They make connections to everything we do. Recently one said, "You said the playground was big but not James and the Giant Peach Big." In a world that seems pretty down lately, they are the light of goodness and breath of fresh air.
They can learn from the world, but the world can learn from them.
Being a public charter school, we have students that come from a variety of demographics. We are also an urban Montessori school. A focus in Montessori is relating, respecting, and being one with nature. With little outdoor space it is vital to bring students to nature. However, with COVID we are unable to take field trips. My hope is to bring nature to the students in a way they can relate and viewed from their physical level and for them to observe closely and feel as if they are there.
My Project
Last year at the start of COVID I searched for a way to make lessons exciting about soil. I created small videos, conducting experiments, and asked students to comment on their observations. I tried to make the experience as real as possible. I want to continue to bring the world to my students and to encourage them to connect to nature, to see past their mask, and journey on field trips past the screen on their own. I am hoping to inspire the students to explore nature by bringing them as close as I can to it now.
Students also participate in Passion Projects and could use the GoPro to record and share their passions with their classmates.
A Passion Project is not a "have to" or requirement. Passion Projects are student created and guided. Not every activity we do in class every child will be excited about. Passion Projects are completely STUDENT CHOICE. Students get to choose what they want to learn about. When students have a chance to choose they become invested in their education and begin to love learning. To begin pick a subject that is interesting to them art, engineering, dogs, flowers… anything that makes their eyes sparkle when they talk about it.
After the subject is chosen students can think of a few questions and search the internet or read to find out more. Then they decide what to do with that information. Are they done? Do they want to learn more? Do they want to create a project? Are they going to share and how? Projects are done outside of school. Some may be quick, some may take a long time. This is a perfect year for Passion Projects given their asynchronous Wednesdays and afternoon studies at home.
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