The SEMIS Coalition Blog
The place to connect, learn and share perspectives in place-based learning
Welcome to our SEMIS Coalition blog! A commons-based digital space for shared resources, images, and more. It’s a place for you to ask questions, interact with peers, and keep current with the latest Southeast Michigan Stewardship Coalition activities.
Browse through the most recent posts below, or browse past posts by category via the toolbar on the right.
Fall 2015 PD Resources
Our Fall PD on September 25th, 2015 was a great kick-off to the SEMIS Coalition 2015-16 project year! We had many new community partners and faculty from EMU, and many familiar faces we are happy to see return! It was wonderful to see everyone who was...
Water & the Artist
ERIC ZENER: http://abduzeedo.com/hypnotic-paintings-water-eric-zener Claude Monet does many different paintings of water flowers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Lilies Fredrick Remington, Fight for the Waterhole https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederic_Remington...
Nature’s Hidden Communication Network
Following the yearlong investigation into permaculture as a teaching method, one interesting aspect of this design method is tapping into a complex communication network among plant and animal communities that supports more harmonious agriculture systems, which are...
Quote Harvest: Wendell Berry
“The atmosphere, the earth, the water and the water cycle - those things are good gifts. The ecosystems, the ecosphere, those are good gifts. We have to regard them as gifts because we couldn't make them. We have to regard them as good gifts because we couldn't live...
“The Short Bus” Book Club
Background: The “ecojustice with/in disability studies” affinity group grew out of shared interests at the SEMIS summer institute. The group looks at the intersection and effect of attitudes towards human animals, nonhuman animals, and plants. The premise is that...
Ecojustice Reading List: The Good Garden, by K. S. Milway and S. Diagneault
When the exhausted soil of their family plot doesn't yield enough and her father leaves to find work, María Luz plants the winter vegetables using new farming techniques she learns from her teacher, Don Pedro. Marigolds repel insect pests. Terracing and using compost...
Quote Harvest: David Sobel
“Exploration of the natural world begins in early childhood, flourishes in middle childhood, and continues in adolescence as a pleasure and a source of strength for social action.” - David Sobel How do you adapt your place-based education to nourish the developmental...
Video Feature: Ecojustice Education Concepts
In honor of Earth Day, brush up on the EcoJustice basics through the following video: http://vimeo.com/55569750 In this video, Rebecca Martusewicz defines how the the Ecojustice Education masters program emerged from “a crisis in the way we think about the way we are...
EcoJustice Reading List: An Inconvenient Truth: Adapted to the New Generation
How do we educate on the lesson of climate change that is relevant for youth? How do we understand the root causes of these changes, and how do we plan for a resilient future? These are difficult questions that are often hard to teach in a way that hits home...
Fostering Youth Civic Engagement
Are our schools preparing young people to be informed, active citizens of a democratic society? Are we instilling in our young people the dispositions and values needed to be civic actors in their communities? Is our educational system giving them the skills and...