Our very first "Nurture Walk" was exhausting, in a good way! We had sent out notification to our families that we would be going on Friday mornings for our Nature Walks, only to be cancelled in the event of thunder and lightening. The children generally came dressed well for the weather with the exception of one student but boots were borrowed from another class. Both Jeremy and I felt that we really wanted to lay a strong groundwork for our Nature Walks to be successful. Whole group discussions with regards to what our Nature Walks would look like and sound like. We went out in pairs on the cold damp Friday morning. For an hour we walked the forest, for some of the time walking like a fox, seeing like an eagle and listening with deer ears! Upon our return it was our hope to have introduce the knowledge building circle and to actually have one. Time only allowed for a brief introduction of Jeremy's special hawk talking feather and a few children had the chance to share. This week we will revisit our ideas of what our Nature Walks will look and sound like to make changes, adjustments to our original ideas. We didn't stay in pairs and that was fine, we weren't always quiet like a fox, was that a problem? We did collect lots of things, what are we going to do with the stuff? When will we do stuff with our stuff? So our goal this week, revisit last weeks ideas, have a kbc, teach children in small groups about sit spots and what we think their use will look like.
Learning is what happens when you are busy making other plans!
Team 114
Jeremy and Brenda
This sounds amazing Brenda! It is a big (HUGE) feat to take almost 30 FDK kids outside on a cold damp day! KUDOS! I am realizing how important it is to take the time needed to establish these routines with our learners. It is so exciting for them and, like us, they want to jump in. I have been struggling with my group of learns as well as we continue to co-construct and navigate outdoor expectations. Is it a problem if they are not quiet? I think there are times when we will want to be quiet to glean the most from our natural environment. I think it will come as you continue to explore the outdoors and review and build upon your routines and expectations.
ReplyDeleteIt was a lot of work to get all the kids out, but they really enjoyed it. It was nice to hear our student of the day say that her favourite thing of the day was the nature walk. Also, a few parents also gave feedback that they were happy to hear that Brenda and I were integrating nature walks into their child's Kindergarten program.
ReplyDeleteThese stories warm my heart! I loved reading that you were taking steps to build and establish routines - slowing down - being flexible - asking for student input. The groundwork is key and it takes time. I totally did the same thing with nature buddies to start - they always break away and it doesn't ever seem to work unless it is with a specific goal in mind (e.g. with a partner, find something that could be helpful to a living creature and report back) So nice to hear feedback both from students and parents. We need to listen! We see such engagement when you take kids outside and we can use that to our advantage...especially when we have set-backs - which we will! Looking forward to hearing more
ReplyDeleteSo a good example of a learning experience that is using a "modern learning" technique and is contributing to well-being -emotion, mental, social, physical.
ReplyDeleteFor initiating a follow up KBC look to identify a question or issue that arose on the trip. Could be as simple as asking the class what do we learn on nature walks?