PDFOutdoor Classroom a Breath of Fresh Air for Students
For four days in August, 14 girls from Island View Residential Treatment Center learned about dinosaurs, astronomy, photography and biology. Taking a break from their normal classroom setting, the girls experienced these topics first-hand – yes, even the dinosaurs – while camping in Flaming Gorge, Utah.
As part of Island View's Outdoor Classroom, an elective offered to students, the girls not only learned new subjects, they taught them. The five girls who were enrolled in the class were tasked with planning and preparing lesson plans on the topics of their choice. Lesson plans were given to the other girls enrolled, as well as the nine students who had earned the opportunity to accompany the class on its outdoor adventure.
Vivien F., a 14-year-old Island View student, taught the girls photography using film cameras. She worked with them on how to take good pictures, find new angles and take action shots. "It was cool to see 14 girls come together, work together and actually want to learn," she said.
For Vivien, developing a lesson plan on photography was also a chance for her to learn how to be more patient and how to grab people's attention.
A Chance to Grow
When Island View staff created the Outdoor Classroom program more than two years ago, the intent was to give students a change of pace from learning inside traditional classrooms. The therapeutic effects on students, like Vivien, were welcome additional benefits.
"We wanted to experiment with different ways to get kids interested in learning and school, and to apply what they learned to different situations," said Judi Jacques, M.Ed., Island View's academic director. "It can help them reengage in learning and motivate them, and find something that interests them that they didn't realize interested them."
Jacques worked with history and English teacher Chad Sanders to create the concept for the Outdoor Classroom. Each semester, one group of girls and one group of boys goes on a four-day excursion to the same location, but at different times. Sanders normally plans and prepares the curriculum for each trip and accompanies the students, along with other teachers, recreational staff and, sometimes, a therapist.
Students Become Teachers
The Aug. 23-26 trip was not only the first time Outdoor Classroom was offered during the summer, but was also the first time that students were responsible for planning and preparing both the trip and the curriculum. That required the girls, ages 13-17, to make use of their research, decision-making and communication skills.
"The real intent behind it was for the girls to see all of the curriculum areas coming together for a practical approach to reach a community goal," Jacques said. "They were able to really see that what they learn in the classroom may actually affect their lives."
The girls were first tasked with choosing their camp site. The only requirement they were given was that it be within a half-day's driving distance. With that, the girls began their research, surveying people and making a comparison chart with such elements as fun, bathroom facilities and weather. They were also required to come up with a budget for food and gas, which provided them with a lesson in economics.
Finally, the girls were each asked to pick a topic and create a lesson that could be presented outdoors to the rest of the class. That meant learning to understand their audience, preparing handouts or activities, and creating a goal for each lesson. Each lesson lasted between one and three hours, depending on how involved each student got.
One of the girls opted to present a lesson on dinosaurs, which meant taking a trip to the nearby Dinosaur National Monument. The student gathered facts on the dinosaurs and exhibits at the monument so that she was able to act as a dinosaur expert as she took other students on a tour of the museum.
"Learning doesn't just happen within the four walls of the school," Jacques said. "Learning is all around us."
A Lasting Effect
The Outdoor Classroom is not just an excuse for the students to go camping. Most students who participate grow in ways they don't expect, therapeutically and academically.
"They get a chance to see the real-life applications of academic concepts," Jacques said. "It also provides a change of pace. It's a break from school inside the classroom and reinvigorates them for when they come back, regardless of how great or interesting the lessons were."
Ellen V. is a 16-year-old student at Island View who was selected to accompany the class on its August excursion. Her job during the camping trip was pit master, meaning she had to make sure the fire was always glowing at the necessary times.
"Everyone had a job to get the whole camp to work together," she said. "It taught me to be able to reach out to people for extra help."
Besides the challenge of being responsible for herself (for example, knowing when to drink water) and her actions (when to light the fire) without any direction, Ellen was surprised by the benefits she received from the Outdoor Classroom that she wasn't expecting.
"I found it easier to be myself and be less stressed," she said, noting this was partially due to the meditation time students were provided, overlooking a scenic vista at the campsite. "It also taught me to look at things differently, and to use my own critical thinking skills to able to do what I needed to do."
Participation in Outdoor Classroom
Students at Island View are able to participate in the Outdoor Classroom only if there is room in their schedule for an elective. Since the Outdoor Classroom began, about 85 students have participated. Past lessons have included Native American history and culture, biology, geometry, art, geology, Spanish and communication.
"It's a great idea," Vivien said. "I kinda wish other schools had done it in the past."
The first Outdoor Classroom of the 2009-2010 school year took place Sept. 8-11 in Moab, Utah. The trip was for boys, and the curriculum involved history and science. Girls will make the same trip sometime in October.
"It's just a breath of fresh air," Jacques said. "Both literally and figuratively."
