<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Sadie Game 1.jpg" style="width: 250px; height: 188px; float: right;" />Now before you are turned off from the catch phrase I used to title this blog, just let me say, that I try not to use complicated rhetoric or confusing sports metaphors to get my point across (although I do enjoy a good pun now and again). &nbsp;I find beauty in simple language and telling it how it is. And so I will begin by saying, Au Sable is special. I&rsquo;m not sure what it is about this place, but as Paul and I were talking this morning we both agreed&hellip; there is something about this place.</p>
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	The environmental internship is yet another addition of my ever-growing list of Au Sable memories and again one that is formative in a new and surprising way. This is the first time I have assumed the title of teacher, and it is a blast. Channeling my inner kid is not exactly a challenge for me as I get a kick out of exploring the woods as much as any nature-starved grade-schooler. What could be better than running around with a bunch of miniature people and teaching them some cool stuff about the natural world?</p>
<p>
	So far this internship has been a great opportunity in learning how to teach and how to bring big concepts about the world around us to the students in a personal and meaningful way. I have been discovering that it is easier to effectively teach when I have a personal connection and understanding of the natural world. This requires taking time to be outside and learning through observing and interacting with what I am teaching.</p>
<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Sadie Game.jpg" style="float: left; width: 188px; height: 250px;" />Today, during our debriefing, Paul, Nick, Matt, and I watched a baby red-breasted nuthatch hop around on the forest floor littered with deep piles of leaves and pine needles. All the while its parents, one by one, would fly over and feed it grubs and bugs from their beaks. Then, this little bird with its tiny wings that had yet to feel the pleasure of flying, started creeping up the red pine right beside our benches. It had trouble at first using it feet to grip the tree bark, but soon it was bouncing and chirping up the tree higher and higher. We were certain it was going to fall and break its little baby bird beak, but it didn&rsquo;t. It just kept jumping and creeping up the bark, fluttering its wings and begging for food.&nbsp; The best part was when one of its parents flew just above it, and in the sun we could see the outline of a pretty big bug in the jaw of the parent. Right there in front of us we got to watch as a red-breasted nuthatch fed its baby. This was a &ldquo;Life of Bird&rsquo;s&rdquo; moment for sure. One that I wish David Attenborough could have been narrating for me in his charming British voice. These are moments that I hope to share with my students. I want to pass a little bit of my passion for the outdoors to the kids that I get to hang out with and teach each day.</p>
