We arrived to our spot in the woods, and the students had expected to begin playing Capture the Flag right away. Instead, we sat in a circle, and I invited them to share gratitude. It was a beautiful spring day, and we were sitting in a beautiful council right after a brisk walk. It just felt right. Well, it felt right to me. The students groaned. They moaned. They complained. They rolled their terrible eyes and gnashed their terrible teeth. (Not really, but they might as well have.)
And so I began and sent it around the circle. The two people to my left were 9th graders who opted out of standardized tests at their high school, so they had the day off and they came back to visit us at their old middle school.
I said I was grateful for the nice spring day, for being in the woods, or something like that. Here’s what the former students said:
“I’m grateful that there are teachers who don’t keep you in a classroom on this warm spring day, and bring students outside to play games.”
“I’m grateful to be sitting here in this council ring in the middle of a school day sharing gratitude…It’s pretty unique.”
And with that spout of wisdom and perspective from a couple alums, just 1 year older than some of my students, the circle seemed to soften. Their eyes stopped rolling and they stopped sighing to show me their annoyance.
And then, one by one, the students all quietly and thoughtfully shared their gratitude.
Outdoor Learning with Weslie 