Imagine the power of nature...
Unleash it in your classroom by taking your classes on a hike. Envision the connections you’d make, whether you teach Flora and Fauna, PE, Environmental Science, Art or even English. Students can tap into several modes of intelligence: visual, kinesthetic, interpersonal, spatial and naturalistic among others when they are allowed to experience learning outside the classroom. In particular, many children, who are labeled special needs students in our focus on linguistic and logical-mathematic learning, can show off their gifts in the other intelligences. While meeting the needs of many students who are not as successful in the traditional classroom setting, hiking as an educational endeavor can also unlock career related skills and job possibilities. Problem solving, attention to detail, the ability to improvise and self-reliance are just a few of the myriad jobs skills that are directly brought out through hiking.
Imagine the possibilities within your own discipline….
The artist within is drawn out of even the most artistically inhibited when inspired by the awesomeness of nature. The writer within all of us, like Thoreau before, beckons to our own Walden Ponds. Had Frost not taken a stroll in nature, would he have found his road less travelled? What about a young Margaret Mead...contemplate for a moment the path her life may have taken, had she not been introduced to nature at an early age. What careers, or future leaders will you inspire by allowing your classes to take a walk in the woods?
We have an abundance of hiking opportunities within several minutes of our school here in the suburbs of Chicago. If you’d like to find out more, Susan Post has published a wonderful book entitled Hiking Illinois, which is full of great day hikes, detailed maps and rich accounts of the flora, fauna and history of Illinois, or find a similar book for your region by Googling Day Hikes. While not a hiking companion guide, Bill Bryson’s "A Walk in the Woods" is another great book sure to inspire your students with his accounts of the ubiquitous and mysterious Appalachian Trail.
For those of you with an even more adventurous side, you might consider setting up a lesson built around Geocaching, You can even activate some prior knowledge by having your classes watch an episode or two of the really amazing and hip Livewell Network's (also found on your local ABC affliate) Motion, which brings the inspiring beuaty of the outdoors into our family rooms every week via the equally hip host, Greg Aiello. Check out these links to find out more about Motion and Geocaching:
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