Professional Learning Goals

• Increased our professional knowledge about Forest Schools
• Developed explorations kits that will support our student’s inquiries in the natural environment
• Shared our new learning with our colleagues
• Furthered our knowledge of social media and other online tools that can be used to share knowledge
• Increased our awareness of technology that is available to support student learning
• Used technology to make our learning visible and to support student interests and inquiries
• Increased time spent outdoors in the natural areas surrounding our schoolyard
• Provided students with opportunities to build an ongoing relationship with the land, to the educators, to one another and to themselves
• Created a child-centred, inquiry-based program outdoors
• Supported the students so they are involved with collaborative projects and independent projects while exploring the outdoors
• Developed community partnerships to support our project and goals

Activities and Resources

• Working as a team, we will gather resources from a variety of sources
• Create a Facebook and Pinterest pages to post and share our ideas and research
• Investigate other ways to share our new knowledge
• Research and buy mobile devices will support our outdoor classroom inquires
• Decide on what our outdoor classroom/gathering place will include
• Buy items to create classroom investigation kits
• Contact community organizations that can provide ideas and support
• Meet and work with community organizations
• Create boundaries for outdoor learning environment
• Begin to implement activities for students
• Use our mobile devices to support student inquiries
• Make observations and gather feedback to assess success and make modification as needed
• Visit Lake Laurentian Conversation Area and participate in their outdoor education program for a day

List resources you plan to use for your project. (This can be an ongoing list)

Natural Curiosity: Environmental Inquiry (OISE)

• This is a fantastic resource for outdoor learning
• We have copies of this book at our school
• http://www.naturalcuriosity.ca/pdf/NaturalCuriosityManual.pdf

Ontario Eco Schools

http://www.ontarioecoschools.org/news/full-day-kindergarten-learning/

Connecting with Nature: An Educational Guide for Kindergarten (David Suzuki)

• http://www.davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/downloads/CWN_TeachersGuideKindergarten.pdf
• http://www.forestschoolcanada.ca/wp-content/themes/wlf/images/FSC-Guide_web.pdf

Let the Children Play

• This blog is written by an ECE. It is great to follow to get ideas for play-based learning. There is a huge focus on outdoor inquiry play activities and materials.
• http://www.letthechildrenplay.net

Active for Life

• http://activeforlife.com/

CHILDREN’S BOOKS (A few children’s books that may be interesting to read when learning in the courtyard)

• Planting a Rainbow – Lois Ehlert
• The Tiny Seed – Eric Carle

BOOKS

• Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder – Richard Louv
• No Fear: Growing Up in a Risk Averse Society – Tim Gill
• https://timrgill.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/no-fear-19-12-07.pdf
• https://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/taking-the-learners-and-technology-outdoors/
• http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/outdoor-learning-integrating-tech.shtml
• http://www.lsf-lst.ca – Empowering our children to change the world!
• http://resources4rethinking.ca/en/step-outside

Unexpected Challenges

For the most part, we feel our project was a great success. We did, however, experience a few unexpected challenges. One challenge we faced was the large size of our classes (30 in each) and the behaviour needs of our students. We had several students that were struggling with following expectations and others that would leave designated areas without permission. We had to delay bringing our students in the forested area until we were certain it would be safe to do so. This resulted in us starting our project later then we initially planned. A second unexpected challenge we experienced was the presence of wild animals and insects in the forested area. We had a coyote with mange roaming around for several weeks in the winter, bears sightings in the fall, and the black flies and mosquitoes in the spring prevented us from venturing into the forested area until they had moved on.

Enhancing Student Learning and Development

• Improves health (environmental, physical, emotional, mental)
• Development of fine and gross motor skills
• Increases understanding of and appreciation for nature
• Augments ecological literacy
• Makes additional resources available for managing difficult behaviour
• Accommodates multiple learning styles
• Promotes safe risk-taking, and reduces harmful and hazardous behaviours
• Creates sustainable and healthy communities
• Encourages problem-solving skills
• Improves communication skills
• Creates engaged and passionate students
• Motivates engaged and passionate educators
• Supports creative and imaginative thinking
• Empowers learners
• Boosts self-esteem
• Provides greater concentration skills

Sharing

• Classroom and school blogs/websites
• Creating a Facebook page and sharing with colleagues
• Creating a Pinterest board and sharing with colleagues
• Posting ideas as a shared google Doc.
• Using the app PicCollage on the iPads that will allow us to share what we are doing with school community and parents
• Added pictures to our classroom blog and slides on Google

Project Evaluation

We feel our project was a great success. Our students loved being outside and exploring the natural environment. The project natural supported the philosophy of inquiry-based learning and the use of technology made it easier for us to dig deeper into their learning. We feel we did meet the majority of the goals of our project. All of us did increased our knowledge about Forest Schools and how we can further support the learning of our students. The students loved the field guides we bought and have spent many hours trying to identify various flora and fauna in our outdoor classroom. We used the iPads to record our learning. We took pictures on the iPad of things students wanted to know more about and we review them inside to discuss and expand learning. Wonderful learning occurred on our trip to Lake Laurentian Conservation Centre. The students were instructed about the activities of animals during winter, investigated animal tracks in the forest and made bird feeders. Our students eagerly shared their new learning with their parents and would often ask when we would be visiting our outdoor classroom again. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to work collaboratively as a team of educators. We created a Facebook page and a Pinterest board to gather and share ideas. The project allowed us to get to know each other better and to share our learning journey. The end result was a strengthening of professional relationships.