Taking the Classroom Outside
One of my earliest memories is swimming in the Pacific Ocean with my dad. We were at the beach in Santa Cruz, CA, and I was about 5-years-old. I can picture so clearly my brother playing in the sand and my mom next to him watching us angrily. Why was she angry?
The Coolest Thing Ever!
Because my dad and I were way out past the surfers, past the breaking waves. Even at that age I knew he couldn’t stand up. Neither of us had a lifejacket, wetsuit, or boogie board. And I thought it was the coolest thing ever!
I’ve been telling that story for years. As a fun memory during ice breaker activities. As an explanation of why I love the ocean so much. To my students in marine science classes. And then about a year ago I asked my dad if he remembered that day.
Things Are Not What They Seem
Turns out he does. And his memory of the events are pretty different than mine. No, he was not a young, irresponsible father. We were caught in a rip current and got pulled away from the beach toward the ocean. “Don’t you remember swimming along the shore until we got to the lifeguard tower and were able to swim to the beach?!”
Well, yes, I do remember that….as a totally separate memory! I guess either that part wasn’t as fun, so I didn’t keep the pieces of the experience together. Or maybe it was because I was kid and memories at that age can be incomplete.
Favorite Memories
But regardless of the actual reason we were so far from shore, that remains one of my favorite memories. As I’ve thought back recently on what makes me “me,” almost all of the things that come to mind are outdoor adventures. Learning to waterski at age 6, SCUBA diving in Mexico at age 8, countless days spent at the beach with family and friends, snowboarding in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, camping throughout California’s open spaces, and off-road explorations in my Jeep.
During the formative years of college, I was fortunate to take part in field-based classes, internships, and research experiences with professors. These experiences grounded the theoretical parts of my education. They taught me valuable skills, which allowed me to excel in a master’s degree program.
And like those early memories, my favorite parts of college were the times spent learning the land with timber harvesters, restoration ecologists, evolutionary biologists, and nature interpreters. For one class, I spent many pre-dawn hours waist deep in the ocean monitoring tidepool creatures. For another, I learned taxidermy and specimen preservation.
Teaching Outdoors
Having benefited from the power of outdoor and hands-on educational experiences, I knew I wanted provide my students with the same learning opportunities.
One of the first classes I was hired to teach was about including environmental education in K-12 curriculum. Twenty-five undergraduates ended up being my “test subjects” that semester. We used the university’s outdoor spaces every week designing ecology games, doing art projects on the lawn, roaming campus for a sustainability scavenger hunt, and more.
Since that first class 11 years ago, I’ve refined my teaching skills and expanded my course offerings. But every single class includes at least a few activities, projects, or field trips. I’m so excited to share with you my thoughts and ideas to “Take the Classroom Outside”!
If you’d like to learn more about me, head over to the About Me page!
