Tomorrow our class is taking a class field trip to Water #10, which is an art sculpture near Aberdeen Station on River Road. We will be exploring what “Interdependence” feels and looks like, through our unit study on Plants and Growth.

 (photo from VB Learn)

It is very exciting for the students to look forward to this walking field trip, but I am also curious about the students’ participation tomorrow. It is a little frightening at first, to let the students take charge of their own learning. The fear is that they will “get off topic” or “not have the relevant ideas”. But when I think critically about my teaching practice, I realize that it isn’t possible to ‘get off topic’ if the topic is where the students direct the conversation. When the idea is a BIG IDEA, any of the students’ connections and inquiries will likely fall under the BIG IDEA. I want the students to understand the importance of interdependence in Nature, and to begin to appreciate the complexity of a balance as created through inter-dependency. In our exploration of the space, and of our own bodies and representations of what it means to grow and depend on each other (humans and nature, communities), I am positive that the students will have a meaningful learning experience.