As the end of practicum draws near I am beginning to appreciate a particular type of silence. The silence where work is being accomplished and it seems like everyone is in “the zone”. I took my class outside today for silent reading and something happened that almost never happens inside, despite the amazing classroom in which I work, everyone was reading. All the children were throughly engaged in their books and not a single one was gazing off into LaLa Land.

One would think that because there is so much more stimulation outside that they would have been distracted and off task. Even though they were sitting, hanging, and gently rocking on all kinds of playground equipment every single student was focused on their book. I tried to figure out what strange magic was going on here.

I thought back to my own childhood and realized Ioved to read outside. I spent many long afternoon leaning against a tree reading about worlds far away fork my isolated, island home. The outdoors weren’t over stimulating. They calmed me down and increased my focus. I realized the tranquility of Annieville Park was the magic ingredient.

Afterwards the students and I had a discussion about how it was for them. More than half said they read more than they did inside. One boy exclaimed “I read thirty pages! I never do that.” I asked them why they thought they were so focused. Most of them said it was the quiet. One girl expressed what I was thinking, “It’s just so peaceful out here.”

A few students asked if we could do this everyday. I completely wish it was possible to do it everyday, but unfortunately the time it takes to line up and get outside would eat up half of the silent reading time. Perhaps because