This week I will be discussing the amazing opportunity I had to go to a local elementary school and do an activity outside to celebrate Take Me Outside Day! For this weeks reflection I will be using the Gibbs’ Reflective Learning Cycle as a layout for this blog!✨
What is Gibb’s Reflective Learning Cycle?🧐⭐️
The Gibbs’ Reflective Learning cycle is a way to reflect on a time/place or situation using a step by step guide to reflect on a deeper level. A link is attached to the photo below for more information!
What Happened?🧐🧠
My class started the event by coming into a grade 2 class and getting to know the classroom, teacher and meet our students. We started the lesson with a presentation on all the animals and species we may see that are local to the park we would be visiting. (Our class pre made this presentation the week prior) We then found our buddies and started the walk to a local park that has lots of trees and a lake. Once we go to the lake we started our mission! We were to come up with an animal and create the animal using nature we found outside. For example: leaves that had fallen, sticks in the ground, rocks, flowers etc. My group decided to create a monkey and a snake! When we were done we took a photo using a class iPad and walked back to the school to post them on the class Seesaw!
Feelings?💡🤷♀️
In the moment I was feeling super excited to meet another local class. I almost felt no nervousness because I felt my teacher had prepared us for the day and I knew it was going to be super fun and educational! While walking I pretty confident in my ability to make strong connections with students which I feel I was successful at. It was a beautiful day out so I was happy to be outside doing what I love!
Evaluation✍️
There were plenty of great things about the experience a few to note…
- Learning outside is the best way to learn!
- Gave us an opportunity to become more familiar with technology used in classrooms like Seesaw
- Us and the kids had fun!
- There were not many limitations as to what to build and how to build it- creativity!
- We as teacher candidates got to do what we love!
Anything Negative? Honestly, none! Unfortunately, my group never saw any of the species we discussed but it was a little chilly and a little windy… so no dragonfly’s.
Analysis📚
I would love to try this activity again with the same group of students in the spring! I think it would be a great opportunity to discuss changes in the environment because of the different seasons. Working with the little bit of wind and chill did not stop the fun, however a warmer day would have been nice. Doing it again would also allow us university students to continue the relationships we built with the students!
Conclusion💡
This activity was a great learning experience for all of us! It gave me a good gage for grade 2 students abilities to learn outside of the classroom and into the community. I also appreciated being able to assess a grade two students abilities to work with technology by themselves. Both great ideas to keep in mind for practicum!
Action Plan✍️🏃♂️
Next time, I would start the same way by including a short PowerPoint, but change it to something new such as different types of plants. I would incorporate this activity into the classroom more than once a year (possibly every season) because it truly is a great way to bring creativity into the day. I will also definitely try to be more comfortable with seesaw before attending for next time!
Take Me Outside Day 🌎🌲
Take me outside day is really a day to just get outside and learn from the outdoors! We used this day as an opportunity to take a walk, explore nature and connect with others! I will definitely be taking the time when I am a teacher to get my students outside and explore. Outside can definitely spark creativity (we saw it with the creatures we created) and can be a great way to encourage motivation in the classroom!