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Chris Phillips’ October 14th Reflection

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This past week was probably my favorite, and I left class feeling refreshed, clear-headed, and ready for the extended period of sitting we’d endure in our next lecture. The time we spent outdoors, as well as our discussions, allowed me to gather my thoughts and help shape my inquiry question. In my question, I’d like to address the many benefits that an outdoor learning environment can have on students and their surrounding environments. After Steve took us into the forest and we discussed some of the implications of outdoor ed, I found myself on a tangent of thought regarding the beauty of such a small area, centered around this concrete beach. Similar to a diamond in the rough, the forest provided a small amount of happiness that lasted me throughout the rest of my seated-day, and I’m sure it can provide students the same.

Based on my experience educating outdoor ed, I’m able to say that students have left with a greater understanding and appreciation for their environment. These changes occur because of their newly established relationships with the back-country. Students learn to conduct themselves within it the same way they would in a friendship, and it forms a bond. Expanding on this thought, if we want future generations to preserve our forests, learn about biology, ecology, and environmental sustainability, then we need to introduce them to outdoor environments in order for them to build connections to such places.

Thanks for reading!

Chris

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Group A – Movement Journal – Week 5

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The invasion games and curriculum models lesson was very impactful last week. The group teach activities really inspired the kind of games I would want my own students to take part in. I most enjoyed the “prairie dog pick-off” game; what was most mind boggling was the notion that once you lose, you join the winning team, he who is your opponent becomes your team mate. We played this game only a few times, but I am confident that we could have easily continued to play this game for hours on end. This game was a prime example of the TGFU curriculum model. The carousel activity was great in that it was a effective way to look at all curriculum models and make educated decisions about which models best suit each individual’s teaching pedagogies. It was interesting to hear the opinions of my classmates, many of which influenced my own view on the curriculum models. Personally, I believe that an effective way to teach physical education is to mix and match the curriculum models. For example, if I was employing the “Sport Education Model” I would want to infuse that model with important “Fitness for Life” and “TPSR” components, such as to respect one another in and outside of the gym while understanding and valuing sport, with a conscious ownership of one’s lifelong physical health. I am a firm believer in the “TGfU” model in that the “skill and drill” is eliminated, games are not withheld until the end of class; children are able to begin exercising their physical skills immediately in a fun, non-competitive manner, while scaffolding the fundamentals of the sport or activity. The team teach group did an incredible job of demonstrating the TGfU model, and the benefits this model can provide for young students, and for their life long journey with physical health. Discovering personal strategies is of utmost importance, not only in P.E. but in life, and this curriculum mode exemplifies both. TGfU is a great approach to bringing a class closer together, to create a real sense of community in the classroom, with mutual respect for one another and a positive outlook on physical health, and learning.

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Movement Journal – Michelle Parker

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One thing I reflected on this week was how PE was taught in my practicum school. This past week I was able to see two different PE classes with two different teachers. Interestingly, both classes played some form of dodgeball. The grade 7 class played a variation of dodgeball called partner dodgeball where they were taking turns hitting their partner. The grade 3 class played “skittles” a game where they had to hit down pins in the back of the opposite territory. Then they played the version of dodgeball where once a student is hit they go to the opposite side and have to hit someone on the opposite team to get back into the game. It is interesting to see so much of a hall of shame game being played in the classroom.

 

The result of this really made me think about how I would plan a PE lesson. I think my first PE lesson will be one with a variety of activities and one that is inclusive for all students. As I get to know the students I can learn what they enjoy doing and plan inclusive games around their interests.

 

We looked at alternative environments for lessons. My school is located within a residential area so walking to other environments is limited. However, they have a huge grass field in the back. There is a lot of space to set up fun amazing race, obstacle course type games. Some of the activities we did in this week’s class would work really well in this environment.

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Oct 14th – Movement Journal Ashley Wong

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I use to work at an Outdoor Camp for children and from that experience I learned there’s so much value in teaching alternative environment/outdoor education. The outdoors doesn’t just offer an alternative space, but it provides students the ability to develop independence and self-reliance. In the outdoors, students can learn how to adapt, face new challenges, and overcome fears or apprehensions they otherwise wouldn’t face indoors. Active learning in the outdoors also introduces young people to the environment in a way in which they can develop understanding and appreciation for nature. They can build a connection to nature and therefore understand the contexts of today’s issues of sustainability. We live in a complex world where we continue to exploit the environment and all it’s natural resources, if children are aware of these growing issues then perhaps they can become stewards of change in helping protect it.

I would think for many of us school was the first place where we learned or first participated in outdoor education. I’m glad that schools today understand the value of outdoor education, just not the activity aspect of it, but also its impact on someone’s physical development and mental well-being. We live in a digital world where kids are recorded spending more time in front of screens than outside. I’m afraid that the growing immersion of technology in almost every aspects of our daily life could potentially disconnect younger generations from the outdoors. As an educator, I want to ensure this doesn’t happen. I want to integrate the natural environment just not in PE class but in other subjects. For example, teaching environmental issues/concepts in depth (and preferably outside) during subjects like Science or Social Studies.

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Wednesday 14th Reflection – Outdoor Education

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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

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Week 6 Movement Journal

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This week was my most enjoyed class of the year so far for this class. I realize that this is a big statement, and even coming from me being someone who loves playing sports and games in P.E. classes. But I loved the way that this group used the outdoors and proved the ousdoors are an effective way to teach your class, an outdoor classroom. It was also great way for us to get to know our campus surrounding better as well. For instance, the upside-down tree and the echo circle, the flag pole and the rose garden were all things we were able to see during our class outside. These are all structures which could be used to teach a lesson on, outside of the classroom and outside of Physical Education. For instance, the upside-down tree could be used in a science class to learn and understanding as to how tress are able to survive through this process. Or the echo circle could be used in a science class as well, learning the way in which soundwaves work. These are huge inquiry ideas as well, giving students the opportunity to wonder and ask questions to go and test it out for themselves and research it. Therefore, this group proved that teaching outside proves to help teach cross-curricular. Thank you so much to this group for their hard work and preparation on their group teach, and thanks for bring up the expectations :p

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Movement Journal – Week 6

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I really enjoyed this week’s lesson by Jackie, Lexi, Katy, and Brianna. They had a great lesson and did a wonderful job of not just telling us, but showing us some examples of outdoor environment lessons. Lexi’s station with “mine field” is a great team-building activity that could be done indoors, but moving outside brings a new level of fun and excitement. It’s so important for students to have an opportunity to go outside and be active throughout the day. This encourages both physical and mental health.

I also loved that we learned how to incorporate other curricular areas into alternate environments. Katy’s station with the planes could incorporate science or math, while still allowing children to be outside and active. Jackie’s station was a great way to include art, environmental studies, and physical education within a lesson. We all know that Physical Education classes are important for children…I liked that this week’s lesson focused on the importance of physical activity and being outdoors across all classes. As teachers, we should try to bring classes outdoors as much as we can. I remember as a kid, we were rarely allowed to go outside during class, but I always loved class whenever we did. Moving class to alternative environments is a great way to make students more interested and involved, while also allowing students to include more physical activity in their day.

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MOVEMENT JOURNAL WEEK 6

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Wow, you guys. Awesome job this week! I feel like the bar is raised for each group teach we have. It was so inspiring to be outside, and be able to use our bodies and brains out in the fresh air. You guided us through such an interactive and fun lesson where we were able to appreciate and make use of our local, natural environment in new and engaging ways. The balloon activities espoused teamwork and strategy, while the blindfold activity promoted trust and communication. Gathering leaves and natural materials to create art showcased the cross-curricular potential of outdoor education. We are extremely fortunate to have UBC as our playground, there are tons of exciting spaces to explore and utilize. The questions that arose for me, had to do with how to make the most of local environments that are perhaps less immediately inspiring. I was glad to have the opportunity to discuss this in class, and appreciated the input everybody had on the topic. Ideas like painting hop-scotch on the concrete outside urban schools, or using sidewalk chalk to create creative learning spaces outside inspired that this is an approach we can implement across the board. I think the key to this approach is to maintain the holistic and inclusive focus that Jackie, Brianna, Katie and Lexi employed on Friday. To me, that is the advantage of alternative environments – to engage different perspectives and experiences that encompass the whole student. As we saw, if structured appropriately with clearly presented expectations and instructions, these lessons can run just as smoothly as traditional indoor PE classes.

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Outdoor Education Reflection

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We were SO lucky to have the weather we did for our alternative outdoor education team teach. I also feel extremely lucky to have gotten to work with Tiffany and Meghan on this assignment, as their hard work, passion and enthusiasm made it easy to enjoy both the planning and execution of this assignment.

I think the biggest thing I took away from this assignment, is that no matter how much careful planning you think you’ve done, it’s very easy to forget things if they’re not written down. Even though we had discussed amongst ourselves safety things like being near roads, and boundaries of the actual scavenger hunt, on the day it’s easy to get sort of caught up/overwhelmed and forget to mention every little detail you had in your mind.

This extended as well to our actual written lesson plan, which had many areas left incomplete and we were asked to resubmit. It really hammered home the point that the more detailed your planning is, the better the lesson is going to go. If we had remembered to write down the safety side of our lesson, we might not to have forgotten to say anything about it during our teach.

I must say, I was really impressed with everyone’s enthusiasm and willingness to put themselves out there, especially during our animal game. You are all amazing hedgehogs! We also realized that it’s important to be flexible and able to think on our feet in case activities don’t work out as we had expected them to in our head (i.e. giving some of the ‘animals’ that had been turned ‘vaccines’ so that the tag warm up activity lasted a bit longer). Hopefully we will get to do our yoga cool down activity at some point over the next few months, but if we don’t – please everyone just remember to take 5 minutes out of your day to practice focusing on your breath, and staying mindful and positive. Many people in our cohort are or have been sick lately, and I just want to reiterate again (I know I know, we keep hearing this) how important balance is. Sometimes just taking the five minutes to unplug, sit outside in nature and practice mindful breathing and thoughts is as refreshing as a good nap. It’s ideal we are able to get our students outside and enjoying the amazing air in BC!

All the best of luck to the next group in their team teach this week!

 

Isis

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