Teacher Interview Series: Jason Terfloth
In June before the school year wrapped up, I had a chat with a number of our teachers who have been using the Live It Earth platform. In my first interview, I sat down with Jason Terfloth. Jason supports inquiry based learning in the classroom and taught gr. 2 last year on Vancouver Island. Here’s how our chat went:
MW: Hi Jason, Can you introduce yourself, what grade you teach and what school you're at?
JT: Sure! My name is Jason Terfloth. I'm a Grade Two teacher at the Victoria School for Ideal Education in Victoria BC, and my group of kids are passionate about the environment. Live It Earth has been awesome for us.
MW: My first question is, What’s the gap that Live It Earth is filling for you in the classroom?
JT: Hmm. I like the connections to people that are on the frontlines, such as biologists, wildland firefighters, entrepreneurs, and so on. People that are advocates for climate change, and the environment, and yeah, different perspectives of First Nations people and understanding traditional knowledge. I mean, I teach my students this stuff, but to hear it from an elder is powerful.
MW: How easy or difficult has it been to incorporate live it earth programs into the existing curriculum?
JT: Oh, it hasn't been difficult at all. I like the new BC curriculum, because it allows for flexibility and Live It has inspired some great activities and conversations in the classroom.
MW: What do you like most about our programs?
JW: Well, it's been like a gift, having all this material. You truly do some great work designing these activities, it certainly covers many curricular areas. The buy in is 100% with my students. And yeah, the creative challenge is well laid out, it's very useful for teachers.
MW: I like that you said it was like a gift. I think that's what we hope a program feels like. Does it make your life easier?
JT: Definitely. Yeah. I couldn't imagine a teacher who would not be happy with having this kind of material.
MW: That just made me think of another question. How much time do you think a Live It program might save you? Like if you were going to do an oceans program for World oceans day...how much prep time would you save?
JT: Oh, yeah, I mean, if you did all the challenges and everything, that's a lot, a lot of prep work, like hours for sure.
MW: Okay, so here’s my last official question. How do Live It Earth programs impact students in a way that other resources don't?
JW: Yeah, it's really that connection to people. I have a couple First Nations kids in my class and they light up every time there's an elder, it's cool. Live It is super relevant to living in BC, we love the location specific themes, we would always “travel” to the topic areas on Google Earth, it was great fun.
Also, you know, not everybody in my class is from the island and it offered opportunities for us to learn about different parts of the province. For example, I had a student whose dad was a wildland firefighter when he was in college, and it just offers so many opportunities for conversation.
MW: Do you think there's anything memorable about our programs for the kids? Like, you know, like, in comparison to a textbook? Do you think it's memorable? Like or does it does it have a significant like a memorable impact? I guess how many kids do you think when they
JT: It's been memorable. It's exciting. And it's different. I mean, the topics you've chosen have been very, very relevant. The program gives greater context to issues that we're kind of already going over.
MW: Another teacher brought up context as well...what they're learning and why it matters, right? Yeah, okay, so my last unofficial question, because I already asked my last official question is, what's the hardest part about being a teacher? Hmm. Like, what keeps you up at night as a teacher?
JT: Meeting the needs of all the kids, where they're at, and being able to make it relevant to them. Being able to differentiate content so that it's understandable. I have truly learned that that there's just so many ways that students learn. Live It is great because all my students can connect to it in some shape or form, in a pretty meaningful way.
MW: I just got goosebumps when you said that. Yeah, knowing that we can create, or inspire important conversations with all kids, and they get to go through life with a better understanding of why things are important...I think that that's really cool.
JT: Definitely. And there's opportunities for all these kids in these fields. The sky is the limit.
MW: Well, this has been fantastic Jason. Thank you so much for your time. Really appreciate it!
JT: It’s been great. Thank you!
Jason’s love of nature drew him to work in the Environmental Education movement, and eventually classroom teaching. His desire to facilitate learning about the diversity of British Columbia’s ecosystems and local perspectives led him to the Live It Earth program. Jason encourages creativity in his students and supports inquiry-based learning. He appreciates that his young learners learn in a multitude of ways and allows for individual strengths to be honed and supported. Jason lives and works on the traditional territories of the Esquimalt and Songhees First Nations, in unceded Lekwungen Territory.