STEVENS POINT, Wis. (WSAW) -
With the school year restricting kids to one classroom, the Stevens Point School District is working with the Boston School Forest to get their kids outside by creating easy outdoor classrooms at their elementary schools.
Karla Lockman with the Boston School Forest said this is something any teacher or school could do easily with the help of the community.
Stevens Point’s makeshift classrooms consist of spaced out stumps that students can sit on in a variety of ways, or even use as a hard surface for writing.
This summer the district had put out a call to the community for stumps. In the end, eight different families donated their logs, as well as Zblewski Brothers Tree Service and Eagle Tree Care LLC. Total the school district has received more than 500 stumps to spread out amongst their six elementary schools.
While the outdoor spaces provide a change of scenery and a chance for students to take off their masks, more than anything they provide fresh air and vitamin d that can reset a child and make them ready for more learning.
“Being able to get our students outside for learning out in the fresh air out amongst the greenspaces has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety and increase creativity and collaboration. And if there’s something that this planet needs is a decrease in stress and anxiety and an increase in creativity and collaboration,” Lockman said.
Lockman said going outside doesn’t have to be anything special for teachers either. She suggests going out for a little brain break, or just bringing work booklets and books to work on just like students would at their desks.
“Going outside with your class is not an hour-long commitment. I mean it could be a ten-minute brain break when you’re transitioning between activities. It could be a 20 minute independent work time, and it doesn’t have to be a large time investment, either with the planning and the preparation. It can be anything you want it to be,” Lockman said.
If a teacher was looking to make an outdoor classroom of their own she suggests reaching out to community members for stumps or asking students to bring beach towels to lay on.
Lockman said the perfect place to make a classroom would be a place with both shade and sun that is close enough to the building for students to go to the bathroom, but away from the playground so no one gets distracted.
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The Link LonkSeptember 02, 2020 at 09:05PM
https://www.wsaw.com/2020/09/02/steves-point-creates-easy-makeshift-outdoor-classrooms/
Stevens Point creates easy makeshift outdoor classrooms - WSAW
https://news.google.com/search?q=easy&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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