Shanelle's Journey Through 811

After writing my last blog post, I decided to see if there were any BC specific farming programs offered for schools. A quick google search later I discovered Farm to School BC. They have tons of resources for educators, lesson guides, and courses offered to provide cross curricular learning opportunities for BC students.  These programs can help guide teachers to begin their own school gardens, learn about crop planting, long term maintenance and more. These programs seem like the perfect opportunity for students to feel like they are making a positive contribution to their community while learning. This reminded me of what Kevin wrote in response to Werner's "Teaching for Hope" article.  Kevin mentioned in his response that "youth need to be encouraged to believe that they can make a difference in their world. It starts within their school community and they need to see examples of how other youth have made a difference." (HPTL, May 25th).   Not only would a p...

After exploring the readings and reviewing other's responses this week I was reminded how much education has changed throughout history. Teaching philosophies and the curriculum changed drastically throughout the decades to allow students to learn the necessary skills required to have successful futures as well as make necessary and positive contributions to society. This especially stood out to me when Tomkins mentioned that Canada was "lagging behind the industrial and technical education between 1880 - 1920" (160). Once this issue was acknowledged, curriculum specialists in Canada incorporated more  “manual training, domestic science, health education, agriculture, and kindergarten” programs were prioritized to help Canadian youth be better prepared for the real world after graduation.  At one point in Canadian history, students actually learned and developed agricultural skills. I assume that with more technological advances and heavy machinery in the following decade...

I feel like the month of May came and went just like that. There have been more behavioural issues, staff shortages, and never ending assessments this month. I have definitely been feeling unmotivated to teach all day and then work on master's assignments when I get home. One thing that does really help me calm down if I'm feeling overwhelmed by my responsibilities is going for a post-work zip around my neighbourhood before trying to tackle any school work.  I'm am currently writing this blog post from a lovely cabin in Agassiz where I will be spending the long weekend with some friends and hearing the sounds of the birds, seeing fish jump in the lake, and smelling campfire has already made me feel more at ease. I stumbled upon an article from Ontario Parks and it mentioned that "what you see and hear in nature can improve your mood in the moment."  The article also mentioned that spending time in nature has a strong connection with reducing negative emotions, inc...

My goal this week was to find more evidence that communicated the benefits of outdoor learning while supporting self regulation and social and emotional awareness. I stumbled upon an interesting article, titled,  Introducing a fifth pedagogy:experience-based strategies for facilitating learning in natural environments.  The study was designed to explore pedagogies in the context of learning in natural environments in Queensland.  In depth interviews and observation data were collected from students, classroom teachers over a lengthy period. I focused on the findings that mentioned emotions or focused on the student's perspectives as I am hoping to gain more insight on the self regulation in the outdoor context. Below are the points I found most relevant.  "Students mostly reported positive rather than negative feelings, and high intensity rather than low intensity feelings. The higher intensity positive emotions, such as excitement, interest and surprise, were most c...

Blog Post 2: STOP! Self Regulation Time.  Before beginning research and looking for new self regulation strategies and connections to outdoors, I wanted to reflect on some of the SEL practices I have either been exposed to at Pro-D Days, used myself, or have seen other educators use in their teaching practice. I recognize what might have been an effective resource at the beginning of my teaching career four years ago, may need some differentiation now to better suit the needs of my students. Most of the things listed are strategies used indoors at school, though some are able to be used in outdoor contexts as well. I wrap up this post with some potential thoughts I might explore in the coming weeks.  RULER & The ZONES of Regulation  My District offered training sessions for RULER and the Zones of Regulation during my first year of teaching. I have seen some individual teachers and classrooms use this terminology, though I find it is most successful and the students ar...

   Blog Post 1: My Question  For my blog posts I plan on exploring self regulation and how outdoor education can support the social and emotional growth of my students. The pandemic has affected all of us, including our students, and I've noticed increased anxiety, more behavioural outbursts, and a greater sense of disregulation throughout the school day in the past two years specifically. We have all be doing our best to cope with the constant changes happening in the world around us and I feel like teachers have been an anchor in their students' lives, trying to make school a safe and engaging place despite our new "normal".  I understand that teachers' fuses are also much shorter these days and perhaps their own personal boundaries of expected/unexpected behaviours has shifted throughout the pandemic to help them get through a day of teaching. Though, it seems to me that we have continued to make academic subjects the priority instead of shifting to prioritize...