Dyslexia Training Institute

I recently had the privilege of meeting Audrey Noga, the Farm Manager, of Outdoor Opportunities. 

Outdoor Opportunities provide excellent learning activities in the natural environment. If any of you are looking for fun, educational ideas for the summer Audrey and her team will have a variety of engaging experiences to participate in. 

For those of you who homeschool your children, consider including Outdoor Opportunities in your children’s SLPs (student learning plans) for the upcoming school year. Outdoor Opportunities arranges workshops and field trips, which meet PLOs (prescribed learning outcomes) specific to the BC curriculum, for students aged preschool and up.

Audrey Noga's bio:

Audrey moved back to beautiful British Columbia in July 2013 after five years abroad. She holds a Master’s of Science in Sustainable Enterprise from Stockholm University in association with Stockholm Resilience Centre and the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics. Her research has focused on small scale farming in Canada and creating resilient farming communities. After two years at the International English Middle School, her focus has turned towards the cognitive, social and physical benefits children and teenagers gain by spending time in the natural environment. 

Her Permaculture Design Course, recently completed with Element Eco in Vernon, has helped to bring her perspective back towards the local ecology. She is now the farm manager at Outdoor Opportunities: a science- and nature-based children's program in Ellison, just outside of Kelowna, and hosts both school and home school groups on the farm for a variety of different fun and educational activities.

Outdoor Opportunities:

Outdoor Opportunities boasts 25 acres of Registered Agricultural Land including 5 acres of apples, 110 chickens, gardens, arts, crafts and woodwork spaces, and a large outdoor playspace. School Groups are now welcome to book for customized 2 or 4 hour visits with activities that meet an array of PLOs. Feel free to contact Audrey at audrey@outdooropportunities.ca for more information.

I strongly recommend these fantastic learning opportunities. 

Please visit their website for more details:

Outdoor Opportunities | Reconnecting our children with nature

I really enjoyed watching this TEDTalks video featuring a high school chemistry teacher.
 
Ramsay Musallam is a remarkable man with a profound passion for teaching. His life lesson has taught him the best approach for making learning meaningful. 

Ramsay Musallam is making a noteworthy difference in the lives of his students. Watch to learn more.

“Student questions are the seeds of real learning.” 
~ Ramsay Musallam

3:20 A life-changing situation for Ramsay
The surgeon’s curiosity drove him to ask hard questions about the procedure, about what worked and what didn't work. He embraced and didn't fear the messy process of trial and error, the inevitable process of trial and error.

Through intense reflection he gathered the information that he needed to design and revise the procedure and then with a steady hand he saved my life.  
~Ramsay Musallam

4:00 ~Ramsay Musallam
3 rules of my own that I bring to my lesson planning still today:

Rule #1 Curiosity comes first
Questions can be windows to great instruction but not the other way around

Rule #2 Embrace the mess
We’re all teachers. We know learning can be ugly and just because (it’s all set out in specific order) trial and error can still be what we do day after day (in our classrooms).

Rule #3 Practice reflection
What we do is important, it deserves our care, but it also deserves our revision.  ~Ramsay Musallam

5:58 

"If we as educators leave behind the simple role as disseminators of content and embrace a new paradigm as cultivators of curiosity and inquiry we just might bring a little more meaning to their school day and spark their imagination."  
~Ramsay Musallam