The Walking Classroom has been such a joy for the kids and I every year. My school is in a very rural area, so we are able to get out and walk the small area around our school. It refreshes the kids’ brains and bodies, and they always learn something interesting!
The resources that have been put together recently for The Walking Classroom have been amazing too. We weren’t able to use the program as much last year with all the restrictions, but in the past I’ve used it as an incentive program for good behavior on top of the normal usage. Students could pick what they wanted to learn about. I found that they would work hard to get all their work done so that they could choose a podcast to listen to with a friend.
To start The Walking Classroom at the start of the year, we go through the powerpoint slides and, of course, discuss my rules and expectations for the walk. Our first couple of walks are strictly around the school and around our large playground. Then we move onto walking through the surrounding area of the school if allowed.
I just love how many of the podcasts align to what we are doing in class. I choose the podcast based on what we are learning about at that time, and use the science and social studies podcasts the most.
After a walk, we have a discussion on what we learned from the podcast and then I usually give the accompanying quiz too. The students really seem to enjoy our discussions after the walk! Sometimes I even use the podcasts in small groups, during the Daily 5 for the listening station. It’s a super fun program!
Jamy Myrmel
Teacher
Humboldt Elementary
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