Educator Spotlight: Michelle Malalang

Michelle Malalang, an education specialist with Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation, has completed the NC Environmental Education Certification.

Michelle develops and administers the Wild Watch program, a series of outreach programs for 1^st, 3^rd and 5^th graders that promotes environmental literacy within the framework of the NC State Standards. “Wild Watch is a hybrid of formal and informal teaching, using the BEETLES approach to learning with student led, hands-on experiences both indoors and outside. Being the education specialist for Grandfather combines two of my passions, education and nature, into one rewarding career. My hobbies include always biting off more than I can chew, making life harder (and sweeter) by acquiring domestic and farmyard animals, forever modifying programs because I never stop reading and searching for more information or better ways of engaging students, developing my newfound ability to draw so I can avoid doing housework. I also continually encourage my adult children to expand their world with new experiences, the acquisition of knowledge instead of things, involvement in social and civic organizations and to pull the plug on the isolation of electronic dependency and plug into the real world by making meaningful relationships with people around them.”

Michelle says her favorite part of earning her certification was the networking. “This vast web of like-minded educators and nature-loving citizens that form a partnership connecting people and places across the ecosystems of North Carolina gave me the confidence to teach environmental education. I love being part of this ‘Wood Wide Web’ of ethical and caring folk who create symbiotic alliances with schools, organizations and groups to further our common goal of conservation. Meeting and maintaining the relationships made in workshops gives me hope that we can hold the line against the destruction of the natural world by being the guiding light in the darkness. It is exactly this hope that is needed to keep growing the network of environmentally literate global citizens, and continue to weave, thread by thread, the net that will catch and heal what has been harmed.”

When asked about an experience that stood out to her, Michelle says it was a workshop taught by now retired education specialist for NC State Parks, Brian Bockhahn. “His lesson was my aha moment. Prior to taking his workshop, I was struggling with how to teach informally. Twenty years of my professional life was as a formal educator in an elementary school. I knew how to effectively teach this way, in this type of setting--but how do I teach a science standard outside in nature, in less than 60 minutes to young learners who I don’t see on a regular basis? How do I assess them for understanding and capture data on the effectiveness of my lesson? Brian gave me tools that unlocked my understanding of environmental education, a subject I never knew existed before moving from Florida to North Carolina. I have only wonder and admiration for EE and the desire to be the best environmental educator I can be, but I didn't know how to take off the formal hat and put on the informal one. Being able to connect with nature through our senses is a powerful way to discovery and peace-- learning to model how to do that for others, is a gift Brain gave to us to share. His lessons taught me how to let go of my anxiety over cramming facts and forcing learning on students so they can generate high test scores that would boost the school grades and my annual year end evaluation. Instead, I began to understand that providing an opportunity to explore, discover, and be curious is essential work. To provide encounters that prompted questions and wonder, is a springboard for children to develop deep, personal connections to nature. This core experience would, in time, inspire them to protect the world they've come to love. This workshop was both an eye and door opener for me. I'd been hitting a wall with my transition to an informal, environmental educator because the baggage I lugged around as a public-school teacher blinded me. The relaxed, playful approach I learned that day influences my current teaching style; it gave me the permission and the freedom to delight in approaching nature with a sense of wonder.

Michelle’s community partnership project combined reading literacy with environmental literacy at Grandfather Glows by employing fireflies as ambassadors. “Their other name, lightning bugs, describes the goal of my partnership. My objective was to ignite the love of nature by sparking a curiosity in young minds—a curiosity destined to light a fire of conscientious conservation and lifelong learning. By providing a space geared for elementary age children that promoted the theme of Grandfather Glows, I gave them an area to relax into learning with a low key, experiential approach. Children had a choice of how they wanted to engage with the materials presented and for how long. The ‘Larva Lounge’ kindled questions, provoked answers, and invited ideas;  behaviors that are goals of environmental education and teachers everywhere. Connecting with children by creating space for them at adult-centered events lets the up-and-coming generation know they matter. It shows children they are an important part of the world and empowers them to make it a better place in small and big ways.

When individuals understand the value of fireflies and the peril many species face due to habitat loss and light pollution; our hope is that they will unite to create communities galvanized to save these silent sparks.”

Michelle says participating in the program changed her approach to teaching. “I have more confidence in what I teach and how I teach it. I have been able to release my need to be in control of every second and every interaction to produce data and test scores that have zero meaning to the child. I am finally able to let go of these external requirements and stressors and instead focus on truly being a guide to children, modeling joy and curiosity about learning. Since I am no longer hamstringed by a system mired in generating an overabundance of data, I can immerse myself and my students into experiencing the natural world which grounds us, heals us, and is an endless source of awe.”

Michelle says she still worries about environmental issues, but she is a cautiously hopeful pessimist. “All the valuable lessons I learned during the certification process kept my head above the dark waters of the present. As long as I focus on the process, the mission, and the vision of EE, it keeps me from despair,  If I concentrate on planting seeds of awareness, and instill confidence in their abilities, the children I teach will blossom into civically engaged citizens of a global community. The knowledge I gained in environmental education, and the people I met on my journey to certification, is the lifeline I needed to keep my optimism for the future alive."