Opening My Classroom Door
Changing School Culture One Step at a Time
Opening the classroom door to let in Nature or to let the students out to interact with Nature is at the heart of this blog.
You don't need to overhaul your teaching plan in order to integrate learning for sustainability within your pedagogy. Don't replace your pedagogy, infuse it with this approach. Create opportunities to discuss topics important to sustainability with students. Help them understand that they play an important part in tomorrow's solutions.
At Access Royal Oak, in St-Hubert, the Social Integration Services students collaborated on a garden project with the Bricklaying students from the same centre. The school has limited green space on the grounds, and seeing as some students have special needs that prevent us from leaving the grounds at times, I decided to bring Nature to them. It took getting through some red tape, but we did it! The students used the resources around them in order to produce a garden in the school's parking lot.
The Bricklaying instructor and students donated their time and used materials they were going to dispose of to create a raised garden bed so that all the students could have access to it. They enlisted the help of the Social Integration students and taught how to create the structure. A local business donated the earth to the project. And, a number of staff members also donated seeds and their time to care for the garden during the summer.
The students learned about the processes involved in food production and their relationship to them.
Students grew their seeds.
They were quite proud to transfer their seedlings to the soil.
Upon their return in the Fall, they were able to harvest some vegetables. They learned that some of the vegetables should be planted differently. They learned that some nutrients, such as calcium, were missing from the soil, as some tomatoes had blossom end rot.
They were proud to taste food they had grown, as it was the first time many of them had ever had that experience.
Together, we learned valuable lessons. We used, and continue to use, the food we grew in our recipes that we share with staff and students from our school. We hope to close the loop this year by launching a composting program for our school. We can't wait to have our organic waste turn into fertilizer for our garden. This year, we plan to add another section to our garden to continue this community project.
You don't need to overhaul your teaching plan in order to integrate learning for sustainability within your pedagogy. Don't replace your pedagogy, infuse it with this approach. Create opportunities to discuss topics important to sustainability with students. Help them understand that they play an important part in tomorrow's solutions.
At Access Royal Oak, in St-Hubert, the Social Integration Services students collaborated on a garden project with the Bricklaying students from the same centre. The school has limited green space on the grounds, and seeing as some students have special needs that prevent us from leaving the grounds at times, I decided to bring Nature to them. It took getting through some red tape, but we did it! The students used the resources around them in order to produce a garden in the school's parking lot.
The Bricklaying instructor and students donated their time and used materials they were going to dispose of to create a raised garden bed so that all the students could have access to it. They enlisted the help of the Social Integration students and taught how to create the structure. A local business donated the earth to the project. And, a number of staff members also donated seeds and their time to care for the garden during the summer.
The students learned about the processes involved in food production and their relationship to them.
Students grew their seeds.
They were quite proud to transfer their seedlings to the soil.
Upon their return in the Fall, they were able to harvest some vegetables. They learned that some of the vegetables should be planted differently. They learned that some nutrients, such as calcium, were missing from the soil, as some tomatoes had blossom end rot.
They were proud to taste food they had grown, as it was the first time many of them had ever had that experience.
Together, we learned valuable lessons. We used, and continue to use, the food we grew in our recipes that we share with staff and students from our school. We hope to close the loop this year by launching a composting program for our school. We can't wait to have our organic waste turn into fertilizer for our garden. This year, we plan to add another section to our garden to continue this community project.
Other Related Activities to Support Learning for Sustainability:
Concepts that were or could be explored with this project include: environmental learning, nature based learning, responsible consumption, food production.
Using the ecological footprint calculator is a springboard to great discussions regarding how many resources we use. The result of the survey will allow students to realize how many planets would be required to sustain the consumption patterns of a world populated by people who have their habits. The survey questions lead students to think about areas that they have the ability to affect.
Exploring the origins of food is an effective way for students to make connections about the processes involved in food production.
The approaches to teaching these concepts may differ based on the students you are teaching.
Be sure to visit the Opening YOUR Classroom Door section for inspiring projects.
Concepts that were or could be explored with this project include: environmental learning, nature based learning, responsible consumption, food production.
Using the ecological footprint calculator is a springboard to great discussions regarding how many resources we use. The result of the survey will allow students to realize how many planets would be required to sustain the consumption patterns of a world populated by people who have their habits. The survey questions lead students to think about areas that they have the ability to affect.
Exploring the origins of food is an effective way for students to make connections about the processes involved in food production.
The approaches to teaching these concepts may differ based on the students you are teaching.
Be sure to visit the Opening YOUR Classroom Door section for inspiring projects.
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