Once a year we spend a day outside with the whole school. We call it, “Outdoor Day.” This year we went to a local park. We built forts, wrote poetry, hiked, spread seeds, practiced yoga, and ate lunch and snacks. It was a lovely day.
After the day, I asked the teachers my standard “thumbs up, side, or down” question. I wanted to see how spending a day outside affected the teaching staff.
I asked, “Thumbs up if you feel better than you normally do on a Monday afternoon, thumbs to the side if you feel the same or similar, thumbs down if you feel worse.” I asked them to consider how they feel in their mind and in their body. If they are different, which feeling influences your mood the most? What did they say?
EVERY SINGLE STAFF MEMBER AND TEACHER (~20) had their thumbs up. Some even put their lips together and nodded their head up and down. Some smiled and pumped their thumbs up in enthusiasm.
Can time outside in nature, playing and learning, not only be good for the overall health and wellness of kids but also the adults who look after them? And if so, can time spent in nature as a teacher affect their sustainability in this profession? And if so….woah. That is huge! If a teacher has a pump-your-thumbs-up sort of day when they go outside with kids, does that mean they find more satisfaction and fulfillment in their job overall? I don’t know…but I can only wonder what it’s like for others. I know that I wouldn’t be here today if I didn’t get my regular dose of what Richard Louv calls “Vitamin N.”
Outdoor Learning with Weslie 