Day at UCLA Botany Gardens
I spent the day at UCLA Mathias Botanical Garden. I went on a guided tour of the garden, attended a plant propagation class, and attended a drawing plants class. I also got unexpectedly got a chance to hang out with some friends, one of whom works at the gardens.
During the drawing class, one of the attendees asked for some tips about how to get started. She and her boyfriend had no experience drawing. I would rate my drawing skills as above stick figure level, but nowhere good enough do it as a career. I gave her some tips, and she commended me on my advice. Turns out she's a teacher so she noticed I focused on growth mindset and positive reinforcement, which is crucial to creating a good learning environment.
My friend who works at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County told me that some of the high schools students who attended the R coding workshop earlier this year actually used some of what they learned in their school presentation.
It was nice getting positive feedback about my teaching attempts. Yeah, I'm a better at informal education than I am at sketching or identifying plants and animals, and that's totally cool with me.