Imagine it is the third class of the day; about 3pm. Students have enjoyed a fact-filled day. However, they are loaded with new information and reasonably tired from a hike in the mountains with their friends. This is a tough time of day to keep your students engaged! So now is the moment, you, as the Instructor, need to strategic and purposeful in your attention getters and to keep your students engagement through the last class of the field day! So let’s talk through some strategies we, as Instructors, have in our toolbox of teaching techniques to grab our students’ attention so they have the best experience possible!

(Side note: Although the last class is a prime example of the importance of steady engagement, these principles remain relevant for each class, each day of the week.)

Setting the Tone

It always starts with attitude! Being the thermostat, not a thermometer for students is key. Once your energy is set, incorporate the following:

Preview the schedule: By providing students with a tangible feeling of what is coming up throughout the day they are bound to be excited for the lessons they will be learning. Included in this preview, a ‘10-second elevator pitch’ or quick summary for the upcoming classes can be beneficial. Ultimately, the summary adds context to the lesson’s name and helps students feel prepared to start the day.

Find laughter in the day: Schedule moments in but also leave room for spontaneous moments of laughter!

• Scheduled: For example, “At lunch I will teach you a riddle.” or “After this class, we will have time for an extra round of the Camouflage activity!”
• Unscheduled: For example, while walking along the trail let your students tell an impromptu joke. Or for the moment when you, the Instructor, trip over a rock, have a laugh! After all instructors are human too.

Get Students Excited to Learn

An excited student is a more engaged learner.

Some ways to get students excited about a class include:

• Making a BIG statement. For example, “By the end of this class, you ALL will know how to survive in the woods.”
• Be dramatic. For example, pose an imaginative question: “imagine you are walking through the biggest trees you have ever seen, so tall you cannot see the top and so wide that you can’t see your friend on the other Suddenly, your friend disappears behind one of the trees while you are admiring a small snail, and you are alone. What will you do? Do you have what you need?”
• Utilize a kinesthetic element For example, “right now, I am giving you permission to pick up a rock that you can hold on the end of your pointer finger. Remember you have to be able to balance it easily. Now, this rock (on your pointer finger) represents you and your whole arm represents the woods around How do you find the exit, do you have what you need?’”

Have Students Take Ownership of Their Learning

Students that are involved in the process feel more committed to learning the material and enjoying it.

• Give students an opportunity to decipher the name of a class. For example, “this next class is called Environmental Awareness. Turn to the person next to you and decide what the class could be about.”
• Posing a question that will be asked again later. For example, “Our next class is called Environmental Right now, what ideas do you have about how you can help your planet at home)?” Note: With this type of question it is important to let students know you will be asked again later and don’t forget to return to the question at the end of the class. The conversation often includes how ideas have changed or remained the same. By the end of class, students will have a much clearer idea of how to respond to the original question- giving each student a sense of pride.

At the end of the day, each Instructor has the ability to influence the emotions of a group. With this said, it is up to every one of us Instructors to keep students excited about the outdoors all day long!

At High Trails Outdoor Science School, we ask our instructors to write about elementary outdoor education, teaching outside, learning outside, our dirty classroom (the forest), environmental science, outdoor science, and all other tree-hugging student and kid loving things that keep us engaged, passionate, driven, loving our job, digging our life, and spreading the word to anyone whose attention we can hold for long enough actually to make it through reading this entire sentence. Whew…. www.dirtyclassroom.com