At the EGSS conference: Food for Thought Interactive PD Workshop

On Thursday, March 31st, Teachers Training for Sustainability held its second Professional Development workshop during the annual Education Graduate Students' Society (EGSS) conference at McGill University. This workshop was an interactive discussion with graduate and undergraduate students at the Education Faculty. Education students were invited to respond to a choice of questions and to post their responses in a true public record (in the lobby of the Education Building). Over 50 education students recorded their answers on sticky notes and placed them on a chart paper featuring the question. We recorded many student responses to be featured in a video!

Education students were invited to write their ideas on Postits notes!    

A photo of the project tem members (from left to right): Francesca Fuoco (U4 student, Dept. of Integrated Studies in Education, DISE), Ying-Syuan (Elaine) Huang (PhD student, DISE), Morganne Blais-McPherson (BSc in Neuroscience), and Harley Nadler, (U3 student, DISE).

A guest lecture – Connecting students with nature

Last week, on March 17^th, Teachers Training for Sustainability, held its first workshop of the semester; we welcomed Dr. Chris Buddle and, a Master's student at McGill University, Chris Cloutier who led us in a discussion on their latest research as it relates to sustainability education. In particular, Buddle highlighted his work on spiders living in the arctic while Cloutier provided examples of public engagement through late-night nature walks. Overall, the workshop was a great success, with feedback from attendees being highly positive regarding “the two Chrises’” interesting content and humorous style!

Written by: Harley Nadler

Sustainability Projects Fund: Dr. Asghar and Collaborators tell us what this blog is all about!

This video showcases the sustainability education initiative at the Faculty of Education at McGill University. It elaborates on some ideas on how to incorporate teachings on sustainability into existing classroom curriculum and how this blog is an excellent tool for collaboration.

Schools looking outside to inspire students - Globe and Mail

Caroline Alphonso, Education reporter for the Globe and Mail recently wrote an interesting article on schools across Ontario which have been experimenting with teaching children in new and innovative ways that incorporate the outdoors into their lessons.

For example, Ms. Cain's first grade class (at Hillcrest Public School, in Barrie, Ontario) is learning math in the sandbox by adding cups of sand together.  And this fall, Simcoe County District School Board, in north Toronto will be using giant xylophones, sandboxes and road lanes (painted on concrete), pumpkin patches and other tools in their schoolyard as part of an experiment on how the outdoors can be used as a tool in the "Classroom" - now expanding out of the traditional indoor environment!

The article writes about the research: It's getting more and more clear that 

"Getting outside motivates children to learn, keeps them attentive, builds their imaginations and improves classroom behaviour - all of which can improve test scores......The research is difficult to translate into practice though: Teachers are weighted down by curriculum demands, are not trained on how to teach kids in a more fluid environment, and institutionally, education our kids has become a structured, indoor task."

Read the full article HERE.

Do you incorporate the outdoors into your indoor education? How? How can we help teachers to become beter at this? Share with the community! 

There's a need: connect education to real world experiences.....

..... The question is: how much is this actually happening?

There's been a general progression away from incorporating real life experiences into the classroom at an elementary, high school, and university level. As courses move online and traditional classrooms and labs begin to disappear, we need to ask what else we are loosing.

In his blog post, Hirsh elucidates:

The shift offers many advantages, including a wider reach and more a new source of tuition dollars. But several studies have shown that some online students are more likely to drop out than students in traditional classrooms (and, probably far more than students in schools that emphasize experiential learning — as in Hirsh’s floating classroom). The even larger risk, he argues, is that students will increasingly see higher education as a doorway to accreditation, a means to a job. Higher education shouldn’t only lead “to a richer bank balance, but to a richer existence.”

Read the full article here.

Indoor Education for Outdoor Learning? What'a Wrong with This Picture?

A great blog post put together by the Children and Nature Network asks and addresses questions such as:

Why do teachers in training not have at least some preparation in using the out-of-doors and nature as a place for their students to learn?

Evidence from research is clearly stating that children need nature and outdoor experiences on a daily basis for their physical, emotional and mental wellbeing. What is going on? Why almost all education indoors?

Read this article for more information this question and the research done on the irony of how teachers are doing outdoor education indoors.

Have Fun With the Sun: A Teacher's Activity Guide for Elementary Grades K-2

Developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory Education Programs in Colorado, this activity kit is designed for discussion of energy concepts with elementary grades K-2.

The concepts developed through the activities in this kit include:
• energy classification (form, source, nonrenewable and renewable),
• uses and limits of energy,
• conversion of energy forms,
• conservation of energy, and
• future energy resources.

The concepts are approached through activity-based learning. The activity kit is complete with handouts, diagrams, and everything you would need to teach these concepts.

Download this kit at the link below:

http://www.nrel.gov/docs/gen/fy01/30928.pdf

UNESCO's take on how to educate students about planet and the interconnectedness of global issues in 27 Modules

UNESCO's Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable Future aims to provide teachers with means to educate students about the world in which they live and address the interconnections of the issues that affect our future. 

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, along with Dr. John Fien of Griffith University, has developed a multimedia programme to help teachers understand sustainable development and integrate these concepts into the curriculum.

Click on "Read More" (below) to find out more!