Pumpkin is everywhere. This can only mean one thing– fall is here! Fall is my favorite time of the year. The leaves are changing colors, comfort food is returning, sweaters are at the front of my closet, all of the things I’m allergic to are dead… too far? 😉
This year I was lucky enough to usher fall in while in Park City, Utah. I posted several pictures on Instagram so I won’t put a ton here, but check this out. Seriously?! The mountains are gorgeous. My trip was equal parts work, play, and relaxing. I was able to zip-line, ride the alpine coaster, and take a trip down the alpine slide too. Talk about background-building experiences!
It really got me thinking about the places we try to take our students in the classroom. There is no way my Indiana students can truly fathom just how difficult the trek west was without seeing the scale of these mountains firsthand. Books, pictures, even videos just don’t do them justice. They need hands on experiences. They need scale. They need models. They need to move and experience their learning.
It reminded me of an article I read back in my grad school days. I impressed myself by digging it back up {not too rusty at research, after all!}. Even though the article is written from an ELL approach, I firmly believe it holds true for all learners. Here’s the link: Connect Students’ Background Knowledge to Content in the ELL Classroom.
I may not be able to bring the mountains themselves to my classroom, but I can provide hands-on experiences at every chance. Next time I teach about the westward expansion and driving that golden spike into Promontory Point, Utah, you can bet I’ll be that much more impressed having seen it myself. It’s my job, my duty, to convey that to my students too.
What do you do to bring the larger world into your small classroom?
