Landscaping – Laying Paving Stones

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My husband and I recently moved into a new home (well, in September). Since we haven’t been in our home for a full year yet, we are excited to get started on summer projects around our home and begin making it more of our own. I have always loved being outdoors and doing projects over the summer. One of the things we want to do at our new home is landscape one section of our backyard to be suitable for a firepit, surrounded by paving stones and decorative stonework so that we can enjoy campfires in our evening. However, neither of us know much about properly landscaping a yard so that it is suitable for paving stones that will withstand the prairie weather for years to come.

For my learning project in EC&I 831, I intend to learn the process of installing paving stones to go around our backyard campfire. From my initial research, this will entail several important steps over the course of the next few weeks:

  • proper measuring and grading
  • prepping the area
  • creating the base
  • leveling the top layer
  • laying the pavers
  • edge restraints (if necessary – we are still deciding)
  • tamping, and
  • sealing the paving stones.

I plan to learn and complete 1 to 2 steps of this process each week, with the hopes of having the project finished by Sunday, June 18th. I’m excited to begin working on this project but hope I haven’t bitten off more than I can chew. If anyone has any advice/tips about landscaping and laying paving stones, I’d love any suggestions along the way.

Here are a few pictures of the current layout of the spot where the firepit and paving stones will be going (and one of my dog, Belle, wondering what I am doing):

Social media – to engage or not to engage?

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To be completely honest, I’ve always had a “love-hate” relationship with social media. On one hand, I recognize its importance and relatability in our current society. From a personal standpoint, I love going onto Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter to find out what’s going on in the lives my friends and family. However, I find it to be something that occupies so much time in our lives. I consider myself to be a person that values and yearns for authentic, in-person connections and relationships. Social media diminishes so much of what I value not only as an individual, but as an educator. Our students spend countless hours everyday staring at a screen, documenting such minute and irrelevant (in my opinion) moments of their lives. Therefore, they lose out on many face-to-face opportunities for making meaningful connections with the people around them. For that reason, I have distanced myself (in the last decade or so) from social media in various ways. As a Vice Principal, a significant part of my day is often spent dealing with problems on social media. Therefore, when I am at school, I try to exemplify and demonstrate for my students that the best parts of our day happen when our phones are put away and technology is not at the forefront of what’s happening in our day-to-day lives.

Please don’t get me wrong – I recognize and full-heartedly understand that social media is not going away – I’m not ignorant or unaware of that. However, I find it difficult to value some things that are done through technology as opposed to in-person. I am hoping that this course will reignite my curiosity and interest in social media, while expanding my awareness of the professional learning community that is available to me online. What things can I do as an educator to highlight the benefits of social media, and how can I incorporate these positive aspects into my own work, while also helping my students in their pursuit of learning? This is what I hope to answer for myself and learn more about throughout this course, but only time will tell. Stay tuned!

Person using social media.

Free Stock photos by Vecteezy