​by Sarah Gilbert

With a vision for what could be and a WEEB grant, teacher Susie Hobart and the staff of Lake View Elementary in Madison are off to a great start in using their school site to teach. The school sits in a residential area of Madison and has a wooded area with old oaks along with mixed hardwood trees right outside their doors. The teachers are already using the site, but a WEEB grant allows them to improve the site and provide professional development for teachers. That’s where LEAF comes in. LEAF is lucky enough to be included in the grant to provide guidance for their curriculum planning and knowledge of teaching outdoors. We’re excited to be involved!

Last week LEAF staffers Gretchen Marshall and Sarah Gilbert conducted a short in-service to get the teachers familiar with their site. The weather wasn’t on board with the plan, however, so our walk through the woods to observe and journal turned into a one minute observation from the window and three minutes to journal about what they saw. After sharing those observations we did a “telephone” hike in the school. We began in a single-file line. Each teacher was given information about something in the hall that they could share with the rest of the group as they walked by. With just a quick walk down the hall, a forest products and values lesson was at our fingertips. Either of these techniques can be used in any setting – a forest, a small woods, a school yard with only grass and a few trees, and even the school itself! These might even be great activities to get a group that isn’t used to being outside in practice for a field trip by doing them first in the school building they are comfortable with.