Looking back at previous lesson observations can be enlightening, especially when from the very beginning of ones practice, in this case residential environmental education. Yet this is what I did, and happily enough what I saw was not overly embarrassing. Unsurprisingly, I spoke softly which is a trait of mine, yet despite my low volume…
How does one rapidly build trust with a group of elementary students within a four day residential outdoor education program? By fostering a strong sense of community through team building activities. An instrumental piece of this puzzle is the Community Agreement, this is a living document created by the students and it declares their expectations…
The Gradual Release of Responsibility Model is a challenging concept to successfully enact. It consists of 4 stages and all four can be present within a single lesson. The first is demonstration, which is basically the instructor doing while the students watch. The second stage is guided practice, here the instructor does and the students…
This week, I attempted to utilize a new teaching tool to more effectively communicate instructions to my field group. These tools are primacy, recency and cueing or novelty; each of these relate to an increased probability of retention on behalf of the listener. We tend to remember the first and last parts of instructions, primacy…