23.1.15
We all met up again for a frosty afternoon and I would like to record the following ideas;
– Comparing local woodland with rainforest- SS e&O’s
-School buses – once they have dropped off children in the morning where do they go? Can we hop on and travel somewhere?
-Secondary biology teacher – class collected plants and used extracts to test for anti-bacterial properties etc.
-Keep Scotland Beautiful will send out free litter picking kits etc.
-Challenges – for example give the class a letter from a robin asking them to make him a bell using natural resources.
-Values – use values learning in woodland context. RME
-Kamana website.
-Check weather forecast with class the day before a trip.
-Sponsored walk – better than a fun day??
-Alison can lend out GPS – 10 in a box.
-How to engage other teachers with outdoor learning- in groups of 3 draw a giant teacher and write on what they think a great outdoor teacher needs to BE. Discuss how the qualities are the same for a ‘normal’ teacher.

We completed part of a self-evaluation sheet ( extracted from Outdoor learning 3-18 self-evaluation toolkit’. Interesting to think about how to ‘measure’ the benefits of outdoor learning. I noted the following;

– children should be sharing the joy of OL with rest of school.
– It is important to give feedback for OL. I explain LI but must remember to feedback – as if it was written work.
-Children need to be involved in planning OL- we do ‘what do you want to know?’ etc for indoor topics. should try to do this each time we go out.

As a result of this afternoon I will;

– ensure I give feedback outside,

-check the weather forecast with my class outside

-plan lessons based on ; the doocot, values, old road and mapping.