I always thought nature should be integrated into the classroom, but up until a couple of years ago when I started working in an inner-city school, I began to really believe that it had to be a true priority in our schools. So many students live in cramped apartments far away from any green space. Those that do live near green space often can't play freely due to the frequency of certain types of garbage (used condom anyone?). I personally love living in the center of the city, but even I begin to crave fresh air and greenery after awhile!
I have learned a lot so far trying to reconnect students with nature... and much of my learning has been from my mistakes. After attending the Outdoor Classroom Institute, I began to reflect on this journey and have pretty much summed it up here!
I have learned a lot so far trying to reconnect students with nature... and much of my learning has been from my mistakes. After attending the Outdoor Classroom Institute, I began to reflect on this journey and have pretty much summed it up here!
Why Bother?
I am sure many people wonder why I bother worrying about getting kids outside when they have other pressing issues. Since I work in an inner-city school, some of our students have some major issues due to poverty and other societal pressures and this causes them to have behavioral and learning challenges at school. I think no matter what schools we are at (urban, suburban, whatever), we all have students like this, and I adamantly believe that nature education is best for them. My school also has a specialized program emphasizing cultural education for First Nations and Metis students. Their families have come to the city for a variety of reasons but don't want to lose touch with their traditional ways. Unfortunately city living (especially inner-city living) isn't always conducive to some of the practices.
Some of the benefits of students reconnecting with the outdoors include:
- Higher test scores
- Supposedly (in Britain) more children are currently being admitted into the hospital for falling out of bed versus falling out of trees which I just find insane
- It increases their concern and appreciation for the environment
- Increases to self-discipline and self-control
- Improved motor abilities
- Possibly prevents myopia
- May prevent asthma
- Prevents obesity
- Improves cognitive functioning
- Improves academic achievement
- Reduces stress
- Improves concentration
- Improves Classroom behaviour
- Potential to improve symptoms of depression
Some of the benefits of students reconnecting with the outdoors include:
- Higher test scores
- Supposedly (in Britain) more children are currently being admitted into the hospital for falling out of bed versus falling out of trees which I just find insane
- It increases their concern and appreciation for the environment
- Increases to self-discipline and self-control
- Improved motor abilities
- Possibly prevents myopia
- May prevent asthma
- Prevents obesity
- Improves cognitive functioning
- Improves academic achievement
- Reduces stress
- Improves concentration
- Improves Classroom behaviour
- Potential to improve symptoms of depression
Some Failures
Sometimes things seem like great ideas. And theeeeennnnnn.... they blow up in your face. Being that one of my major flaws is disorganization, many of these would be my fault. Still... here we go!
Weeds -
So, I started a school garden thinking, "WOW, this will be so fantastic!". Left for a month... came back and 90% of the plants we had planted had been choked out by weeds. We had planted a wild raspberry bush, a wild blueberry bush, sunflowers, buffalo sage, peas, carrots, pumpkins, and sweetgrass. I came back to a few carrots, a pumpkin plant, a single (nearly dead) sage plant, a very close to dead blueberry bush, and thriving sweetgrass (YES, IT SURVIVED!!!). I also was presented with more weeds than I had ever seen in my life. After filling three garbage bags and a couple of buckets I hadn't even made a dent in the weeds. Not even a wee bit. Go figure.
Lesson Learned - Set up a plan for taking care of the garden over the summer. Perhaps have teachers sign up for one week each over the Summer months, or have parent volunteers do it if possible. Landscape tarp can work well, or use naturalized plants that can survive in spite of weeds and without any watering.
Lesson Learned - Set up a plan for taking care of the garden over the summer. Perhaps have teachers sign up for one week each over the Summer months, or have parent volunteers do it if possible. Landscape tarp can work well, or use naturalized plants that can survive in spite of weeds and without any watering.
Being a Killjoy -
I was so intent on getting the children outside and making sure they enjoyed it (DAMN IT, you WILL LOVE NATURE!) that I doubt most of them actually did enjoy it. I didn't take advantage of natural learning opportunities, but instead insisted that they needed to focus on specific things that in the big picture, probably didn't matter.
Lesson Learned: Students need time to explore. Ever give out math manipulatives? Know how you have to give that free exploration for a few minutes? I think the same is required with Outdoor Classrooms. I am going to try a model I call "EAT". Students need to Explore when they first get outside, do an Activity that gets their energy out, and then they can concentrate on the specified Task.
Lesson Learned: Students need time to explore. Ever give out math manipulatives? Know how you have to give that free exploration for a few minutes? I think the same is required with Outdoor Classrooms. I am going to try a model I call "EAT". Students need to Explore when they first get outside, do an Activity that gets their energy out, and then they can concentrate on the specified Task.
I Forgot About Me -
Last year I ended up having a pretty difficult time. I went through some very stressful situations, and developed some health issues. As a result, I was way too frazzled and disorganized to follow through on everything I wanted to do. Field trips were never booked, things never sent in.... the list goes on!
Lesson Learned: You can only help others if you aren't a crazy mess yourself ;-)!
Lesson Learned: You can only help others if you aren't a crazy mess yourself ;-)!
Successes
So yes, there were certainly some moments of pure and complete failure. I think everyone has had a lesson or two that has utterly bombed. Luckily, there were definitely some moments of success that will stick with me forever, and that has made it all worth it!
Seeing My Students Through a Different Lens -
The outdoor classroom can be scary because of the change in routine and the naturally unstructured feel of the environment. Add in a few students with behaviour or attention issues and it can feel like chaos, right? Sometimes, it definitely can. Fortunately, I saw some great and wonderful things in my students I hadn't seen before. My students and I had a change to go to Green School:
This week-long field trip was amazing. My students went from barely being willing to sit on the ground, to sitting on the ground and journaling for 20-30 minutes! We had a parent who came with us and taught us so much about First Nations spirituality, plants, and tracking while we were out in the garden. One of my students who struggled with attention problems was so calm, attentive and focused the whole week that I felt like I was working with a completely different child. My students were given free range when journaling (they only had to write down the weather and date). One student with absolutely no encouragement or direction created this template throughout his whole journal:
While I absolutely adored this child, he wasn't the strongest student. He didn't really like school, and it was a struggle for him to finish any assignments. Here he recorded multiple observations and created a scrapbook like format for the week!
Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, But Examine, Observe and Admire it!
Being outdoors, whether at the school, or on field trips, built a comfort and an interest in nature for my students (and for me!). We learned to just "be" and when that happened we saw so many more details than we had before!
We were willing to explore off the beaten path when necessary, and get our hands (and feet!) dirty.
It Didn't All Survive, but Some Did!
My goal for our school garden was to create a Medicinal Garden based off of First Nations practices. I wanted to have a place where students could see what Sweetgrass, Sage, and Wild Tobacco looked like while still in the earth, especially those students who hadn't yet had a chance to go and pick medicines with the school or with their families. I also wanted to include some foods, and maybe some plants that were natural to Alberta. To see more about my hopes for the project, check out this website - Maskikiy Kistikan, which was a site I developed as a simplified sample of a resource that would be beneficial for teachers (essentially a website that if I had proper programming skills and gardening skills, plus more knowledge in First Nations spirituality and practices, I would create to pass on to teachers). So the Wild Tobacco didn't get planted, and most of the Sage died, but the Sweetgrass is thriving, and I have decided to be grateful for small steps. Maybe next year there will be two thriving plants!