Take Me Outside Day!

This weekly reflection is comparing the two in-situ days we have had for this week between two classes

For EDCI 250 we had are in-situ at Kooteney Orchards Elementary school. Where teacher canidates came up with an activty to incorporate I Love A Challenge, where we had challenged students from kindergarten to grade 6 to challenge themselves with different ways of balancing a bean bag.

In these pictures we have students in different grades finding different ways to balance 1 bean bag all the way to having 13 bean bags.

With i love a challenge it is the concept of esculating the concept to different principles you can do to challenge yourself with something harder. For example we had the kindergarten’s balance the bean bag on their head and then walk around. If they could do that we challenged them to then balance the bean bag on their knee or foot. The older grades were more focused on balancing as many bean bags they could on their head to beat other students and one student got all the way to 13 bean bags.

The acoustic poem for balance that we had created and also what KO students came up with

This in-situ took place over a couple of hours with circulating through the different grades, all the students had fun getting their energy out with being outside. Throughout the afternooon between all the teacher canidates we had the whole school participating. This experience showed that throughout all the ages how they could challenge themselves in different ways uping the difficulty.

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For EDCI 336 we were in smaller groups and having a more one on one connection with the students, where we walked down to Elizabeth Lake with a grade two class. We had did two activties with the students that were a scavenger hunt and making leaf art.

Elizabeth lake, with Gordon Terrace grade 2 class

Before this experience the class had read Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert. And learned information on different animals that could be found at Elizabeth lake and their Indigenous names.

During this experience it was more calm and contained with boudaries of where we could explore. After the scanvenger hunt in are small groups we collected materials to create are own leaf man and took a picture of it to upload it onto ChatterPix Kids.

ChatterPix Kids lets kids take a photo of anything (pet, a drawing, etc.), them draw a line where they want their picture to speal to indicate the “mouth”. they then can record their voice up to 30 seconds and the picture appears to “talk” with the recorded voice.

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Overall when learning outside it lets the students adventure outside and what it means to be outside using different resources. Between making nature art and being active outside can help students boost their engagement and focus. When being in a natural setting it can often increase attention spans of students, especially for the students who struggle to focus indoors. When learning outdoor environments it can allow students to observe their surroundings with plants, build structures, learn about animals, and also learn about Indigenous Language.

Take Me Outside day encourages educators to take their students outside the classroom be be one with nature with playing, exploring, and engaging with nature. TMO has three central themes, Indigenous Perspectives & Knowledge, Environmental Education & Climate Change, and Health & Wellbeing. It also aligns with broader goals around reconciliation, inclusion, and environmental stewardship. For example, TMO invites land acknowledgements and Indigenous-led perspectives.