Outdoor Education Reflection
1. What do you remember best from Outdoor Ed this year?
The thing I remember best from outdoor ed this year is the canoe trip that our class took on the river. I remember this the best because I learnt the most during this trip. I learnt how to work as a team as we were tested with the strong winds, heat, and rapids. I learnt to communicate with my team and tell the stern if I see any rocks, strainers or sweepers. I also learnt how to tell which is the best path by locating a v created by the water. This v shows a safe path for the canoe to travel through. This trip taught me many lessons such as; trips don’t always go to plan, how to persevere, and how to improve based on my mistakes.
2. What challenged you the most from this past year in Outdoor Ed?
What challenged me the most during this year was organizing the “Frostbite Games” at the beginning of the year. The “Frostbite Games” was a mini Olympic Games that we set up for the Grade 7 and 8s. This challenged me the most because it was the first project I had to plan for a younger grade. We had to change our game and replan a few times because what we had plan wouldn’t work. We also had to learn from our mistakes to improve the experience for the other class which in some ways produced a lot of work but it was for the best. In the end it worked out very well for all of us and everyone had a fun day enjoying the Manitoba winter days.
3. What did you find interesting to do in Outdoor Ed this year?
The thing I found most interesting this year was ice fishing. It was interesting because I had never been ice fishing before and it was a new experience. I found all the different knots and their uses very interesting. We learnt knots such as the figure 8 knot, the square knot, and the truckers hitch to name a few. The truckers hitch came in useful for the canoes that we had to tie and untie off the trailers. I also learnt how to drill holes in the ice and how to use a fishing rod. This was a very interesting new experience for me. Although I didn’t catch any fish, I had a very enjoyable day hanging out with my friends and being in the outdoors for the whole day instead of in the classroom.
4. Would you like to have had more individual or group work activities? Explain why?
I think that there was a good amount of both individual and group activities. We had to do some PowerPoints and blogs alone but we had many resources that we could learn from. We did most of our other activities in groups but that was for the best because we could ask our group for help or we could give others advice. It also helps being in a group because you can divid the work between everyone and learn from your partners. Overall there was a good amount of group projects, if anything there could be more individual projects.
5. What skills (that you developed in this class) will be useful for you in the future?
One of the most important skills I learnt this year was how to interpret. This skill can help me in the future for jobs that I may have. This activity helped me gain confidence while speaking in front of others while teaching about a topic. Before learning about how to interpret i was a little anxious about the days we would spend at the wetlands teaching the students. Although after learning about and practicing Freeman Tilden’s Principals for interpretation I felt more comfortable in front of a crowd. The day that we spend with Mr. Miller also prepared me and my group for the intrepeting with the young students. We learnt and used tips such as gathering your audience close to you so that they can hear and see you and drawing out what we are explaining, to name a couple.
6. What would you suggest would make Outdoor Ed an even better class for students?
The only thing that I think could make Outdoor Ed an even better class for students is more time spend outside. At the beginning of the year we did not spend much time outside other than building quinzees and the frostbite games. I think the class would benefit from learning about the different species we have in our area while we are outside. We could learn about the different habitats of animals and how they adapted to the climate or environmental conditions. We could also have learnt about the different parts of plants and how to identify different plants in our area. This information may not interest everyone, but it would be good to learn just for general knowledge and appreciation of our surroundings.
7. Would you be willing or not to pay for some more unique experiences eg. Travel to different eco-zones to camp/hike or go fishing?
I would not be willing to pay for some more unique experiences because I do not think I need to pay for any parts of my school courses. I would understand that if the school did not have money to pay for these kinds of trips. In that case I would be happy with doing more trips locally, for example fishing/ ice fishing on Rivers Lake of at the LittleSaskatchewan River or camping more locally. I think that a trip does not need money to make it enjoyable for everyone.
8. Is there a good balance between outdoor activity and outdoor theory in the course? Explain clearly why you think as you do about this question.
Like I said before in question 6, I think the class could benefit from more outdoor activities. I found that I enjoyed learning more when I was outside in the elements. I think that we could have gone to the wetlands more to learn. It would be interesting to learn about what happens to the wetlands and all it’s species during the winter months. We could go to the wetland and visually see how the wetland changes during the seasons and what happens to the water level. Overall I think that we should spend at least 50% of our class time outside in order to fully experience the most we can.
9. What would you do to improve our outdoor education program?
To improve our outdoor education program I think we should start by learning more about the basics. This could include how to build a shelter and start a fire. We could then go to the wetland and practice the skills we learnt. It would also be interesting to learn which plants you can eat if you were ever in a situation where you were lost outdoors and did not have any food. It would also be beneficial to learn about how to protect your self from dangerous animals or even just the severe weather we have in Manitoba. It would also be interesting to learn about the different parts of a wetland and how they interact or work altogether.
10. Should we be reviewing and “doing” more of the concepts/skill development activities acquired in Grade 9 Outdoor Ed? Eg. Fire building, camp craft, building a campsite. Explain what you think we should do. Or, should we be doing something else? Explain.
Yes, I think that we should be reviewing some of the most important concepts learnt from the Grade 9 course in case the students were not in the last course for whatever reason. I think it would be a good idea to have a little outing near the beginning of the course to review and refresh the students memory on how to start a fire and build a campsite. Just a basic review would benefit both new and old students. But it is also important to not spend too much time reviewing and to leave room for learning new concepts and ideas.
Final thoughts!
Overall this was a very fun and enjoyable course that incudes lots of appreciated work from the teacher and interest from the students. Different parts of the course will interest different students, but there will be something for each student to learn or improve on.
Megan Catlin
Grade 10 Outdoor Education 2018
The thing I remember best from outdoor ed this year is the canoe trip that our class took on the river. I remember this the best because I learnt the most during this trip. I learnt how to work as a team as we were tested with the strong winds, heat, and rapids. I learnt to communicate with my team and tell the stern if I see any rocks, strainers or sweepers. I also learnt how to tell which is the best path by locating a v created by the water. This v shows a safe path for the canoe to travel through. This trip taught me many lessons such as; trips don’t always go to plan, how to persevere, and how to improve based on my mistakes.
2. What challenged you the most from this past year in Outdoor Ed?
What challenged me the most during this year was organizing the “Frostbite Games” at the beginning of the year. The “Frostbite Games” was a mini Olympic Games that we set up for the Grade 7 and 8s. This challenged me the most because it was the first project I had to plan for a younger grade. We had to change our game and replan a few times because what we had plan wouldn’t work. We also had to learn from our mistakes to improve the experience for the other class which in some ways produced a lot of work but it was for the best. In the end it worked out very well for all of us and everyone had a fun day enjoying the Manitoba winter days.
3. What did you find interesting to do in Outdoor Ed this year?
The thing I found most interesting this year was ice fishing. It was interesting because I had never been ice fishing before and it was a new experience. I found all the different knots and their uses very interesting. We learnt knots such as the figure 8 knot, the square knot, and the truckers hitch to name a few. The truckers hitch came in useful for the canoes that we had to tie and untie off the trailers. I also learnt how to drill holes in the ice and how to use a fishing rod. This was a very interesting new experience for me. Although I didn’t catch any fish, I had a very enjoyable day hanging out with my friends and being in the outdoors for the whole day instead of in the classroom.
4. Would you like to have had more individual or group work activities? Explain why?
I think that there was a good amount of both individual and group activities. We had to do some PowerPoints and blogs alone but we had many resources that we could learn from. We did most of our other activities in groups but that was for the best because we could ask our group for help or we could give others advice. It also helps being in a group because you can divid the work between everyone and learn from your partners. Overall there was a good amount of group projects, if anything there could be more individual projects.
5. What skills (that you developed in this class) will be useful for you in the future?
One of the most important skills I learnt this year was how to interpret. This skill can help me in the future for jobs that I may have. This activity helped me gain confidence while speaking in front of others while teaching about a topic. Before learning about how to interpret i was a little anxious about the days we would spend at the wetlands teaching the students. Although after learning about and practicing Freeman Tilden’s Principals for interpretation I felt more comfortable in front of a crowd. The day that we spend with Mr. Miller also prepared me and my group for the intrepeting with the young students. We learnt and used tips such as gathering your audience close to you so that they can hear and see you and drawing out what we are explaining, to name a couple.
6. What would you suggest would make Outdoor Ed an even better class for students?
The only thing that I think could make Outdoor Ed an even better class for students is more time spend outside. At the beginning of the year we did not spend much time outside other than building quinzees and the frostbite games. I think the class would benefit from learning about the different species we have in our area while we are outside. We could learn about the different habitats of animals and how they adapted to the climate or environmental conditions. We could also have learnt about the different parts of plants and how to identify different plants in our area. This information may not interest everyone, but it would be good to learn just for general knowledge and appreciation of our surroundings.
7. Would you be willing or not to pay for some more unique experiences eg. Travel to different eco-zones to camp/hike or go fishing?
I would not be willing to pay for some more unique experiences because I do not think I need to pay for any parts of my school courses. I would understand that if the school did not have money to pay for these kinds of trips. In that case I would be happy with doing more trips locally, for example fishing/ ice fishing on Rivers Lake of at the LittleSaskatchewan River or camping more locally. I think that a trip does not need money to make it enjoyable for everyone.
8. Is there a good balance between outdoor activity and outdoor theory in the course? Explain clearly why you think as you do about this question.
Like I said before in question 6, I think the class could benefit from more outdoor activities. I found that I enjoyed learning more when I was outside in the elements. I think that we could have gone to the wetlands more to learn. It would be interesting to learn about what happens to the wetlands and all it’s species during the winter months. We could go to the wetland and visually see how the wetland changes during the seasons and what happens to the water level. Overall I think that we should spend at least 50% of our class time outside in order to fully experience the most we can.
9. What would you do to improve our outdoor education program?
To improve our outdoor education program I think we should start by learning more about the basics. This could include how to build a shelter and start a fire. We could then go to the wetland and practice the skills we learnt. It would also be interesting to learn which plants you can eat if you were ever in a situation where you were lost outdoors and did not have any food. It would also be beneficial to learn about how to protect your self from dangerous animals or even just the severe weather we have in Manitoba. It would also be interesting to learn about the different parts of a wetland and how they interact or work altogether.
10. Should we be reviewing and “doing” more of the concepts/skill development activities acquired in Grade 9 Outdoor Ed? Eg. Fire building, camp craft, building a campsite. Explain what you think we should do. Or, should we be doing something else? Explain.
Yes, I think that we should be reviewing some of the most important concepts learnt from the Grade 9 course in case the students were not in the last course for whatever reason. I think it would be a good idea to have a little outing near the beginning of the course to review and refresh the students memory on how to start a fire and build a campsite. Just a basic review would benefit both new and old students. But it is also important to not spend too much time reviewing and to leave room for learning new concepts and ideas.
Final thoughts!
Overall this was a very fun and enjoyable course that incudes lots of appreciated work from the teacher and interest from the students. Different parts of the course will interest different students, but there will be something for each student to learn or improve on.
Megan Catlin
Grade 10 Outdoor Education 2018
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