Because it was our goal to wrap up all artifact collection before the start of Ramadan (and also early enough to leave time for binder review, student-teacher conferences, progress reports and data collation by admin in June), I get to spend the last three weeks with my learners just exploring language in fun ways with them without the stress of another assessment around every corner.
It feels so good.
Also, the weather is now perfect for field trips.
And so I find myself so full of ideas, I can't plan or execute them all fast enough. One of the ideas that is blowing my little mind comes from a recent TESL Ontario blog post by John Allan entitled, "
Change the Routine without Disrupting the Class - Take a Virtual Field Trip."
Have you heard of
Google Expedition? I had never heard of it before I read John's post. I already have three Google Cardboard viewers en route to my home. I'll have the whole summer to play with them and think up ways to incorporate their use into English lessons.
In the meantime, while I dreamt about those little viewers being shipped to me, I've been working on lesson materials for an upcoming trip to Windsor Sculpture Park, an open-air art gallery stretching for ten kilometres along the Detroit River. My class will visit a small sampling of about a dozen works close enough for a self-paced walking tour that takes no more than two hours to complete, even with rest breaks at shady picnic tables with water and snacks.
I've spent today putting together a little booklet of activities, including a jigsaw. I'm looking forward to tomorrow!
If you are a Windsor teacher and would like to use this booklet, give me a shout.
What a great idea. Thanks for sharing. I'm looking forward to taking my class to the AGO. So much learning goes on in field trips.
ReplyDeleteClaudie,
DeleteTo be honest, I've never been a huge fan of field trips just because it can be a bit difficult to wrangle the participants. But my view on them is rapidly changing! For one, both of my classes and I have reached a point where I can trust them to do the right thing. They can monitor one another, follow rules of the trip. So now I feel as if a whole new world is suddenly opening up to us. And yes, the language and cultural learning possibilities are ENDLESS! --K
UPDATE: The city gave me permission to share the work that includes their photos and descriptions (adapted) of sculptures, so I have posted it for free download on www.kellymorrissey.com on the At Home in Our Community and in the World page. (http://www.kellymorrissey.com/at-home.html)
ReplyDelete