For the professional development day on October 23rd, I chose to register myself for the C2C conference (classrooms 2 communities) hosted in Prince George. Although we had the choice of attending any conference, I believe the presentation content in the C2C conference would be most relevant to my future career in Northern BC. The Pro-D day celebrated many inspiring approaches to place-based and experiential education and one specific presentation I attended stood out to me the most. This presentation was called ‘Northern Lessons- Outdoor Kindergarten’ by Mrs. TM, an instructor for school district 54 in Houston BC. I was drawn to this lecture because of the title. I grew up in Northern BC and was very intrigued how you could teach Kindergarten outdoors, especially during the cold winter months. Any teacher who attempts to take students out of their desks and chairs for a few hours a day have my full support and respect. Helping students discover the value of community, and the place in which they live was exactly what Mrs. TM strove to provide her students. She believed that all the tools and resources required for teaching are available to you and your students outside. Her goal was to have her students make meaningful connections to the land every day. She suggested to her audience that we allow the students to do the asking. It is important to have a set plan in mind before taking students outside; however, the best teachable moments arise from students asking the questions. Mrs. TM could structure an entire week’s worth of teaching just by one student asking a question about honeybees. The students could study their life cycle, they could find flowers in which bees pollinated, or they could study the patterns of honeycombs. The opportunities were endless! She would also tell her students to use their ‘scientist eyes’ while outside on a walk which encouraged them to ask questions and make discoveries or notice changes. For example, they would set the intention for the day as focusing on how the rain last night affected the plant material outdoors. Upon arrival to their designated area for the day, Mrs. TM also had students meditate on their own. This was shocking news to me because how do you expect Kindergarteners to settle themselves for roughly 5 minutes outside? It sounded like an impossible feat, yet, Mrs. TM said they loved it. Students were asked to pay attention to the noises they heard, the smells, and textures around them. They were then able to share their experiences afterwards with the teacher and class. Eventually, Mrs. TM said her students were able to meditate for approximately 20 minutes on their own and they looked forward to it. By going outside every day, students are able to organize themselves and create a sense of routine in their lives. They arrive to school prepared to go outdoors because they know they will be going outside at some point every single day. The kids are able to drive lesson building through local and authentic resources. Mrs. TM stressed that outdoor education doesn’t require chairs and gazebo’s where students can sit and write. Students are not brought outside to sit and learn, they learn by moving, discovering and questioning. This is such a significant approach to education because the walls between outside and inside the classroom need to be transparent. Spending approximately 2-3 hours every day outside is a reasonable feat almost every teacher can accomplish, even if they do not have easy access to greenspace. Students could spend time identifying road signs in nearby laneways and create language boards or figure out how many sides a hectogon has. Each question that arose during this presentation was answered, specifically questions about the costs of outdoor education. Mrs. TM stated that you do not need to spend hardly anything in order to teach lessons outside. It can be as simple as asking a local tire shop for spare tires to fill with dirt and create a compost or garden. Practicing outdoor education promotes community involvement as well as family involvement. She told a story about how some of the kid’s grandparents took them all ice fishing once on a local lake! This presentation was extremely valuable because it dissolves the fear of taking students outside. Hearing it all firsthand from someone who takes their students outside every day shows us that it can be done, even with 20 kindergarten students. I cannot wait until I have my own classroom and can create student autonomy and provoke their interest by taking them outside. I will definitely be keeping in contact with Mrs. TM and attempt to take my classroom outside once a day to connect them to the land and support place-based learning because student happiness is easy to achieve this way. Learning does not stop when you leave the classroom, it continues outside and flows through our interactions with nature.

“Nature is a tool to get children to experience not just the wider world, but themselves”

-Stephen Moss