I thought the last week’s outdoor lesson was so much fun! It really got us moving around and they made such good use of their resources! UBC is such a great place and there is an abundance of area and resources nearby! I don’t know why we didn’t go outside sooner! I thought they implemented and integrated the First People’s Principles really well; regardless if that was their intent or not. But just being outdoors and conversing while studying the nature and other environmental elements really brought that to life. I think we should all strive to bring various aspects of the outdoors into our lesson as future educators. It will help teach our students on physical literacy, get them out in the fresh air and a simple yet effective way to integrate the First People’s Principle of Learning in our curriculum.
The use of stations in the different areas was a great way for us to move around and to really focus on the specific places we were set it. I think all of the stations were great, but I especially enjoyed Jackie’s station where we were told to make artwork with the nature around us; ie. Leaves, rocks, pine cones. I also thought that balloon station with Brianna was a great way for us to build on our teamwork skills and it was just great fun!
Great job Jackie, Lexi, Brianna and Katy! It was super enjoyable and thanks for getting us outside!
Well said Clarissa! I agree that the outdoor education presentation was fantastic! As discussed in some of our other classes, we often think of education as being an inside a school building when there are some many different types of environments that students can learn from. I was working with a Kindergarten/Grade 1 classroom today and we got to go outside for gym instead of playing in a gymnasium. The children really seemed to love it and I think this a great break from the structured environment indoors that they are used to. The second First People’s principles of learning focuses a lot on connectedness and a sense of place and I agree that this was a consistent theme used in the presentation.
I also really liked that were a wide variety of different stations and each station seemed to focus on a different learning style or skill a student might have. Katy’s air station involved brainstorming, Jackie’s was a more artistic activity, Lexi’s station focused on communicating between partners and Brianna’s station involved a large group working as a team. These activities can help appeal to a wide range of learners rather than only the most athletic children in the classroom. I also think the way the lesson was set up provided a quite an emotionally safe environment for students. There were no clear winners or losers in any of the activities and working in small groups reduced the pressure students might feel when being forced to perform in front of others. I also really enjoyed how the reading discussion was broken down into smaller components and how questions were incorporated within the discussion rather than being left until the end. This made the conversation seem much more natural and easier to follow.