Some of us are past camp counselors. Some of us are artists. Some of us are biologists, and some of are simply lovers of nature. Whatever type of person our instructors may have been before High Trails, we are all youth and outdoor educators.
Something that I have learned from my time working at High Trails is that all of our instructors have come here with many unique backgrounds and much to offer one another. Much of our time as educators is spent discussing ideas, watching one another in their personal classrooms, and developing our own teaching styles and educational philosophies. We strive to become better educators everyday and work ardently in these efforts in the hopes to someday influence the ones that matter: our students each week.
As each week passes we constantly question what we can do to make the small bit of time our students have at our school one that is memorable.
We all hope that our students leave with a deeper sense of peace and understanding of nature and feel confident and inspired to further adventure into the wilderness. We all hope for them to break out of their shells for a week, find their hands in the dirt, and become invigorated by the fresh air and wildlife around them.
In order to accomplish all of this we must work together as educators and find out how we can provide these students a successful and positive outdoors experience.
Over the past couple of years, several instructors have written blog posts on the importance of outdoor education and how we as educators can hopefully inspire and motivate students to further explore the natural world around them. While the subject matter of some of these posts may seem similar, the varying tactics and ideas in which all these different instructors provide are equally beneficial and stimulating to those who read them. Just like watching one another’s classes or engaging in discussion, these blogs, too, function as a source for much information and consideration in regards to our own work with children in the outdoors. These resources provide insightful experiences, personal anecdotes, and educational research that, combined, help to bring upon us a new way of thinking or philosophy on education that can, in turn, only help us to become better at our own positions.
Below are five different blog posts written by High Trails instructors that I found to be the most useful regarding this topic of youth, outdoor education, and its imperativeness. These posts not only provided me with new and unique ideas for my own classroom, but also ignited within me the desire to become a better teacher and an inspiring educator for each and every one of my students.
Despite our differences in educational backgrounds or reasons for the loving the outdoors, we all work together at High Trails, teaching students and one another how to be the most influential teachers that we can be.
“Outdoor Education…Who Needs It?” by Chris Wright
“Hug A Tree” by Melanie Novick
“Big Picture Lesson #1: Nature is Not the Enemy” by Danny Walden
“Learning Styles and Experiential Education… or Why It’s Better To Do It Outside” by Connor Lee
At High Trails Outdoor Science School, we literally force our instructors to write about elementary outdoor education, teaching outside, learning outside, our dirty classroom (the forest…gosh), 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 to actually make it through reading this entire sentence. Whew…. www.dirtyclassroom.com
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