On October 10th our EDUC 394 class met at Cottonwood Park for our 8:30 am class. It was a brisk fall day so I was glad that I wore two layers of clothing. The scenery was breathtaking with the deep blue sky overhead and thousands of golden leaves still clinging to the trees. If we were in the classroom, our scenery would be white painted walls, white boards, and white ceiling tiles. It sometimes feels like we have a white shell all around us in that room. I felt a vast difference in my mood just from being outside. The experience brought to mind Brene Brown’s analogue of the turtle. It can make me feel vulnerable going outside in different weather but it’s hard to absorb information when our shells are on.
We began our day standing in a circle and acknowledging the land that we stood on. We are able to see everyone’s face in the circle, which is very important, because no one is more important that others – we are the EDUC 394 class, and we are learning together. We were divided into random groups, which is my favourite because it takes away the stress of finding a partner. We talked about using the BC Curriculum, and then our groups set out to plan a lesson by ourselves. Our group walked towards the bridge as we talked about the importance of water, and we decided that we want to teach our classes to be good stewards of the land and to conserve the natural resources. The lesson that we planned included a fieldtrip to visit the river, noticing the plants and wildlife that use it to live, and writing a short reflection explaining how the river is important to all the life around us.
I learned how to look up lesson topics in the BC curriculum, and I also noticed that I prefer to have time to think about things before I jump in and put my pen to paper. My partners were very quick with their thoughts which made me feel kind of old. I have to remember to be kind to myself and remind myself that I’m just learning so it’s okay to be slower.
This learning experience in Cottonwood park is important to me because it reminds me how my future students will be able to focus better and learn outside. Becoming part of the beautiful scenery instead of looking at it out a window is an amazing gift.
Now I would like to learn interesting lessons that I can do outside with my students to keep them engaged. Being able to connect with the outdoors may change the trajectory of some of my students’ lives so it’s worth experimenting with what works and what doesn’t. I love what Lawrence Stenhouse says about the BC curriculum – “does it nourish the students and does it taste good?”. We need to make our lessons work for everyone and entice the students into tasting them.
