2005 Education & Outreach Newsletter

You Know You're an Environmental Educator When...

1. You regard tornadoes and floods as teachable moments.
2. Almost nothing in your classroom is now being used for its original purpose.
3. For at least part of your career, all your worldly belongings fit in the back of a beat up car.
4. You can quote the Lorax chapter and verse for any environmental situation.
5. Your binoculars cost more than your car.
6. Even your “good shoes” are muddy boots.
7. You think “hip clothes” are waders.
8. You have a script of vague phrases memorized as the explanation of your field of study.
9. You check “other” on forms where it asks for the science you teach.
10. When someone says you are “outstanding in your field,” they mean you are out, standing in a field.
11. Your spouse will no longer drink tap water or eat oysters after hearing about your students’ research in water quality.
12. None of your adult friends want to go for walks outdoors with you for fear of having to sing “Bats Eat Bugs” with you.
13. Your briefcase is full of weird little toys and gadgets.
14. You pick apart any scat you find.
15. All the decorations in your house came from dead birds, animals, or some sort of rock, pinecone, or lichen.
16. Your friends quit asking you questions.

Compiled by the Minnesota Environmental Education Association