My favourite part of my practicum was teaching outdoors. I incorporated a lot of outdoor learning in my 4 weeks. My favourite activity was taking the students on a walking tour around Prince Rupert to learn about the various totem poles around the town. It was amazing to see a few of the students who were strong in Sm’algyax and knowledge of crest designs. They helped their peers and even me when I was needing clarification on the designs. I loved experiencing students teaching their peers and me as well. Allowing students to lead in groups is a great opportunity for them to practice skills such as confidence, communication and leadership.
Another outdoor activity I did with my students was a community walk around Prince Rupert to observe the various painting murals on the buildings. Afterwards, I took the students to the court house where everyone sat on the grass and cement steps to sketch out their own nature themed art mural. I noticed on the walk, students were sharing their thoughts about the paintings and buildings around town with the group and with their peers. This outdoor art activity allowed students to do a walk and talk where they connected with one another and shared their thoughts about the building art.
Nature Mandala art was another outdoor activity I did with my students. We first walked from the school to the court house sunken gardens where the students worked in small groups or individually and created some beautiful designs. It was amazing to hear students talk about the variety of lowers and plans at the garden which led to conversations of what types of flowers they had in their own gardens. Some students even came up with stories with their designs which was so unique and creative!
We also did a butterfly unit where the students learned about the various stages of a butterfly. Students got to release butterflies at the Sunken Gardens. This afternoon, I witnessed students paying close attention to a butterfly that landed on of the students legs and sat there for most of the afternoon. There was so much wonder, curiosity and admiration in the students eyes as they gazed at the butterfly and chatted about its wings and abilities. These moments of social connection and connecting with nature are priceless.
I also did a math measuring activity outside. Students were finishing up a unit in measurement and I thought it would be fun and interactive to conclude with students measuring playground equipment outside! The students worked in pairs and I loved seeing the various dynamics in groups. There were some leaders and some who needed encouragement to take the lead or participate in helping measure. I noticed the students had excitement as they finished one of the items and moved onto the next items on the list. They appeared motivated to calculate the measurement of the playground items. I loved how this activity incorporated movement and nature along with math.
Following our Barkerville trip, we before we had a semester break, we all did some land based activities at Shane lake. One of the activities we did was Pictionary using outdoor material such as sticks, rocks, leaves, flowers etc. It was so fun as our groups went around and each person got a chance to do a word. Afterwards, two of the teams versed each other to see who could get the most amount of words. Another activity was a pond study that my group did with the cohort. There were a few groups and each got a booklet with pond related items on it. The task was to observe creatures by the pond and draw a sketch. There were some pond study tools that students were able to use such as nets, cups, ice cube trays and buckets to collect the pond water to examine. While doing these land based activities at the lake, I thought of other activities to do with students while exploring nature. For example, a nature scavenger hunt or building a hut. While we were learning and exploring on the land, I noticed the possibility of learning on the land. All the wonder of nature around, students having conversations about the types of trees and lake species around.
