Adopt A Tree Project

My work is progressing at speed and I had a greatly productive weekend working on the project. I went to visit the tree again, took lots of pictures that will form the body of my project, and I also recorded some video footage, some of which I’ll post on this site shortly. But more about that anon.

For now, I want to share with you a great little site that could help any teacher hoping to use this Adopt A Tree Project within their own classroom framework. The website is www.123certificates.com and is a free and easily-accessible mechanism by which people can produce certificates to reward children for classwork.

Something to keep in mind for after the project – but I’ll be reminding you about such resources later on.

I leave you with the first project video which I recorded at the entrance to the woodland where the tree is located. I hope you enjoy getting to know me a little bit better! 🙂

In preparation for further study of my tree tomorrow I’ve been doing some additional research on wooded areas and forestry in my local area. I’m constantly reminded how lucky I am to live in Kilkenny,  our local representatives and active community spirit ensures that we are well informed of the exciting and innovative activities taking place within the wider area.  Just recently Kilkenny City celebrated a very exciting and significant birthday, and marked the achievement in a very sustainable and significant way.

Kilkenny’s 400 Fruit Tree project marked the 400th Anniversary of the Signing of the City Charter by planting 400 native and heritage varieties of Apple, Pear, Plum and Cherry throughout the city and environs during 2009.
The project began at the hands of the Transition Towns project, consisting of community groups coming together with the Local Authority, Schools and Businesses to implement a practical project that ‘reduces carbon in the face of climate change, builds resilience in the face of peak oil and, as an added bonus and  strengthens community’.

Below is a video about the project, it includes some input from a local primary school student about how her school became involved in the challenge. It’s a very  interesting way to speculate how a class could participate in a similar project in their area. Food for thought!

Just a couple of days in and I’m already hooked on this project. I’ve been plotting and planning, assessing and assimilating and it’s essentially just day 2 of work/analysis!

The first and most significant development of the project of late is the selection of my tree. I chose my tree from the woodland area near my home where I spent most childhood summers in bright afternoons of play and abandon. I chose an Ash tree – a significant personal choice of mine that reflects not only my love for the location/woodland in question, but as a keen Camogie player and lover of Gaelic Games – an understanding of the capabilities and uses of this tradition wood, thus reflecting the wider sociological and historical effect of such a tree on my home county, Kilkenny.

I have consulted my neighbour Mr. Padraig Comerford, who helped me assess my choice. I also visited a local hurley maker to discuss the importance of the Ash tree to Kilkenny (particularly from a GAA point of view) and beyond and get advice about how best to approach this study of this great and glorious tree that is so rich in Irish heritage.

I’m really looking forward to the weekend, I hope we have some nice weather and the Sunny South East lives up the name!

Ciara

PS – I will elaborate on Jenkinstown Park and it’s woodland in future posts, and will include a map for your perusal.

Before I get into the nitty-gritty of the project itself I wanted to explain a little more about why I’ve chosen to set up this blog.

I decided to set up this site because I felt it was the most innovative and permanent manner to ensure that my Adopt A Tree coursework project would not merely start and end its life as being a mere scrapbook, battered from over-preparation and destined to live its life on a dusty shelf once the project had been completed.

Though I have decided – and still fully intend – to pursue a physical project, in the practical sense, allowing for the presentation of graphs, data, and materials pertaining to the study of my tree of choice, I have decided to include  a more interactive classroom-oriented (teacher-and-child friendly) website in my project aswell.

I hope to utilise this website by uploading extensive photographs, videos, podcasts, etc, allowing other teachers to appreciate how the se of ICT in facilitiating a project such as mine can make for a gripping and exciting way to present a study such as this.

Thus far, the process of setting up the website has been a simple project, given that I have a small amount of previous experience in setting up websites similar to this (for example, I’ve set up the website for the Tallaght Library Book Club in a voluntary capacity).

The site is built on the WordPress content management system, which is a free, open-source downloadable program which, when uploaded to a blank website, offers a very flexible and powerful solution to almost any website’s needs. It’s hosted on Register365, an Irish company, where the adoptatreeproject.com domain name was also purchased for use. So far, because I already had use of the webspace (up to 25 sites can be hosted on a single package for €39 a year) and because the WordPress software is free, the online project has cost me, and is only likely to cost me, €9.20 (including VAT!).

I hope other teachers will look at a site like this and realise that they can replicate what I’m doing, very cheaply, for whatever projects or activities they’re getting up to in the classroom.

So – I’m now at the point where I’m ready to pick my tree, have the website set up, and have an idea about how the physical project will manifest itself.

I truly feel like I’m at the beginning of an exciting journey of discovery. I can’t wait to get started!

Hi all,

You’re very welcome to my personal account and first blog post from my site, AdoptATreeProject.com.

My name is Ciara Brennan, and I’m a HDip (Primary) student of Coláiste Mhuire, Marino, Dublin, and I’m undertaking this project as part of my SESE studies in the course, under the guidance of Mr Paddy Madden.

Just last Wednesday, Paddy presented us with his first lesson pertaining to the now-famed Tree Project concept, as adopted by the college and undertaken by Marino students on an annual basis.

The following day, we had an opportunity to view those candidates who submitted projects in this category that were so wonderfully worded, executed, presented and displayed that they were awarded not only a distinction, academically speaking by the college, but recognised by the Heritage Council of Ireland for the indepth and creative manner in which each studied a particular tree.

To say I was in awe of the wonderful work that had been done and was now on display by other students would be an understatement. It was a privilege to view this work and appreciate the many beautifully-scripted and wonderfully engaging project work. Upon leaving the room I vowed to commit myself to this project and thus embarked (excuse the pun!) on this project, tracking the progression of my project, allowing for my work to aid others in the classroom.

I hope my study pertaining to my yet-to-be-chosen tree will set me down a road of discovery and enchantment that I hope to able to present in a physical project, but also here on this website, where I hope to provide a tangible platform on which students and teachers alike can adopt my methodologies to address this particular area of the SESE curriculum.

I welcome your feedback and comments as I progress through this project and I hope you enjoy my studies as it unfolds.

Regards,
Ciara Brennan
PG10A, Coláiste Mhuire, Marino

There are countless positive impacts that the Internet can have on education at all levels. For rural areas in particular, the universal access to information that the Internet offers is an incredibly positive force, allowing almost anyone to find the answers to basic questions simply, easily and quickly. It helps education in that when someone is curious about something – and therefore in the ideal state of mind to learn – they can find out some information to feed their hunger to learn immediately.

So if a child is curious about the ants in the backyard, wants to know more about dinosaurs or mythology – or even wonders how old the Ash tree in the local forest is! – there is a wealth of information at ones fingertips, allowing anyone with a connection to enhance and expand on their knowledge.