Blog
Browse this page for blog postings related to middle- and high-school-teacher Adventure Learning workshops taking place across Idaho. Use the widgets to the right (or at bottom of this page, for smaller devices) to filter blog posts.
Public Land and Human Health Connection
What would life be like if we didn`t have public lands? Imagine not being able to go hiking, biking, fishing, hunting, camping, to go to the park, or to access rivers and lakes. What would you do? How would you spend your free time? Think about why you like to get outside in the first place? What benefit does it provide you? Would you fight to maintain that benefit? What other benefits does nature provide to mankind? Would you fight to protect those? What, if any, benefits does mankind provide to the environment? If you take time to ponder these questions I think it will quickly... more
The Benefits of Outdoor Education
Hello Digi-learners! I hope this week is going well for everyone!! Another eventful day for us with lots of fantastic presenters. I was joking earlier that my catch-phrase this week is "Wow, I didn't know that!!" and have probably averaged saying that about 15 or more times a day! Haha! I am loving this workshop and I am so happy we are able to share these adventures with you!!!
There was a question written for us today that says, "What is the value of spending time outdoors? How could you get your students outside more?". I love this question because using nature and the... more
Public land is there value?
Just like everything we have learned about while on this adventure, it is impossible to determine the true importance or value of the different socioecological systems, they are all interconnected. When contemplating the value of having public land available for both human use and ecosystem health, it is obvious to me that they too are interconnected. Just consider if we stopped all human use on public lands the impact that would have on the socioecological systems. So lets see, If we took all humans out of the public land, it would kind of negate any socio - ecological impacts, we... more
The Out of Doors
When considering the outdoors, it would be nearly impossible to underestimate its value to humans. It's easy to contemplate the aesthetic and recreational value but there is so much more. We talked to a researcher today who was testing saliva to determine stress levels before and after spending time in nature. She said that stress was greatly reduced after spending just 20 minutes convening with nature. As an English teacher, it would be easy to take students outside for literature circles or Socratic seminars and the benefits are undeniable. How could you get students outside more?
The Value of the Outdoors and How to Get Our Students Out More
In Idaho we are fortunate to have a general appreciation for the outdoors and that has proven to be an important asset to living and teaching here. Unfortunately, in today's society of instant gratification and use of technology, more and more often, students are disconnected from their environment. We need to get them outdoors if the goal is to foster stewardship. Our valley has many opportunities that we can bring students to experience, however, my eyes are now open to the opportunities we can bring to them.
Today at Eagle Island State Park, we were introduced to research... more
Getting Our Students Outside
This has been a topic we I have discussed with several of my colleagues this week. We have all seen our students becoming more entrenched with their X-Box 360 and assorted video games rather than spending time playing outside. I feel this is a mind set that starts at home. If a familiy isn't inclined to be active outdoors then the students won't feel the need to be outside. We as teachers can only do so much to convince our students that there is far more to gain by being outside than being stuck to a couch playing video games, but this doesn't mean we shouldn't try.
We are... more