Chapter 13:
This chapter discussed the various outdoor activities that teachers can do with middle school students. Wormeli was an advocate for these activities because he felt there were many revelations made on these trips. For many students, going on a trip with a teacher is a new experience, and while they’re on the trip they are able to see a different side of the teacher. Also, the teacher is able to see a different side of their students. While students are on a camping trip they come to appreciate all the commodities they have at home since they don’t have them here. Also, when teacher’s do these type of activities with their students, there tends to be an increase in student’s level of independence; without being nagged to, they will pick up after themselves, clean up their own messes, figure out things on their own, and overall just be more independent. The things that students can learn while doing these outdoor activities cannot be taught outside and because of this Wormeli strongly encourages teachers to implement some of his ideas.
When I first started reading this chapter I was a little hesitant to accept Wormeli’s ideas because I felt there were so many unknown elements; I felt that it was an accident in the making since students could wander, how would you contain a group of students in the wild and the possibility of student’s saying there was inappropriate conduct. Then I thought about all the possible rewards as a result of these activities and I realized that the benefits outweighed the possible negatives. My favorite activities were: “Math as a Tool to Study Nature, from Water Flow to Tree Grow” and “Outdoor Writing”. I thought that both activities were designed well and students would be doing academic activities as the same time as having fun. Overall, I enjoyed this chapter because of the suggestions Wormeli had. I can see myself referring back to this book to come up with possible ideas as to what I would do on a trip with my students.
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