Aha!

So here we are...two kindie teachers who are starting a new adventure with Project Based Learning! 

Here's how our adventure began:

Last Spring, we had gone to the school garden as part of our science curriculum and had the Growing Schools Organization come to provide the children with a workshop to help cover the science outcomes. As the children worked outside in our garden we had a major "Aha"moment!

Those kids that struggled in the traditional classroom were able to play and work better with their classmates while digging in the dirt. We saw glimpses of unexptected partnerships and teamwork between children that often needed support to work with other kids. We wondered if this could be a new way of building skills in the area of social responsibiltiy in a more meaningful and authentic way. So what started out as a science lesson turned into a great opportunity to practice social emotional learning.

Whoa!  Who knew digging in the dirt could be such a powerful learning opportunity!?!

After recognizing that the garden provided authentic opportunities to practice social responsibility we knew we wanted to get the kids outdoors and into the garden more.  But...how do we find the time?  How can we possibly fit one more thing into our day???

We had to make it work.  We saw the need for it.  We had to get those kids outside, but still felt the pressure to cover the curriculum.  Could we tackle this through Project Based Learning? Could we possibly grow our students' social emotional learning and the plants at the same time???

So we wondered...

How does outdoor Project Based Learning strengthen students competencies in the area of Social Emotional Learning?

We are new to PBL and are not experts. We have a lot of questions that we wonder about so we invite you to follow along as we jump into outdoor Project Based Learning.

Corrie and Terra