Back-to-school
Dear Teachers,
I know why you’re scrolling my substack right now (thank you!). Also, I know it’s actually Instagram. Follow me there @therealbkatz. Growth area: I’ll try to keep it more lively. Starting with 1 non-Substack post per week on Thursdays. And then posting my Substack on Wednesdays. If you’re over in Instagramlandia, follow me and encourage your friends and co-workers (hopefully there’s some overlap!) to do the same. The angle will be the same – reflections on education and teaching. Rallying support for mainstream adoption of nature-based learning in schools.
While you’re here,
Back to School
I see you. You’re sitting in one of your school’s windowless classrooms. In the basement (!). Fluorescent lights. Projector display is crooked. Help fix it? Even with the left leg fully extended, you have to prop up the left side with a book because the cart leans. Text too small to read.
Stale air. Stale everything.
Tl;dr (Too long; didn’t read) - for those short on time…
Read two versions of back-to-school teacher orientations.
Standard Teacher Orientation. Might trigger feelings of sadness and despair.
Nature-Based Teacher Orientation. Might trigger calm, hopefulness, even joy.
Know that YOU can control what you do in your classroom. Better yet, take it outdoors. You’ll be part of a growing network of change-agent educators. #mycelialchange
Standard Teacher Orientation
Standard Teacher Orientation might feel eerily familiar. I hope not. I know better.
7:30am. Day 1.
Ok. Bueno. Welcome to the 2023-2024 school year!
Your principal’s hands and arms open and extend. An enthusiastic gesture. Hollow, though. His voice is tired. Like he didn’t get a break because he has been filling vacancies for the past 6 weeks. Still looking for a social worker, 4th grade teacher, Assistant Principal.
Before he started, you introduced yourself to your new 3rd grade teammate who was, until yesterday, “working at a coffee shop and (has) never taught before but loves kids.” So, you’ll be training a new teacher in addition to teaching. Wager on her lasting the semester?
Principal again:
We have a big week ahead of us, so we’re going to dig right in. Quickly, before we do, turn-and-talk to a table partner about one fun thing you did this summer.”
….
Ok…Bueno. Minute’s up. Let’s chat about CKLA.
Snooze-fest professional development session on the new curriculum your school adopted last spring.
Next: a training on how to take attendance (!) and track behaviors, grades, bathroom visits (I could not make this stuff up) on some shiny new platform. Powerschool. Jumprope. Edmodo. OMGWhoCares. No offense to any of these platforms per say. Offense intended for prison-like tracking of student bathroom use.
Ok. Bueno.
Your fingernails dig into your hands. Couldn’t he pick OK. Or bueno. Not both.
We’ll take a quick bio break. Everyone can get up and stretch their legs. There’s a new test coming down the pipe this fall for all 4th and 5th graders, so 4th and 5th teams, please meet back here in 10 minutes. If you’re a K-3 teacher, be back in 45. At 11:00am we’ll resume with everyone.
11:00am. Day 1.
Before we dig into our new schedule – we’ve had to cut back on recess because our literacy scores are so low – I wanted to just put in a quick reminder that you’ll only have about an hour of planning time this week. So you might want to get here early for some you-time and to get your classroom set up.
What if it were different?
Nature-Based Teacher Orientation
7:30am. Day 1.
Let’s get out of this basement and enjoy what’s left of summer weather!”
Your principal loads a few more things into his off-road wagon already filled with clipboards, Crazy Creek chairs, sunscreen.
We’re going to head to the park, so let’s meet out front by the flagpole in 15 minutes – at 7:48am – to walk over together. In the meantime, take care of your needs. Grab some coffee, tea, a donut, some fruit from the breakfast bar courtesy of our awesome PTA. There are reusable mugs there in case you forgot yours.”
7:48am. Day 1.
Ok – are we missing anyone? Look for your grade-level teams. Specials teachers, look for the other specials teachers. On our way to the park, we’ll do a walk-and-talk. Chat with a partner about their summer. Catch up.”
On the way to the park, you meet your brand-new 3rd grade team teacher who loves kids, loves the outdoors, and is eager to learn with you. She seems hilarious. So relieved not to be a barista and ready to do her emergency credential. You mention to her that another colleague just completed hers and it’s worth them connecting.
At the park…
Play this audio clip while you read the rest of this post:
Morning light. Birds. Breeze. Crispness in the air as summer gives way to fall.
Ok. We’re going to play a round of sticky mingle. Here’s how it works. I want you to write your name on a sticky note. Then think – don’t write – your answers to these questions.”
He turns around a portable whiteboard with these prompts on it:
Your role at our school
How long you’ve been teaching here
A positive memory from summer
A hope for this school year
Remember, only write your name on your sticky note.”
This is like a giant game of telephone. Here’s how it works. One person will introduce themself to the other (even if you know them) answering the 4 prompts on the board. Then take turns. After the conversation finishes, exchange sticky note name tags. You then become that person — including all of their answers — and vice versa. Then go meet someone else with your new identity. We’ll keep doing this for about 8 minutes and then regroup in a big circle. At that point, we will each introduce our final new self to the group. If you’ve forgotten one of the prompts, make something up! Roll with it. And then, because things will inevitably get lost in translation, the real person can correct the record.”
Ready?
8:46am. Day 1. Teacher Orientation.
Thanks everyone for indulging in that. We’ll be peppering some silliness throughout this week. I know icebreakers and whatnot are not everyone’s fave thing – and we’re still going to spend some time intentionally building our community.”
Now we’re going to get into our new ELA curriculum — CKLA — by exploring a ‘Forest Gallery.’ In the trees, I’ve hung up 12 pieces of paper. The focus for the Forest Gallery is building awareness of the curriculum on a school-wide level, getting on the same page about why we’re making this shift, and providing space to ask questions. Later in the week, you’ll have some time in your grade-level teams to make actual plans.
I want you to grab a clipboard and a note catcher from my wagon – and a pen/pencil if you need one – and stroll through the trees taking notes on any questions you may have, things you find interesting, things you might have concerns about. This is a silent activity, save the birds and insects. Go at your own pace, read, reflect, write. Meet back here when you’ve finished or by 9:20am. You can grab a Crazy Creek chair if you’d like to sit while you wait and chat quietly with others who are done. When everyone is back, we’ll get in small groups to discuss.
You shuffle over to get your stuff.
Oh – You can visit the trees in any order. Two quick risk management note: pay attention to your footing, as there are some roots sticking out. And watch for branches!
Any questions?
….
See you back here by 9:30am.”
11:00am. Day 1.
Now, with that framing, I want to go over our plan for the rest of today and a quick at-a-glimpse schedule for the week.
We’ll break for lunch soon. When we come back together at 12:30pm, we’ll explore our overarching strategy to tackle our low literacy scores and nationwide wellness declines all at once: nature-based learning1. We’ll do this with a practical training bridging what Elena Aguilar calls ‘knowledge, skills, and will gaps.’ Simply put, we’ll tackle the how and the why for teaching students outdoors. The training is straightforwardly called “Teaching Students Outdoors.”
Tomorrow morning, we’ll meet by the flagpole again and walk to the park. There, we’ll get oriented to the outdoor classroom spaces we set up this summer with the city’s cooperation and help from community volunteers who’ve installed tree stump seating, whiteboard cabinets, shade structures in some spots, and supplies cabinets.
Tomorrow afternoon, we’ll do a short workshop on nature-based – or “biophilic” – classroom design. We’ll learn about the research on biophilic design and learning outcomes and then explore how we can bring nature into our classrooms using the 14 patterns of biophilic design. I’ll distribute some awesome biophilic classroom design starter kits filled with fractal patterns, wall hangings with pictures of nature from local artists – including some from our very own teachers – and little baskets for nature fidgets that we’ll collect later in the week. The rest of the day is yours to make your indoor space as calming and healing as possible.
Wednesday and Thursday are work days – with the mornings set aside for grade-level teams and the afternoons are yours to do whatever suits you – setting up your classroom, lesson planning, going for a walk. When you meet with your grade level teams, the coaches and I will bop around to check in on CKLA stuff.”
Friday morning we’ll tackle some mundane nuts-and-bolts stuff like our new attendance and grade tracking software. Plus some new testing stuff I’ll review with the 4th and 5th grade teachers. And then we’ll take the bus to the lake and have a picnic provided once again by our amazing PTA and community volunteers. We’ll also gather nature objects – sticks, leaves, stones, pinecones, seeds – as fidgets to put in the baskets you got in your biophilic classroom design kit.
Throughout the week, I encourage you to get in the practice of meeting in and using the outdoor classrooms as much as possible.”
Ok. See you after lunch. Meet back here in the park at 12:30pm ready to be outside for the remainder of the day. Filled water bottle. Sunscreen. Layers. Let me know if you need anything!”
This could be your back-to-school reality.
I know there are real constraints. There are always new curricula. Declining test scores. Outside pressures.
The ed-reform pendulum swings.
And, because you’re an expert and a professional and freaking good at your job, you close your door. You focus on your locus of control: your students, your classroom, your content. You.
You foster strong relationships with your students. You meet your learners where they are. You greet them with high expectations and scaffolding so they can rise. You bootstrap robotic curriculum into dynamic learning experiences. Because that is you. Because you will do everything in your power to support your students’ wellbeing and learning.
I want you to do all of those things.
Except this year, I want you to open your door and walk outside instead.
❤️ Best wishes for the 2023-2024 school year!
Becca
Nature-based learning is learning outdoors or bringing elements of nature indoors for learning.
I like it! It makes so much better sense than traditional classrooms. Becca - What about places that have consistently inclement weather?
I choose "door" number 2!