Never before has our world seen a roadblock like the one facing us today. As teachers we were thrown into the fire to teach online for the first time in our careers, then in-person with strict guidelines, then back online and now back to face-to-face with our students. Teachers’ demonstrated ability to have flexible lesson plans, ideas and teaching visions has been so inspirational that it might just change the way we teach for good. Who would have thought that a pandemic would force people to realize that being active outdoors is the safest approach of all?
I feel like many teachers, parents and students, prior to this pandemic, envisioned school as taking place within four solid walls, with desks, whiteboards and solid structures surrounding us. Perhaps this pandemic has sparked a change for all of us to be more understanding of all learning styles and be open to teaching in a whole new manner.
Take going outside, for example. Prior to this year, many teachers would have never dreamed of taking their students outside. Now that we have cohorts of students sitting in the same class every day, all day, we feel very compelled to allow the students a fresh-air break or to take learning outside for a change of scenery.
Were students given the same breaks before the pandemic? Did we need to have a hunger for nature and going outside to bring about this change? Did parents have certain expectations of us as teachers to be in front of their kids lecturing the whole day? Could learning take place when not seated in a desk or without high-end structures? As hard as this may be to believe, sometimes the best learning in life takes place not from a seated position, but from an active, engaged position out of our comfort zones.
The benefits of going outside and spending time in nature are endless. Countless articles and studies have outlined these benefits, yet every time a new article comes out, it seems to be revolutionary or some sort of out-of-this-world ideology! Perhaps all we needed to do in the first place, as teachers and parents, was take our kids outside all along. This pandemic has led to more families heading outside to parks and the mountains than ever before. We hope that this trend will stick when this pandemic is all over.
During a time like this, when technology seems to be leading the way with digital meetings and screen time, would it not make sense to balance that out with getting outside for an hour or two each day? I often like to give my students a challenge or assignment that leads them outdoors, whether that is a walk in their community, standing in their backyards, or perhaps a challenge for them to do after school hours.
Parents, you as well can help balance the online workload that your kids are seeing with some outdoor time as a family. This can come in the form of going for a walk after school, finding a green space near you, or a backyard to hang out in for a few moments each day to share stories and events. We are all in this together and it takes a community to inspire a school.
This is certainly not an easy time for families, students or teachers. We all need to understand that. But if we can take one thing away from this pandemic, it should be the ability to slow down and enjoy the important things in life, like family and nature. We all need to be open to this idea of enjoying things for what they are and taking life in stride. Everyone is doing their best, and if we can all learn to accept and support the idea that the “normal” way of teaching is evolving, the better we all can be at making sure that our kids and students are successful.
I know I am certainly hoping that learning outdoors becomes the new normal when all the dust has settled. So take the chance and risk by allowing this learning to take place outdoors in a new environment. By inspiring youth to head outdoors more, you might just build some advocacy for nature for life, and we could all use more of that.