Teach Outdoors

In this episode of Teach Outdoors, we delve into a rainy week of explorations. Join us as we discuss how we prepared for the rain, what we noticed on a rainy autumn nature walk, and the math and science activities we engaged in.

First, we emphasize the importance of proper preparation and safety when embarking on outdoor activities in the rain. Ensuring everyone had the right rain gear and discussing different types of precipitation helped set the stage for a successful outing.

Next, we share how we integrated math and science into our explorations. We set u rain gauges to measure rainfall and engaged in a rainfall rate experiment using raindrop catchers. This allowed our students to learn about data collections, analysis and the importance of rainfall for plants and animals.

This episode is a great reminder that rainy days can be just as educational and engaging as sunny ones. Exploring nature in the rain fosters a deeper understanding and appreciation of the environment while adding an element of fun and adventure.

Nature’s Path: A Year of Monthly Sparks.  https://teachoutdoors.ca/workshops/  Join us on a year-long journey through the wonders of nature with our pre-recorded workshop series, designed to inspire and support outdoor learning.

Each month, immerse yourself in 5-7 minute sessions celebrating the beauty of the natural world.

Discover the magic of the monthly moons as we explore their significance and how they shape the seasons. Learn about seasonal activities that can be integrated into your curriculum, bringing outdoor experiences into the classroom. Delve into fascinating tidbits about birds and plants, expanding your nature knowledge.

Nature Classroom Podcast Series: https://teachoutdoors.ca/podcast-2/Join us for a 6-episode journey where we delve into the fascinating world of nature routines and outdoor education. In each episode, we will explore various topics designed to enlighten and entertain, offering valuable insights and practical tips for both educators and parents alike.

“Best $20 I’ve spent this year on pro-d!” ~Melissa

Nature Classroom Podcast Series: A paid podcast series that includes 6 episodes ranging from how to set up your nature routines, expectations, math connections, and social-emotional learning development. Each episode has many downloadable resources for you to print and use outdoors with your learners.

Nature's Path: A Year of Monthly Sparks: Most schools across the country are signing up for these series to use during their monthly staff meetings.  For each month of the year, you receive a 5-7minute recorded powerpoint video and downloadable resources to use in your elementary school setting. 

Our guest today is Maxine Panchuk, (IG: @teachingtaurus) an educator from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan who is passionate about nature, gardening, and outdoor learning. She is currently a kindergarten teacher at Buena Vista School, which has a focus on nature and outdoor based learning. Her days are usually spent exploring in the sunshine with her students and facilitating opportunities for them to observe the beauty of nature. When she is not at school, she enjoys spending time in her garden, hanging out with her cat, and biking around the community. 

Some of my personal highlights from this episode are around minute 20 where Maxine talks specifically about how she incorporates literacy and numeracy into her outdoor program! From practicing oral language skills, to making human number lines, she makes it sound easy! 

Novelty nature note time:

We’ve been digging up a small section in our outdoor classroom in order to plant a narrow bed of pollinator plants – like lavender. In doing so, our students have been finding a lot of chaffer beetles. They are an invasive species of beetle that feed on grass roots. We’ve been reading about some environmentally friendly ways of preventing infestation – which are beneficial nematodes – which is a parasite that will kill the beetle larvae. In the meantime, we will try to keep our grass as healthy as possible because they don’t infest healthy lawns as easily. 
Maxine shares her knowledge about maple tree seeds - did you know the "wings" are also called samara?! Very cool!

Our guest today is Rachel Tidd, the author of Wild Learning: Practical Ideas for Bringing Teaching Outdoors and the Wild Math® and Reading Curriculums®. 

Today’s episode dives into the connections between nature and curriculum. Not only does Rachel provide some great examples on how to incorporate literacy and numeracy into our outdoor learning adventures, but she also talks about the value of different outdoor learning spaces such as the school yard, neighbourhood, and fields. They are all inclusive learning spaces which allow for a range of playful opportunities. In fact, one of the chapters of her book is all about how to use chalk! Around minute 13 of the episode, Rachel talks about how to incorporate arrays and multiplication connections while on a nature walk. Then she digs into some potential barriers of outdoor classrooms, like gear or having a student that is at risk of running out of the boundaries. To end the episode, we talk about how to document student learning outdoors – something that all teachers are eager to learn more about!

Novelty nature note:

I shared about water striders and how their legs are covered in hairs which trap air, making them buoyant. We also learned that they could live up to a year, as long as the temperatures aren’t freezing.

Rachel shared about leaves, both simple and compound, and how leaflets are the structures that make up a compound leaf. 

Don’t forget to bookmark:  https://teachoutdoors.ca and subscribe to @TeachOutdoors on YouTube (you can find the episode of this podcast here: https://youtu.be/11f9i2ZoTh8 )

Make sure to bookmark Rachel’s website: www.discoverwildlearning.com and follow her on Instagram and Facebook @discoverwildlearning. 

Welcome to the latest episode of our podcast where we feature inspiring stories of educators who are passionate about taking learning beyond the four walls of the classroom. In today’s episode we have a special guest with us, James Matthews, is the Head of Environmental Studies at BHCS in Melbourne Australia and teaches both in Primary and Middle School. He is passionate about bush regeneration and students expressing creativity in his lessons using natural resources.  Today he will share his experience in facilitating a memorable experience for his students through a planting day. 
Key Points: 
1. The importance of outdoor learning: James shares about his belief in the benefits of taking learning outside the classroom. He shares that it is a great way for learners to connect with nature and understand the interconnectedness of the environment. Engagement is his biggest takeaway!
2. Planning and preparation: James explains the importance of planning and preparation for a successful planting day. He talks about how he communicated with the learners about the activity beforehand, and how he made sure he had all the necessary supplies and tools ready. 
3. The activity: James walks us through the actual day of planting. He shares how he assigned responsibilities and spaces to his learners, how he encouraged them to work collaboratively, and how he made sure everyone was engaged int he activity. He also talks about the practical skills his learners acquired during the activity, such as digging, planting, and measuring. 
4. Reflection and evaluation. James shares how he encouraged his learners to reflect on the activity and evaluate their work. He explains how he made sure that the learns celebrates their successes and accomplishments. 

Thank you James for sharing your valuable insights and experiences with us. If you would like to contact him for further information, you can reach out to him at [email protected] 
I hope that this episode will inspire educators to consider taking learning outside the classroom and to become stewards of the environment. Until next time, stay curious, keep learning, and keep cultivating those green thumbs.

Don't forget to check out www.teachoutdoors.ca and follow on Instagram @teachoutdoors.ca 

Today’s episode is all about overcoming springtime challenges, especially when it comes to allergen season. I don’t know about you, but my eyes are watery and itchy, even my ears are itchy! That doesn’t stop us from getting outside to explore, we just need a few extra tips up our sleeves. If you have any additional tips you'd like to share with us, please feel free to leave a voice message on Speakpipe. You don't need to set up an account and it's completely anonymous! I'll share out some of the tips you leave me on the next episode! 

We will also talk about how our new garden beds are progressing. What are we harvesting right now? How are the learners enjoying their new garden classroom? One of the best things we've done so far is using a 4-square worksheet to help guide and facilitate our observations. You can download the worksheets here!

Thank you for listening, subscribing, and visiting our website. 

Our school recently installed 6 garden beds! How amazing and terrifying all at the same time :)
I have never been shy to speak about what I struggle with and I hope this helps other educators and families see that it's ok to be nervous about gardening. The challenges are going to be worth the experience that both educators and students will get!
From limited resources, to lack expertise, I am going to chat about what fears are bubbling up for me this week. 
Please share your best tips and strategies with us by sharing on social media and tagging @teachoutdoors.ca 

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Welcome to the first episode of Season 2! What used to be called Mentoring Nature Connections is now called Teach Outdoors. Thank you to everyone who completed the survey on how I can best tailor this podcast to your needs. I'm excited to continue along this journey with you!

Today I give a quick little introduction on who I am, as there are many new followers here with us! I grew up in British Columbia, Canada, and still live here with my husband, two young toddlers and energetic dog. I am the author of the bestselling children's picture book, Me and My Sit Spot, and a full time elementary school teacher.

Teaching outdoors can often be a challenging experience, and it's important to remember that not everything will go according to plan. The most common question I get from teachers is "How can I get my students to listen better outside?" They feel frustrated with the unruly behaviours that their students are displaying. My simple answer: be consistent with routines and expectations.  Here are my top 4 tips:

Tip #1: Establish Clear Expectations. What can they do? What should they avoid doing? What does it look like and sound like? What happens when these expectations are not met? I highly recommend reviewing these expectations indoors, before going outside.

Tip #2: Use Visuals.  This helps all learners remember what is expected of them (I even have mine printed out small and hang them on a lanyard around my neck for easy access!).

Tip #3: Create a Routine. Our days look like: Nature walk, instructional activity, closure activity. The predictability helps the students feel more comfortable.

Tip #4: Be Consistent. There is nothing more confusing to a student when one day they can play with a stick and the next day they can't.


Don't forget to follow and subscribe to the podcast and follow @teachoutdoors.ca on Instagram. Check out the new website www.teachoutdoors.ca to subscribe to the newsletter for upcoming free resources. 

Share your best tips for creating consistent routines and expectations on Instagram and remember to tag @teachoutdoors.ca

When it comes to teaching students outdoors, there are few activities more meaningful than noticing and observing clouds. Often dismissed as mundane, clouds are surprisingly complex and stimulate creative thinking, real-time problem solving, self-reflection and environmental stewardship n children. Studying clouds can ignite passion and creativity, while teaching students a variety of skills.

Cloud formations are like works of art, carrying distinct shapes and patterns. Even hundreds of years ago, some cultures believed specific formations brought special meaning, such as rain or a storm. Today, while I personally can’t make any reliable predictions, clouds do offer insight into the environment around us. 
 

As students spend time outdoors noticing and observing clouds, they learn to take note of small details. Our learners have been exploring the different shapes and textures of the clouds and comparing them. I am also asking questions to guide their observations. For example, I’ll ask them to notice how the clouds move, or how fast they move compared to other clouds. On our nature walks, sometimes we try to mimic the shape of clouds and move as a group in the same direction that the clouds are moving. It’s quite comical and a great team building activity. 

I’d love to hear how your outdoor explorations are going with your classes – so please share your adventures by tagging Mentoring Nature Connections on Instagram. And check out the MNC website for other updates at www.mentoringnatureconnections.ca Until next time, go get your hands dirty and have fun with mentoring nature connections.  

My class of grade 1 and 2 learners have continued our routine of being outdoors every day, ranging from 30 minutes up to almost 2 hours.  The last few weeks we have been noticing how many different types of trees we have on our school grounds - too many to choose from! Listen to today's episode for how we began learning about the western red cedar and how we will continue to use that knowledge to compare and contrast with the other trees that live near us - like the massive Douglas Fir! 

A big thank you to all of those who are sharing your outdoor learning journey with us on social media by tagging @mentoringnatureconnections on IG. You can also visit the newly updated MNC website at www.mentoringnatureconnections.ca 

We are having unusually warm weather for October here in British Columbia.  We are taking advantage of the sunshine by going out on daily nature walks to explore the different spaces on our school grounds. We are learning about our local birds and keeping a monthly bird count. We are talking about the impacts humans have on nature and reminding ourselves how our smallest actions have both positive and negative consequences.  
Instagram: @mentoringnatureconnections
Twitter: @lkmaclean
Website: www.mentoringnatureconnections.ca 

Music Video for From the Trees song by Brandon Grant on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvmlotbPl7I