This week’s class was a bit different. We got to be immersed in an EdCamp session! It was actually a pretty nice break from our usual lectures. It felt like my colleagues and I were actually running the lesson and learning for that day.
I think that EdCamp’s are a great tool for learning, because you are able to control what you learn. There were several different breakout rooms, each with a different topic of inquiry surrounding the idea of teaching and learning where we could come and go as we pleased. We began by using a shared Google Doc where we could all input a theme, topic or idea to be covered. We then went in to a breakout room corresponding with the topic that you liked the best. I ended up going into the room where the topic was “Incorporating physical health into the classroom”. We came up with a lot of great ideas for teaching physical health in the classroom. These included:
- Implementing brain breaks- dancing, stretching, moving, go noodle, just dance videos on youtube
- Teach about nutrition and healthy eating
- worksheets for healthy eating (ex: pictures of food and they have to colour in the ones that would be healthy)
- Doing activities outdoors to get moving around
- Healthy eating program (giving fruits and vegetables to students)
- Encouraging DPA (daily physical activity outside of the classroom)
- Tracking living habits (how much water they are drinking, what they are eating, and what type of exercise they are doing)
- Incorporating sexual health and education beginning at a young age, personal boundaries, hygiene, reproductive health, puberty
- Creating a relaxing environment, breathing exercises, counting strategies, promoting good sleep patterns.
Every single one of us in the room were able to come up with something to add to this list, so that was pretty cool. Sometimes in breakout rooms, not every one is able to give their input, so it was nice to be able to have everybody included in this discussion.
I think that there a lot of items on this list that I would love to be able to integrate into my classroom one day. We talked a lot about keeping kids moving throughout the day by giving them little brain breaks. I have actually experienced this in some of the classrooms I have volunteered in. There is a program called “GoNoodle” which is basically little dancing music videos that you follow along to, sort of like “Just Dance”. The kids love it, because some of the video’s are funny and silly. They are able to get out of their chairs and get moving which is great!
I also really liked the healthy eating program. I remember this from when I was in elementary and middle school. Every other week or so we would get a big bin of apples or cherry tomatoes, carrots or mini cucumbers to snack on throughout the day. I think that this is a great implementation of health in the classroom, because it teaches kids about nutrition and how important it is to eat healthy even at a young age.
I wasn’t able to go into any of the other breakout rooms, I think because I was so in to the discussion that we were having. We had so many ideas flowing and tons of connections to when we were young. However, having access to this Google Doc that is shared with the class is really beneficial because all the points of conversation in the other breakout rooms are included on to the document. This is awesome because I am able to reflect on what the other rooms talked about, even if I wasn’t a part of their discussion.
Overall, I really enjoyed class this week. I think that the EdCamp was a unique way to get everyone involved and talking about different ideas that we can integrate into our classrooms. I had a lot of fun! I think that this class was a much needed break from our usual lectures we have every day. It’s getting to be such a busy point in the semester, so it was pretty refreshing being able to just have conversations with our peers!