Note: This is a flexible class. There are no live classes, however there are many opportunities to interact with me and other learners. I will monitor messages and respond if there are any questions. I will post videos weekly on Sunday by 9 PM CT. Students are able to leave videos in the classroom. If they need help learning how to do that, I can assist. Students can respond to other students posted videos or comments. 

Growing up, I was around a lot of birds, however I really did not know anything about them or appreciate them. Now I am an avid bird watcher and photographer. I want to share my love of birds with children. This class will help students learn how to keep a birding journal, make field notes, and sketch their observations. They can also start a life list of the birds they see.  Students will receive a bird journal they can print off. They can print off an additional copy if they want to expand their journal. Keeping the journal in a 3 ring notebook is suggested. 

Each week we will focus on a topic to learn new skills and then practice as they observe and document birds in their journal. I will post a video in the classroom on Sunday. They students have until the next Sunday to watch the video, add to their journal, and respond in the classroom. The videos will explain everything clearly and I am available if there are any questions. Students will make their responses under the weekly prompts, and post a short video response. They can respond to others posts. I will respond to each students videos and posts. I will also discuss what an appropriate and positive post would be to others posts, and what type of posts would not be allowed. The weekly prompts will be related to the lesson, as well as help the students develop the skills we are discussing, and will encourage them them to share their progress with others in the class in a positive manner. 

Class 1: Getting to know each other and how the class will work
In the first class I will introduce myself and share why I like birding. I will cover how I will post assignments and how they will post their responses, comment on other students posts, and utilize the journal. I will also go over basic birding safety and how a bird journal works. I will go over the journal parts and explain what information is entered and how it is done.  I will also discuss resources like bird apps, field guides, and other sources of information. Students can introduce themselves in the classroom and share what they enjoy about birding and their favorite bird. 

Class 2: Bird Anatomy
In this class I will go over the bird anatomy sections to cover some of the basic terms used to describe a birds description. This is also useful as you try to identify a bird. We will cover how different type of birds may have some specific terms that applies to that type of bird.  

Week three: Sketching
For the third class we will discuss how to sketch and what type of things to try to capture in the sketch. Students are welcome to post a picture of one of their sketches, or describe how they feel about the process. Some may prefer to take a picture, then sketch later as birds move! 

Week four: Describing the bird-Field notes part 1
It is important to know how to describe the bird in your notes. For this section we will focus on the physical characteristics such as color, noting size, trying to use some of the correct anatomy words as the bird is described. 

Week five: Describing the bird-Field notes part 2
In this class we will focus on the habitat, surroundings, interactions with other birds/animals if any, movement notes, what they are doing, etc. 

Week six: Describing the bird-Field notes part 3  sounds 
Sound is an important identification component. Often similar birds can only identified by sound.  Tips on how to learn some of the basic birds sounds and how to describe the sounds will be covered. We will discuss how the Merlin app can be used. 

Week seven: Describing location, including time, date, etc. 
It is important to be able to note location, what time of day, the season/date, and other information that helps know if a bird is expected in that area or if it is unusual or rare for the location. We will cover any other category of the journal that has not been covered before. 

Week eight: Putting it all together 
We will wrap up and discuss how we can use the journal and it's components as we learn about birds and how to document what we see. We will talk about using a life list. 

Students are encourage to share in the classroom the birds they are observing and how the techniques they are using. Students can comment to each other about the birds being seen. If students have questions they can ask at anytime, and I will assist them.
Students can retake the class if they want to, or just keep on their birding journal journey.