The teacher that I have been commenting on for the last two post has been Ms. Jen Deyenberg from Scotland. She is originally from Canada but has relocated to Scotland to teach.
The first blog I read from her was about using a system called geocaching to help students learn about nature. Now, the first question everybody wants to know is "What is geocaching?" Geocaching is a GPS system people use where they put various items outside and the students use a phone or alternate GPS system to go on a treasure hunt. So, in this particular project, Ms. Deyenberg places these items outside for a project about nature. Whenever they find the item on their GPS, it has instructions for them to find something in that area that can be used as a paintbrush for their art class. The kids brought back various items such as pine needles, rocks, pine cones, and feathers. I think that utilizing the outdoors in an art class is genius! The one thing most elementary age kids love to do is play outside.
The second blog I commented on is using geocaching to help students with money problems in math. She would put money problems in the caches that they found and they students would bring her back the answers with the correct amount of money. One thing she did to really challenge them was to use different forms of currency. This is just another incredible way to utilize outdoor activities into her curriculum. In this case, it was math!!!
One more comment I would like to add for those that read my blog is this: I plan on using this geocaching in my history classes once I am teaching. I think history is one of the best subjects that could benefit from this amazing idea!! Some ideas I have are field trips to historical sites where I could place these caches throughout the area with summaries about different events that occurred in that particular place!! Does anybody else feel this is a real possibility in the strict curriculum we are forced to stick to in schools? I welcome your comments!!!
Niiiiice. That would be fun. I've actually been geocashing and despite being a little difficult finding some of the stash spots, it was fun. I just don't know if it will be practical with the way school systems are strapped for money these days. Getting fieldtrips together is like trying to pull teeth. They cost money and people hate parting with that. But I still think it would be a really cool tool for teaching.
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