the mosquitoes?” So we talk about land development and the impact of logging and modern western ideas of the perfect lawn removing habitats for wonderful mosquito-eating animals.

At Root & Rise, we explore the interconnectedness of all facets of nature, ourselves included, and how we have altered the course of nature in many ways. We encourage stewardship of the precious lands we inhabit, and we talk openly about why it is important to care for this land.

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