On September 10th, 2020, Cherline De Maeght from Belgium published an article* addressing eight reservations that teachers typically express about taking their class outdoors. These are her tips, translated with permission by yours truly.
Student tendency to be distracted, boisterous behavior, or poor weather while your class is outdoor? Nele le Loup and Katlyne de Leye, pedagogic consultants at City Education Ghent, passed on these tips for overcoming eight barriers to taking your class outdoors.
"My school doesn't have an outdoor classroom"
Good news: you do not need outdoor school infrastructure. Together with your colleagues, take stock of the fun outdoor public places in the neighborhood: a playground, a grassy patch around the corner, or the garden at a nearby senior home.
Want to make outdoor lessons a regular part of your week? A number of tree stumps are handy for collecting your class and starting your lesson. Or see if you can procure some water resistant pillows or mats.
"My students are so distracted outside"
One-time outdoor activities can cause your students to act like it is recess. Plan your outdoor lessons as a regular part of your week, and tell your class the point and the benefits. Have consistent starting and ending routines and practice them. This way students know what you expect. Also use a clear signal, such as a whistle or a song, for when it's time to gather around.
Dare to let go a little.
Observe what they see, smell, hear, feel and relate to you. Also let go a little of your lesson. Are you walking in the neighborhood to look for traffic signs? Park that theme and give in to their curiosity about storm sewers or the electrical grid.
"The weather will be bad."
Bad weather is something that especially grown-ups experience. Use the various weather circumstances as a teachable moment. Let your students make tracks in the mud or the snow, draw each other's shadows, measure puddles, notice and research which animals appear in the rain, or verify how birds make use of wind.
Need to protect your lesson materials against rain or wind? Provide clipboards or skewer papers through with, well... skewers. Write on whiteboards or protective paper sleeves with erasable marker. Clothes pins make it easy to hang up lesson materials on a string. Sidewalk chalk turns every cement area into a chalkboard.
"There are always students who don't have clothing appropriate for the weather."
There is no bad weather, only bad clothing, say the Scandinavians. Build up a stash of boots and rain gear for school; a parent group or thrift store can lead to helpful reserve. Tell parents that proper apparel and shoes are necessary, and recommend dressing in layers so that students are not too warm inside and too cold outside.
"I don't have time, because I need to meet curriculum expectations."
Don't think of taking the class outside as an extra. You can teach the same material outside as you would inside. Or you reinforce what was taught inside in an active way outside, by giving students treasure hunt instructions in French or Spanish, for example.
"Planning for outdoor lessons takes too much time."
Start with accessible, easy outdoor lessons and allow yourself some leeway. Keep it simple! Avoid lessons that need too many materials and resources. Save time by choosing activities that cover several subjects. Use the resources and inspirations from teachers with experience teaching outside.
"Outside, there are more risks."
Research proves that children who take physical risks regularly are better equipped to assess risk. This results in fewer accidents. Also, treat more involved outdoor activities as a field trip and plan for parent volunteers who keep an eye on groups of students.
"Parents prefer in-class lessons."
When you start outdoor lessons, inform parents from the beginning about the reasons why. Show and tell, with photographs, what teaching outside looks like. Or let your students do that themselves with exemplars from the lessons outside. Reassure parents that those lessons are conducted in the safest possible circumstances.
*www.klasse.be/235263/zo-maak-jij-een-buitenles-haalbaar/
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