Stemming from my past experiences as both an educator and a student, I have two big questions that drive my teaching. The perceived “necessity” of these two questions in my teaching can vary from class to class, place to place, and subject to subject. In professional development and in collaboration with colleagues I strive to answer more of these two questions to improve myself as an educator.
1. How can I maintain a link to the outdoors and natural world in the classroom?
I believe that time spent outdoors stimulates both the mind and the body. It allows students to be more creative in their play, which I believe can translate to creativity elsewhere: at school, in hobbies, or in the workplace. Time spent outdoors effectively releases stress, leading to happier individuals and therefore better group dynamics. Another reason I believe we all need to get outdoors is in order to appreciate the natural world and build an obligation to protect our natural world. It can be challenging to appreciate what we don’t realize is there. During my work with Nature School, I saw some students undergo dramatic transforms over the course of a single week. Students that couldn’t sit still in the classroom with the buzzing of lights and scraping of chairs could sit in peace on the pond bank and write in their journals. Students who had started the morning saying they couldn’t wait to go home to play video games were the last ones to get on the bus at the end of the day. Different schools offer different outdoor places and all students come with a different understanding and appreciation of nature. I am continuously working to smoothly integrate environmental learning and experiences in an accessible way for students in line with the prescribed curriculum.
2. How can I most effectively teach a second/foreign language given greatly differing circumstances?
I personally learn a second language best when I am immersed in the language and can have genuine cultural experiences. With the exception of class trips to distant regions, this is difficult to do in our classrooms. I am curious as to how we can simulate genuine experiences for our students. I’ve worked teaching English as a second language for kindergarten through grade 11, Core French to grade 7 and French Immersion to grade 1. Each class had its own unique challenges and benefits, including available instructional time, curriculum to be covered, language background knowledge, school culture and parental support for learning a second language. I realize there is no one answer to my question above, but I am continuously on the quest of finding new ways to effectively teach a language to students of different ages and different abilities. This requires critical assessment of each class situation with the non-exhaustive list of challenges and benefits, and class capabilities.
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