Spring is just around the corner and with spring in Texas comes warmer weather and beautiful days. On the heels of the monumental winter blast of snow and frigid temperatures that just passed, sunny days should be welcomed with open arms. These sunny days can provide a wonderful diversion from learning all day in front of a computer or spending hours in school behind a mask. I’m not suggesting students skip learning to play in the sun. Instead, I’m suggesting discovering ways to incorporate learning outside in the sunshine.
For students who are learning at home in the virtual classroom, if Wi-Fi connections allow, take those laptops outside where kids can enjoy the sunshine and fresh spring air while they learn. Al lergy sufferers may want to take their allergy medicine before venturing out. Teachers can assign tasks that allow students to exercise, journey outdoors on scavenger hunts, discover plants or leaves, search for living things, or a variety of activities that keep kids outdoors.
Classroom-based students can move the classroom outdoors. Social distancing allows learners a break from the masks and shields that have been mandatory for the last year. Fresh air and sunshine is good for moods and promotes better health as opposed to sitting in a classroom, breathing and rebreathing the same stale air that promotes colds, flus and COVID19. The CDC suggests air be circulated and filtered in classrooms. Until classrooms are outfitted with what’s needed to circulate the air indoors, students might enjoy taking the classroom outdoors.
A little creative planning can add a pleasant shake-up to an otherwise monotonous school day. The move from indoors to outdoors on a beautiful day is an immediate, free and enjoyable way to improve instruction and potentially academic outcomes. The unrelenting presence of COVID19 doesn’t have to drain the joy inherent in teaching and learning. Simply turn the classroom inside out and find a measure of pleasure that defies boredom and this persistent pandemic.
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