Walk This Way: On the Trail with Mrs. McDowell’s Class

My name is Lisa McDowell and this is my second year using The Walking Classroom in my STEM Classroom! I teach K-4 STEM at a Title 1 School in North Carolina, and I use The Walking Classroom with my third and fourth grade students. We have the STEM Walk-Its and love them!

Solutions for Storage

My storage set up is a little different than what a classroom teacher would need to implement, as I use The Walking Classroom with ten groups of students! I keep my Walk-Its in the cases that they arrived in, as well as the box they were shipped in. I then store them on a shelf in my classroom.

As far as the sets of earbuds, I put student names on “snack-sized” bags and have them store their earbuds in their own bag. Then, I take the class set of snack-sized bagged earbuds and store them in a gallon sized bag with their main teacher’s name and grade level on them. The gallon bags are stored in a container on the shelf beside the Walk-Its.

Hitting the Trail

Last year, I taught my third and fourth grade classes in the morning. Since the main playground was not utilized for recess at that time, students were able to walk around the playground or up and down the sidewalk.

However, this year my third and fourth grade classes happen during what is recess time for another grade level, so we have been walking in a grassy area on our school property. This has worked out just fine.

Only once have I had to walk the halls due to weather conditions. Usually I am able to just switch a lesson plan and allow students to walk outside. I have the same class for an entire week, so picking a good weather day tends to work out quite well.

Students do The Walking Classroom once during the week they attend STEM. While this means students get to walk once a week, I get to walk ten times a week!

Happy Trails!

Lisa McDowell
K-4 STEM Teacher
Benson Elementary

Look for more Friday posts to follow Mrs. McDowell and her students as they walk, listen, and learn through the school year.

And, be sure to check out how the program is being implemented by three other teachers on future Fridays!