Author: Lynn Zazzali
In our
classrooms, our students are engaged in 21st century learning that
incorporates technology into almost every lesson. Technology allows us to solve real world
problems quickly and efficiently while communicating globally. With our students constantly using technology
and connecting with the outside world, are we losing touch with our outside
environment? Over the past two school
years, I worked with my Administration, Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission and
the Nutley Educational Foundation to assure that our students extend their
learning outside of our building with an outdoor classroom.
As part of our school’s mission to
promote civic responsibility in our students and learn to work outside of the
classroom, this outdoor space is helping us to achieve our goals. In our very near future, I foresee a
beautiful outdoor classroom for out students to learn but also a space that
they will learn to protect. Students
that have opportunities to connect with nature in their natural environment will
learn the importance of protecting their local environments. This small step can lead to students thinking
about their own impact on the environment and what they can do to promote
changes big and small in their own backyard and globally. How does this outdoor classroom stand to help
students achieve in school? I think it
can help in several ways. In one study I
read about involving 24 grade 3 students, two classes were given different
indoor and outdoor treatments to address the same topic in Science. Quantitative data was collected and indicated
that when given a treatment of both indoor and outdoor experiences, the
students performed equally as well with similar pre and post-test scores. Qualitatively, students overwhelmingly
favored the outdoor learning experience with 75% of class A favoring the
outdoor experience while 68% of class B favored this as well. When students have the opportunity to learn
outside the classroom they become a part of their community and will learn to
protect their environment. They can also
spend time learning about the history in our parks, the old mill productions,
Annie Oakley, Red Cross, Lenni Lenape Indians and the Puritans that once were
dispersed through out our parks area.
Students will have great interdisciplinary opportunities to engage in
environmental studies and water quality in Science, find area and perimeter for
a Mathematics class, write a poem while surrounded by nature in Language Arts,
play music, paint, and any and everything you can imagine the space will be
able to provide an outlet for us. As an
educator for ten years, I also see the potential of an exciting new opportunity
for students to explore in as something fresh that students will want to also
learn in.
Working to create this outdoor
classroom for Nutley Schools is something that I am most proud of. My teaching career has been filled with
wonderful experiences and this has been by far the largest impact that I can
have on my local community. I know that
students will enjoy this space for years to come. During my graduate studies I have
strengthened my own resolve to pursue Administration as I am looking to make
greater contributions to my local school and community. In the classroom, I get to work with
approximately 20 students at a time and while each experience is unique and
presents its’ own challenges, I am very interested in building relationships
when working with an entire student body and community. According to Rubin (2009), “relationship management is what a
collaborative leader does. It is the
purposeful exercise of behavior, communication, and organizational resources to
affect the perspective, beliefs, and behaviors of another person (generally a
collaborative partner) to influence that person’s relationship with you and
your collaborative enterprise.” (p.2)
The supportive environment that I have worked in during this process has also
allowed me to value the collaboration and resolve it takes to get things done
right. I will take this experience with
me as I work on my next challenge “outside” of the classroom.
References
Dhanapal, S. s.,
& Cally Cheng Yee, L. (2013) A
comparative study of the impacts and students’ perceptions of indoor and
outdoor learning in the science classroom.
Asia-Pacific Forum On Science
Learning & Teaching, 14(2), 1-23.
Rubin, H.
(2009). Collaborative Leadership (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin.
