Today’s class was such a wonderful experience and a really awesome example for us to learn from in terms of teaching outdoor education. I feel like I learned an immense amount from Cristina, Christine and Lisa about what I need to be aware of and think about when planning for an alternative environment activity. There are a whole new set of requirements when bringing a group of kids into the outdoors and we have to be aware of all the safety issues and risks. I appreciated being taught what to tell students if they got lost outdoors and also how to organize the activity in ways that quell parent and administrator concerns. We must enlist the help of parents, other teachers, support staff and even older students in order to have a good adult to student ratio. We also need to make sure we are aware of the liabilities and waivers that need to be signed before taking kids for a lesson outside. Furthermore, we must have sufficient knowledge of first-aid or have someone on the excursion who does have this knowledge. Teaching an outdoor education class, or simply teaching any class outside, is such a valuable and worthwhile thing for us to do. I feel much less nervous about doing it after today’s class.

After reading the chapters for this week, there is so much to consider when planning a unit or even a lesson. I think routines, organization, clear communication and relationship building are some of the most important strategies for enhancing the learning environment for students. Especially for the younger grades, routines are so important. They reduce time wasted on classroom management issues or confusion. They get the kids into an activity and learning much faster and more efficiently. This ties in with organization. The ways you organize your students for activities has a huge impact on their comfort levels, feeling of safety and also their engagement in the exercise. The clearer our instructions, the quicker we can start playing and getting active. It reduces confusion and also helps with relationship building between teacher and students. The respect that comes from those clear interactions will help us be effective in engaging our students and keeping them excited about P.E.

Outdoor Education.  Chapter 4/5.

Several things struck me from today’s class.  One of which was how bringing P.E. outdoors can add a level of relevance to class activities.  In alternative contexts, actions such as running, jumping, and climbing are given a whole new meaning.  Climbing on a creative wooden play structure outside, for example, has a totally different significance in comparison to climbing on gym equipment inside a school.  I felt a sense of freedom today, that tends to come with playing outdoors.  For me this feeling connected with some of the objectives of physical education that we have been reading about, such as instilling a passion for movement into our students, and teaching P.E. through play.  Running in the forest during a game of predator had so much more significance than running in a gymnasium playing the same game.  We see animals around us outside.  We can invest more into the game, and get more inspiration from the environment when playing this game outside.

The second thing that struck me was how valuable our classmates are as P.E. resources.  Everyone has different areas of expertise that we can gain so much from.  Lisa shared with us some of her exceptional knowledge and experience regarding outdoor education today, and I learned so much from her.  In particular, she brought up many important points when addressing the question, “How do I plan for alternative environment activities”.  I found her description of unacceptable and acceptable hazards useful, and the discussion that surrounded those.  This week’s activities were very inspiring, and I look forward to implementing some of the ideas shared in the classroom!

Today was fantastic! It’s amazing how taking a lesson outside can make all the difference in how you feel, especially if you’re as sluggish and drowsy as I am in the morning .

Before today, I felt like I  had a semi-decent idea of how to teach a PE class outside due to having worked in summer camps in the past. However, I’ve found that today’s lesson has really helped me consider some things I wouldn’t have thought of while also making me feel a little more confident in my ability to teach outdoors! Maybe it sounds a little odd to hear, but I personally really liked the reminder of making sure to scan the area beforehand for any acceptable or unacceptable risks. Not only do we as the teacher have to be aware of these, but we also have to ensure that the students are as well.

The predator game that we played today was also fantastic in that, as we later discussed, it could tie in so well with other subjects. For instance, playing this game first could serve as a method of priming before formally introducing the subject matter to the students in a science or math class–not only would that be more memorable, but it’d be an active way of introducing a topic that would hopefully be more accessible to students who have different learning styles than the typical lecture or “sit down and read” variations.

Overall, I believe our outdoor education lesson was a success. Our team worked together very well, clearly delineating roles and responsibilities. My contribution was safety considerations outdoors, leading “Go – freeze” practice, co-facilitating “Quick Frozen Critters”, and leading the mindfulness walk.

I wrote myself a script of my important discussion points, but in general it was easier and more fun to go with the flow of the lesson. As we did the “Go – Freeze” activity, it was useful to see how much was learned or what needed improvement by checking in halfway. I realized that some people couldn’t hear me well, and we also discussed strategies for stopping quickly. I used my whistle to call freeze instead, and I noticed that the locomotor freezing motion became more coordinated on the way back.

We ran out of time for the Eagles to try being predators, and in a real-life class this situation might upset kids if they were really looking forward to a turn. It seemed like the class enjoyed this game for the most part, lots of smiles but some really tuckered out people as well. It requires a lot of cardiovascular fitness to survive, so playing this game a lot might be demoralizing for children who have less stamina than others. Everyone was being a really good sport about the game: the affective skill of respecting others was observed throughout and I could see that runners were careful to avoid delicate plants.

Thank you ABCs for being a wonderful class to teach! 🙂

Today’s P.E. class offered us with an alternate approach (outdoor education) to teach/learn P.E. rather than the traditional style inside of a gym that is enclosed by four walls. I enjoyed going outside and getting fresh air because this helps with our cognitive development, which is very crucial for younger students. I believe students should be exposed to the outdoor environment, so they understand the appropriateness of it and behave in a good manner. A valuable lesson that I learnt today is regarding safety while being outdoors, especially with a large group of children. I liked how as a class we established boundaries and discussed what a lost child should do. These types of lessons are not taught explicitly in our textbooks, but we as teachers should be made aware and be prepared for anything.

The game that we played today, predator and prey, is not only fun but also a great tool for teaching students subjects like science and understanding Darwin’s Theory – survival of the fittest. Participating in this game engages students in making quick critical-thinking decisions of how to beat their opponent. Students have to strategize and adapt to their environment. Every student has a unique skill that he or she can use this to their advantage; likewise every animal has tricks to survive and avoid their predators.

Great job to the group who lead our class and made outdoor education exciting!

Last week, our class visited Pacific Spirit park as one of our outdoor activities during our lesson. After participating in an amazing outdoor activity with the class, Steve directed us for a wonderful walk in order to facilitate our learning further. We had discussions and classroom discourse while enjoying the beauty of the nature around us. This experience was refreshing and inspiring for me, as it gave me the opportunity to reconnect with nature. For me, in particular, this was tremendous as I am aware that I do not give myself nearly enough opportunities to utilize the power of nature to my advantage. I’ve always seemed to forget about it and push it aside. I’ve never been an outdoorsy person who would prioritize hiking and exploring the wilderness over indoor activities. Why is this the case? I feel that as a generation (and for the future generations as well), we need to teach our children and younger students to reconnect with nature and all that it has to offer.

The video which I am going to leave you with is a good indication of the generational differences between grandparents, parents, and their children regarding the activities they enjoyed while they were younger. Are we enjoying nature more due to the restrictions placed on liabilities? Or is technology taking over our free time as the more prominent way to relax? Either way, one thing is for sure. Compared to the children today, I definitely spent majority of my time outside getting messy. Today, many parents become insane at the thought of their child coming home with a scraped elbow or knee.

How 3 Generations Of Kids Define “Fun” May Leave You Concerned For The Future

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is5W6GxAI3c&feature=youtu.be

This week we focused on bringing physical education to an alternative environment. Prior to the group teach I could not envision any outdoor activities that moved away from competitive sports so I was excited to see what they had planned for us! The predator game was also a great way to complement what we engaged in last week with the space invaders activity. It was not a matter of winning or losing, but rather having that teaming up element  to eliminate that competitive and humiliation aspect of games.  As always, I was blown away and inspired by the many different possibilities outdoor education had to offer. I thought this was such an excellent group  teach because being outdoors made me feel both at peace and energised at the same time.  For the last year I have been more interested in mindfulness and Lisa’s cool down activity was such a unique way to incorporate this approach into physical education. It was so surprising at how quickly I was able to calm down and ground myself after being overly excited during the predator game. As a hyper-active individual, I myself struggle with this and it always worried me to think of strategies to facilitate calming activities to bring down the energy of a collective group of children. Especially when thoroughly planning for an alternate education lesson, mindfulness can help contain the energy of the group to ensure the safety of all children. Just as the group explained, these kinds of activities revolve around trust, awareness and safety.

Today’s class was excellent! It was so refreshing to get outdoors into the woods and play a game that got us aware of our bodies and our actions. Doing such a movement based activity and the trust falls really got us working together as a team/cohort. It illustrated the importance of getting our students outdoors and experiencing physical education in an environment that is not contained by 4 walls. This allows students to learn outdoors and can be used cross-curricular (ecology, arts, etc) in order to explicate the importance of being outside. I remember being a student in elementary school and as soon as I stepped inside the school, I conditioned myself to be a focused student who didn’t run wild or play, even in P.E. It wasn’t until recess or lunch when we went outside that I let loose and truly had a good time. It was outside that I learned my mistakes and explored creatively and imaginatively and I believe that getting students outside is very important to foster growth, safety, awareness, and creativity. Not only does it do this, but as with our class, it builds community between the students and between the students and the teacher, and connects them with nature and the land they inhabit.