Experiential education has been an integral part of my life for as long as I have been teaching. As a qualified outdoor educator and Outward Bound instructor I have been able to bring a multitude of activities to the classroom that inspire risk taking, ignite creativity and self-discovery, foster decision making, and nurture being responsible for one's own actions. Under my direction, experiential programs have thrived. Here are some examples of how the outdoor classroom has such fantastic links for our students!
We go to the Brickworks on a regular basis for theatrical performances, creative writing, scientific study, and art. In connection with our novel study The Call of the Wild, we built sculptures from natural materials that represented significant concepts in the book; the bow and arrow and a shelter.
To find out about our surroundings and explore our neighbourhood we set out on a trip where we took lots of photos, made a map, and then undertook a wonderful community story writing project. Each student took a photo and wrote part of a story and then they put it all together.
Last year when we were doing a History unit on Trappers and Traders we packed up our gear and walked a couple of kilometres and set up camp. The idea was to see what it might have been like to have traveled by foot and be self-reliant. The students wrote diary entries as trappers or traders afterwards.
We go to the Brickworks on a regular basis for theatrical performances, creative writing, scientific study, and art. In connection with our novel study The Call of the Wild, we built sculptures from natural materials that represented significant concepts in the book; the bow and arrow and a shelter.
To find out about our surroundings and explore our neighbourhood we set out on a trip where we took lots of photos, made a map, and then undertook a wonderful community story writing project. Each student took a photo and wrote part of a story and then they put it all together.
Last year when we were doing a History unit on Trappers and Traders we packed up our gear and walked a couple of kilometres and set up camp. The idea was to see what it might have been like to have traveled by foot and be self-reliant. The students wrote diary entries as trappers or traders afterwards.