We had our water safety course today at the pool. This was a wonderful field trip. Safety is a big theme in our classroom right now. It’s part of our health and career outcomes but it’s also part of our responsibilities as people who live near the water and as a caring classroom community. In our community it’s especially important to learn about water safety. Very recently there was some upsetting news in the media about the death of an elderly man in our community who passed away in the river.
We were able to have a meaningful and age appropriate conversation about the sad news that was very close to home for us. I noticed that although all the students were having fun and enjoying themselves, they were also taking the learning happening very seriously.
We learned about
-conserving body heat when in the water
-what should come on boats and what should stay on the shore
-CPR using chest compressions only
-Canoe safety
-floatation devices
and a lot more!
What was interesting for me was seeing the students in another learning environment. The wonderful staff and lifeguards are educators but not necessarily teachers. In this environment there isn’t a lot of modification or adaptations of activities. There are no IEPs and the instructors and the students don’t have any history together. It was interesting to see how the lifeguards interacted with the students. For a few students it was shocking, although no one reacted overtly negatively. It was just for one afternoon, a bit eye opening for me. I was able to watch the students react to a style very different from my own!
Interesting fact: when I was a student they used to teach you to do chest compressions to the tune of “staying alive”. Now they teach students chest compressions using “Uptown Funk”.