Today, my work finds me working remotely on a ton of interesting projects in the woods of Western Wisconsin assisted by my pup, Brin.
At work…
A farm kid from Alma Center, Wisconsin, Diana Laufenberg has taught all grade levels from 7-12 in Social Studies. For the past two decades Diana has been a secondary social studies teacher in Wisconsin, Kansas, Arizona and Pennsylvania. She most recently taught at the Science Leadership Academy (SLA) in Philadelphia, an inquiry-driven, project-based high school focused on modern learning. Her practice has deep roots in experiential education, taking students from the classroom to the real world and back again. Prior to her work in Philadelphia, she was an active member of the teaching community in Flagstaff, AZ where she was named Technology Teacher of the Year for Arizona and a member of the Governor's Master Teacher Corps. Diana was featured on TED.com for her “How to Learn? From Mistakes” and recognized for earning National Board Certification. To learn more about her work: New York Times Learning blog, Inquiry Based Classrooms, Covid School Transitions, Change Management and School Change and Sustaining Momentum for School Change.
In 2013, Laufenberg partnered with Chris Lehmann to start Inquiry Schools, a non-profit working to create and support learning environments that are inquiry-driven and project-based and which utilize modern technology. She currently serves as the Executive Director and Lead Teacher for Inquiry Schools.
In Nature
Starting in 1987 I discovered that going out into the woods could be fun. Thanks to an adventurous science teacher, a group of middle schoolers went camping on his property in the middle of Wisconsin’s ‘Norway Valley’. That first trip when I was 13 was the beginning of a life of traveling to explore nature… Michigan’s UP, Arizona’s canyons, South Africa’s mountains, Ecuador’s rain forests, China’s rivers, Australia’s beaches. Along the way I tried to bring students with me as much as possible - working a summer camp for two seasons and leading students on river trips in AZ for more than a decade. Today my nature adventures are a little less grand, but still incredibly meaningful. I love it so much I moved into the woods, permanently.
On the farm.
When I was 11 years old, I distinctly remember standing halfway between the house and the barn, wondering how in the world I ended up on a farm. Frequently, I refer to my farming skills as a hearty D-. I was the last person asked to assist with anything that required any amount of skill. I always knew that my goal was to get off that farm… what I know now is that the experience of growing up a farm kid was a giant asset as I moved forward in life. After two decades living away, I now live 15 miles from the home farm and frequently help out with little things here and there. I view those 160 acres very differently today than I did when I was eleven. I’m still a D- farmer, but there’s a chance I might get to a C before I’m done.
