During a combined outdoor lesson of geography and P.E. (sport) my bilingual students of T2A , age approx. 13, discovered basalt on the beach. A long time ago boiling hot, molten volcanic rocks, today the cover of ice cold piers, protecting our vulnerable sandy coast against strong, eroding sea currents. The subject of the ‘indoor lessons’ was volcanism and as these erupting mountains in The Netherlands don’t exist, their teacher of geography walked with them half an hour from school to the shore in order to experience the basalt boulders. The lovely sunny weather contributed to make, apart from the more formal assignment, also a photo documentary for their bilingual email- and Blogger friends in Cudillero (Asturias, Spain). The idea is to supply them with impressions of the surrounding of Hofstad Lyceum. And then in particular the dunes, the beach and the North Sea. They know that their friends in Asturias from IES Selgas will make a similar photo session. Both documentaries are going to be presented during a video-conference, that will be organized within short. As this outdoor lesson was realized together with Inge Stet, the T2A-tutor and teacher of P.E., all kinds of sport were integrated in the mini- excursion. Like, apart from the long walk, a cross-country race in the dunes, playing football and frisbee on the beach. With these last activities the pupils continued enthusiastically, even long after the official school day (Friday!!) had finished. A real proof, that those lessons outside the school are considered to be very ‘cool’.
I remember the time very well, that leaving classroom, other than for a visit to a museum, was strictly prohibited. A visit to Gunn’s lovely kingdom that I organized for four Hofstad College school managers in 2005 opened their eyes! In Norway it is called: uteskule (out of school). The philosophy is to teach the students as frequently as possible in nature. The Solund secondary school owned a big tipi (Indian tent) with a log fire in the middle to do so even in wintertime! If you have any experience with outdoor activities for your students (or cross-curricular activities, international exchanges, bilingual teaching , video conferencing, etc), please add your contribution to this blog! Sharing experiences is one of the best ways to improve education!
The Hague, Holland, April 2009, Hans Smit
I remember when I was at school being a teenager, every time we went for a day off, for a school trip somewhere, an outdoor activity or so, (unfortunately at that time there were not that many...) I was ever so excited thinking that we were really "missing lessons" and that was always fun, I mean, "having not to study". Now I can see that it was then, in those "outdoor activities" when I probably learnt more. And now I am sure that students can more than often learn more from a day off on a school trip than from a whole school week. So, thanks teachers for outdoors activities!!!
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