Hola!

I really enjoyed our class last week, as I’m sure most of us did! I think we could all collectively agree that we enjoy being outside, whether it’s just for a walk or rigorous exercise or sitting quietly and reading. One thing that always stands out for me when I was in school (both elementary and secondary) was when we got to go outside. Sometimes we even got to go outside for our silent reading block, which was awesome.

I really liked how the group teach mixed it up a bit and implemented a scavenger hunt (my favorite)! I appreciated that they incorporated a range of values/aspects into the scavenger hunt. For instance, they covered nutrition, teamwork, motivation and even looking after the environment (picking up a piece of garbage) within the hunt. On top of that, I loved that we continued walking to the beautiful forest AND even did our teaching summaries out in the sun at WesBrook Village. Thank you Steve!

It’s important to find times throughout the day where you can bring your students outside. Over the last 2 visits at practicum I have noticed two different occasions where teachers implement this. One teacher told the class that they were going to head outside and they voted on whether they wanted to either sit in the forest to be silent and reflect or head out to a viewpoint where they could see the ocean. AMAZING! The other example was a teacher taking her class out for 5 minutes to grab some fresh air and run a couple of laps around the field. I loved this because it allowed the kids to get up and move and get some fresh air. I think its healthy for children to  clear their head a bit, especially if they have been sitting working hard at something for a long period of time. It’s a nice way to break up the day.

Being active and being outside is a huge priority of mine and as a future educator I will most definitely get my students outside at any opportunity I can.

See you Wednesday!

Tobi Watt