Jen Wilson is our Fellow from Cook Hill Elementary School in Wallingford. She is in her 21st year of teaching kindergarten. Patient, caring, and creative, she is most passionate about extending her teaching outside the four walls of the classroom. She’s also a mother of two who loves running and spending time outdoors with her family, especially at the beach.
As the school year ended back in June of 2020, I was excited for summer to come. Spending so much time on the computer drained everything out of me. I needed a break and time to recharge. The last day of school felt so strange as it ended with a few virtual meetings and an end of the year celebration online. After these meetings, I closed my computer and it was done. Such a strange feeling to end my school year. I was used to the craziness during that last week filled with packing up my room and doing paperwork while juggling fun activities with my students. None of that this year.
By August, my usual back to school worries trickled into my dreams. What would my new class be like? Would the kids keep their masks on? How can four and five year olds socially distance from one another? How will I arrange the tables? Can I keep anything in my room? Where will all my supplies go? How can I function like this? Kindergarten is a year of hugs and hand holding, comfort and reassurance. I was scared and overwhelmed by the unknown. I thought the virus would have been gone. Little did I know!
The week before the kids actually started was full of so much change. Friends and colleagues were switching buildings and now becoming distance learning teachers. Meetings, meetings, and more meetings. My head was spinning. So many new protocols and schedules were presented to us. I couldn’t stop thinking about the new plans. It consumed my every thought. During one of these many meetings, my principal gave us the green light to spend more time learning outside. Hearing this gave me some hope for the new year.
Allow me to now introduce you to my green door. It doesn’t look to be much more than your typical industrial school door, covered in schedules and emergency exit plans. However, on the other side, adventures await. The outdoors. I walk through it EVERY SINGLE DAY, and each time I feel a little like Ms. Frizzle and the Magic School bus. In any other year, I never would have predicted that a door would become the linchpin of the school year, but in the year 2020, this door has indeed become critical to me, my paraprofessionals in my room, and the little people I am in charge of. It is our sanity.
The list of reasons we go outside are endless to me. We started off the year by going outside for a very practical reason: to take our daily mask breaks. When the weather was hot and humid, it was so difficult to talk while wearing the mask. I decided then that we need more outside time to learn and more importantly give us time to adjust to wearing a mask all day long.
When I took my students outside they were able to sit or stand on paw prints painted on the sidewalk six feet apart. We turned this into a daily snack and mask break. The students love going outside to eat. I am thankful that the weather has been pleasant enough for us to do this almost every day! Even if the ground is wet and the air misty, we try to go out for a walk around the grass on the sidewalk. I need this break as much as the kids. I offer a choice if they want to come out on these days or stay in the classroom. Almost all of them come and squeal with laughter as we walk our square. Being outside grounds us. It connects us with each other and our environment. It brings us comfort and settles us.
I have always been one to try and do as much outside learning as I could think of. This year, the grassy area has become my outdoor classroom. Instead of assigning a Write the Room activity, we Write the Yard. Clipboards and pencils are a new constant learning tool outside the classroom. After learning about story elements in stories, my students had a chance to go outside and create different characters using what they could find on the school grounds. We had a leaf firefighter, a teacher, and a construction worker. It amazed me how the creativity flowed being outside. My students also enjoyed a ten frames number hunt. I carefully placed large notecards in our ”yard” that I stamped with different amounts of dots. Students had to count the dots and record the number. They loved this! These outside activities I incorporated from the Kindergarten curriculum were quite engaging for these young learners.
Ending the school day is now spent outside more often. In the past, we spent this time using the toys in my classroom. Now I let the kids explore and interact with one another. I have noticed that the children use their imagination and also spend time investigating the school grounds. Whether they are running races, building bridges, throwing leaves in the air, or finding various insects we are learning outside of the classroom. Students learn how to take turns and express their feelings with one another.
I am discovering even more benefits of being outside my door. If a student is upset, I offer to talk to them outside and talk about what is going on. I try to remember that these times are new and different for them. Some don’t know any different because this is their first time being at school. My first job is to make them feel safe and happy. The learning comes after this. If a student needs a break, I go with them to sort out a big feeling they are trying to process. I have learned that these uncertain times are scary and uncomfortable for my students. If they don’t feel comfortable, how can they learn? The outdoors helps us all reset and be ready to re-engage in the learning.
I am hoping that the virus doesn’t affect this positive aspect of our school day and send us home for learning. If it does, we will figure something out. I am hoping to document more of my school year through this green door. The good as well as the challenging days. I hear people say that we need to get used to this “new normal”. I don’t feel any of this is normal for me, my teaching style, or the needs of my students. This is temporary for me. Some days are difficult and I feel like I am in the movie Groundhog Day. My colleagues and I are doing our best to make this year fun for these new students one day at a time. The green door is my emergency exit from Groundhog Day. It is my way of injecting fun and joy and some kind of normalcy into this most unusual year.
Check out SEC Fellows in the Blog drop-down menu to read previous posts about Jen’s classroom .
