West Lake Provincial Park – Prince George 

On September 12^th, we were fortunate enough to spend our class time at West Lake. The morning was chilly and foggy on our drive out to the park. When we arrived, I realized that I actually had never been to West Lake during this time of year. It was beautiful seeing the fog on the lake and the geese in the water. The fall colors were such a sight as well. The fall colors of Prince George are on my top 5 favorite things about PG. We spent the first half of class discussing our AHA’s and HMM’s from our reading assignment the week before. We split into our famous triads and were able to choose a spot for our group to gather. My group chose to gather on the “sand” in a circle. This was really nice; we were right next to the water and distant enough from other groups. My group was fantastic, and efficient which meant we could spend a few minutes admiring where we were. 

The next section of our class, we took time to do the Sit Spot activity. Again, I chose a spot next to the water. growing up, I spent all of my summers in the Kootenay’s and being around the water. Being a weak swimmer never stopped me from loving the water and finding ways to emerge myself in it. It never slowed me down. This is what I thought about while in my sit spot. I thought about how grateful I am for those summers spent in Nelson at my grandparents’ house. Unfortunately, they have both passed now and I try and take moments to think of them and the memories they granted me with when I can. 

The final section of our class we stood in a circle and shared our Teaching Metaphor. I brought my jersey from playing professional volleyball in Sweden. It was really interesting seeing and hearing what people brought and why, for them, it was their metaphor. I enjoyed doing this at the start of the semester as it gave us the opportunity to get to know our classmates better. It was also nice to be in the breeze and the sun while listening to their stories. 

We finished our class with two words. Awake and encouraged. 

Cottonwood Island Nature Park – Prince George 

October 10^th, our class met despite the weather being relatively chillier than when we went to West Lake Provincial Park. Despite the chills, it was a gorgeous morning. The sun was peeking through, there was no breeze, it was lovely.  We spent the first bit of the class doing circle talk and discussing things about lesson planning. We then, broke into our famous triads (we had four) and shared our lesson plans that we had made as “homework”. It was interesting to see what everyone chose as their subjects and their grades as we had endless choice. I feel it shows a bit about them. 

After reconvening back to our circle in the open space, we discussed lesson planning further. We were instructed on what to do next and how we can try and include Cottonwood Island Nature Park in our lesson plan. 

In our groups, we were allowed to disperse, and find a space to work on our lesson plan. These were the same groups we had for the first grouping. As we walked along the path more towards the river, we noticed the amount of garbage that was in the bushes along the trail. As disappointing as this is, we chose to use it as our lesson plan. Taking our students out around the school, if time permitting, we could do a field trip to Cottonwood, and collecting garbage. As our group was competitive, we decided to make it a game. The group that collects the most trash in a certain amount of time will win a prize. This was how we based our assessment. 

I enjoyed having this class outside as it encourages us to find time outside. I never saw myself as an educator that would incorporate place-based learning as well as land-based learning but after our second “field trip” I have really enjoyed myself. It is nice to see something other than the four walls of our classroom and to be able to be in the sun whether it is warm or chilly. Moving back to Prince George from the Okanagan, I have a new found gratitude towards our land and the outdoors in general.