Growing Together: Open Forum

Hi all! Hoping to see many of you at tomorrow's Community Chat (3/20 at 3PM ET) on impact and evaluation! 

We can chat about why garden evaluation is important, tools and methods to measure impact, what to do with your data, and anything else you'd like to discuss. From those new to gardening to seasoned educators, everyone is welcome!

We have some great topic specialists on board to help share resources and answer questions. And, if you can't make it, feel free to register and ask any questions in the registration or here in this thread. The recording and resources will also be shared here. 

Register

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Amelia Dupuis
Kids Garden Community Manager
KidsGardening
she/her
------------------------------

Thank you for this notice. I will look forward to listening to the taped session after as I am still involved in the Daniel Morgan School (Middle and Intermediate) in Winchester, VA that day, but am keenly interested in upping our evaluation methods for this ongoing program of 5th, 6th and 8th grade students growing food in their own food in their school garden. We currently ask students to complete a three question evaluation tool at the end which includes: 1. Rank the class from 1 (terrible) to 10 (fantastic) 2. Identify one thing you would like us to do better or improve. 3. Would you recommend this class to a friend with yes no, maybe (why). We (EMGs) supervise their hands on work very closely. We also distribute a Science Journal sheet each time we visit which includes current weather discussion and sometimes other pertinent questions to the lesson at hand, fairly easy. For example, the mnemonic PLANTS is used frequently to help students diagnose plants growing inside the classroom. I am particularly interested any tools or forms used by others with similar or better questions.  Thanks very much. 

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Karen Kelly
17033044242
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-19-2024 10:06:23 AM
From: Amelia Dupuis (she/her)
Subject: Community Chat 3/20 on Impact and Evaluation

Hi all! Hoping to see many of you at tomorrow's Community Chat (3/20 at 3PM ET) on impact and evaluation! 

We can chat about why garden evaluation is important, tools and methods to measure impact, what to do with your data, and anything else you'd like to discuss. From those new to gardening to seasoned educators, everyone is welcome!

We have some great topic specialists on board to help share resources and answer questions. And, if you can't make it, feel free to register and ask any questions in the registration or here in this thread. The recording and resources will also be shared here. 

Register

------------------------------
Amelia Dupuis
Kids Garden Community Manager
KidsGardening
she/her
------------------------------

Sharing the recording and resources from last week's Community Chat! This Chat was fantastic (huge thanks to our topic specialists and everyone on the call!) and I highly recommend watching the recording (attached to this post) if this is a topic you're interested in. 

Contact info for topic specialists if you'd like to connect:

• Trisha Bautista: trisha@farmtoschool.org
• Lee Coykendall: coykendallconsulting.com
• Eva Ringstrom: eva@raindropworkshop.com (LinkedIn)

• Deena Class: wordandplant@gmail.com (LinkedIn)

Resources from the Chat:

• If you're interested in data visualization (how to present your data visually), check out  "Data Visualization" with Stephanie Evergreen. There's a free recent webinar, too. 

• Evaluation Resources from ArtReach (tons of resources and frameworks on here)

• Equitable Evaluation Initiative's Equitable Evaluation Framework (a little more focused on the philanthropy side of evaluation but lots of resources on there)

• Oregon State University Extension's Outdoor School "Evaluation for Learning" series and "Self-Evaluation Tools" resource suite (Outdoor School is a program not specific to garden education but many of the resources can be useful to garden education programs)

• Attached to this post is the Youth GO framework for youth-based participatory research. You can dive deeper into this here. 

• Most Significant Change approach explanation from Better Evaluation

• Example of running a taste test and using a sticker chart

• Teaching in Nature's Classroom book and course for child-led learning

• Great survey examples and resources from School Garden Support Organization Network

• Appreciative Inquiry approach explanation from Organizing Engagement

• Youth Engagement in Evaluation

Recording Time Stamps: 

10:50 - Why is it important to evaluate your garden program?

19:25 - Tips for grant reporting and general reporting out on impact

30:20 - Focusing on the "what" instead of the "why"

41:10 - Tips for doing evaluation with young kids

45:15 - Tips for the methods you choose to use for assessment

56:35 - Ideas for sharing out impact

------------------------------
Amelia Dupuis
Kids Garden Community Manager
KidsGardening
she/her
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-19-2024 10:06:23 AM
From: Amelia Dupuis (she/her)
Subject: Community Chat 3/20 on Impact and Evaluation

Hi all! Hoping to see many of you at tomorrow's Community Chat (3/20 at 3PM ET) on impact and evaluation! 

We can chat about why garden evaluation is important, tools and methods to measure impact, what to do with your data, and anything else you'd like to discuss. From those new to gardening to seasoned educators, everyone is welcome!

We have some great topic specialists on board to help share resources and answer questions. And, if you can't make it, feel free to register and ask any questions in the registration or here in this thread. The recording and resources will also be shared here. 

Register

------------------------------
Amelia Dupuis
Kids Garden Community Manager
KidsGardening
she/her
------------------------------

This was SO good! I just wanted to say thank you so much for always sharing the recordings, as it's often hard for me personally to make the live chats. But these are so valuable and I'm grateful for the flexibility when it comes to viewing :) 

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Alicia Rodriguez
Conway Elementary School
Fredericksburg VA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 03-25-2024 04:53:59 PM
From: Amelia Dupuis (she/her)
Subject: Community Chat 3/20 on Impact and Evaluation

Sharing the recording and resources from last week's Community Chat! This Chat was fantastic (huge thanks to our topic specialists and everyone on the call!) and I highly recommend watching the recording (attached to this post) if this is a topic you're interested in. 

Contact info for topic specialists if you'd like to connect:

• Trisha Bautista: trisha@farmtoschool.org
• Lee Coykendall: coykendallconsulting.com
• Eva Ringstrom: eva@raindropworkshop.com (LinkedIn)

• Deena Class: wordandplant@gmail.com (LinkedIn)

Resources from the Chat:

• If you're interested in data visualization (how to present your data visually), check out  "Data Visualization" with Stephanie Evergreen. There's a free recent webinar, too. 

• Evaluation Resources from ArtReach (tons of resources and frameworks on here)

• Equitable Evaluation Initiative's Equitable Evaluation Framework (a little more focused on the philanthropy side of evaluation but lots of resources on there)

• Oregon State University Extension's Outdoor School "Evaluation for Learning" series and "Self-Evaluation Tools" resource suite (Outdoor School is a program not specific to garden education but many of the resources can be useful to garden education programs)

• Attached to this post is the Youth GO framework for youth-based participatory research. You can dive deeper into this here. 

• Most Significant Change approach explanation from Better Evaluation

• Example of running a taste test and using a sticker chart

• Teaching in Nature's Classroom book and course for child-led learning

• Great survey examples and resources from School Garden Support Organization Network

• Appreciative Inquiry approach explanation from Organizing Engagement

• Youth Engagement in Evaluation

Recording Time Stamps: 

10:50 - Why is it important to evaluate your garden program?

19:25 - Tips for grant reporting and general reporting out on impact

30:20 - Focusing on the "what" instead of the "why"

41:10 - Tips for doing evaluation with young kids

45:15 - Tips for the methods you choose to use for assessment

56:35 - Ideas for sharing out impact

------------------------------
Amelia Dupuis
Kids Garden Community Manager
KidsGardening
she/her

Original Message:
Sent: 03-19-2024 10:06:23 AM
From: Amelia Dupuis (she/her)
Subject: Community Chat 3/20 on Impact and Evaluation

Hi all! Hoping to see many of you at tomorrow's Community Chat (3/20 at 3PM ET) on impact and evaluation! 

We can chat about why garden evaluation is important, tools and methods to measure impact, what to do with your data, and anything else you'd like to discuss. From those new to gardening to seasoned educators, everyone is welcome!

We have some great topic specialists on board to help share resources and answer questions. And, if you can't make it, feel free to register and ask any questions in the registration or here in this thread. The recording and resources will also be shared here. 

Register

------------------------------
Amelia Dupuis
Kids Garden Community Manager
KidsGardening
she/her
------------------------------