I’m a teacher, get me OUTSIDE here!

I’ve just returned from an exciting two days at the Scottish Learning Festival.  It was my first visit and despite restraining myself and only signing up to a couple of seminars and workshops I found the event exhausting.

What amused me most was the motley collection of stalls in the main hall.  One of the Grounds for Learning staff expressed her puzzled concern about the number of computer and software companies and activities. Luckily I was able to explain the history of the event which began as an education technology event in the days of SETT.

I enjoyed walking around and seeing the tricks of the trade show where the sales folk find novel ways of enticing people into their booth.  Alas there was only bowls of sweets everywhere which, in the age of health promotion had me worrying as to whether the GTC Code of Conduct would kick into place and we’d all get our knuckles rapped should we be spotted on a GLOW webcam helping ourselves to more than 3 sweets.

Every now and then a moment of inspiration or sanity could be found. I sought refuge at the Real World Learning booth (http://www.realworldlearning-scotland.org.uk/) for significant amounts of time.  It was the only place where natural materials could be found as part of the display which an art student had designed with care and attention to detail that was probably lost on a casual passer-by.  The RWL is a partnership between many outdoor and environmental organisations, so every time I entered there was a new face and new discussions to be had.

Probably my main gripe was the lack of effort towards demonstrating the environmental impact of the event and measures to counteract this by the organisers. No recycling facilities, lots of sweet wrappers and not a carbon footprint index in sight. Tsk! Tsk!

The merciless side of my personality is revealed at this time of year. It always tickles me to see sane people develop ticks and twitches as well as irrational behaviour when they try to shoo away a wasp. 

People like to copy each other.  That’s why wasps can play havoc in the school grounds and indoors.  It just takes one child to scream and ….you can imagine the scene!

Thankfully children can be trained to behave properly around wasps.  It’s very much like teaching good manners:

1)      Keep your mouth shut. The moment it opens, a wasp can fly right in.  Practice breathing through your nose.

2)      Politely cover your mouth and nose if a wasp is buzzing around these orifices.  Having experienced a wasp clean up my lips at a wedding when I’d just eaten a meringue, it is scary. (NB Admittedly I can scream quite loudly with my lips shut tight).

3)      Stand or sit still. Close your eyes if you need to but remind children this does not make a wasp magically disappear.

4)      Never run away.  Running creates a vacuum effect causing a wasp to follow in your wake.

5)      Flapping  your arms frightens the wasp.  Frightened wasps are more likely to sting.

6)      Avoid eating sweet foods and fruit outside on sunny days.

I like to hold “wasp practice” drills.  These work just the same way as fire drills, except you fake a buzzing wasp sound instead of the fire alarm and encourage children stay still and quiet, whether inside or out.

Wasps and bees make a great project.  The British Bee Keeping Association (http://www.britishbee.org.uk/) has various education packs and information. I love getting young children to do a writing activity about what to do if you are stung and how to stop this from happening. I usually end up telling them the Very True Story of how my grandmother accidentally swallowed a wasp when eating Kendal Mint Cake and got stung in her throat.  She saved her own life by eating lots of raw onions to reduce the swelling. I do, of course, advise children to seek medical help as soon as possible should this happen to them or someone they know.

I have also stumbled upon an ingenious, environmentally friendly device for keeping wasps away.  No nasty sprays.  No swatters.  No cups of jam and washing up liquid. No more slaughter of these helpful insects which munch up garden pests like greenfly. No. No. No!  Instead I’d like to introduce the ….WASPINATOR  (http://www.waspinator.co.uk/)

This amazing device is a fake wasps’ nest which you hang up in your garden. The very sight of it keeps the wasps away. The website is worth a visit, not least because it contains all sorts of information about wasps written in a friendly style. Read and enjoy!

Some people have washing machines which eat socks. I have a drawer which makes plastic box lids disappear.  This is a nuisance.  I am trying very hard to be environmentally friendly but if a box has no lid, then it’s not much use for storing sandwiches and other packed lunch paraphernalia.

North America’s green movement have been promoting litterless lunches for decades.  The concept is simple.  You make packed lunches where no litter is created and if you must have packaging, it should be recycled or composted.  Instead of plastic bags, cling film or aluminium foil, you put food into boxes and take water or juice in a reusable bottle. Dairylea lunchables are a definite no-no along with yoghurts and crisp packets.  This is a harder challenge than it looks, especially if you have no lids for all one’s plastic boxes.

In April I stumbled across a nifty little item called a Wrap-n-Mat sitting innocently on a shelf in an outdoor centre near Seattle.  This object has revolutionised my life and put a lid on my plastic box problem once and for all.  It’s a plastic coated piece of material in which you wrap up sandwiches. Being a closet Science nerd and open sceptic I bought a couple to test. Like all other sectors of our society, the eco world is full of Things You Never Knew You Never Needed for the ethical consumer. I am a wary purchaser of gimmicky products.

Every day last term, I made up sandwiches and wrapped them up. The Wrap-n-Mats survived. I machine washed, hand washed, wiped them clean and used them continuously. Four months later, they are still going strong.  The mat acts like a soft plate and catches crumbs and spills. Best all of they live in my box drawer and have yet to go awol.

So for sandwich life beyond the box, visit www.wrap-n-mat.com  or if you are living in the UK, try www.onyabags.co.uk