Muddy Waters

"We have such a brief opportunity to pass on to our children our love for this Earth, and to tell our stories."  -Richard Louv  Last Child in the Woods

There is a disconnect. I'd rather not talk about it, openly. Instead, I'll relay the information as anecdote. As part of a burgeoning hope with this project I tasked my students with taking pictures of three plants and three animals.
That's it.  No further directions.  

Staggering.  Results from the assignment were pictures that ranged from pets to house plants, livestock to landscaping.  I intentionally did not provide detail in the assignment prompt as I wanted to see what the responses would look like.  

Time to re-frame.  I took to our class Google Classroom page and uploaded two videos.  It was time to clear the muddy waters.

Pictures came rolling in left and right!  The results are astonishing.  Within a day I had two students correctly identify my mis-identified plant in the second video!  One student put together a literal presentation on why her ID is correct and mine is not, highlighting important differences between the two species.  She did this on her own accord.  The dirt is settling and the waters are becoming clearer.

I have so many amazing plant and animal picture contributions.  After posting three of the plant submissions I have tasked students with choosing one picture and choosing one prompt.  The tasks are as follows (taken from my Google Classroom post):

Below are pictures your classmates submitted to me, when asked to take pictures of three plants.


1. Pick one picture.

2. Pick one task.

a. Tell me why you picked this picture. ("Because I like it most," is not good. Tell me what you like best about it!)
b. What does this picture mean to you?
c. Write a short poem about the photo.
d. Draw or paint your version of the picture.
e. Describe the picture using five words. These words cannot make a sentence.

3. Share your work with me (as a Google Doc, please)

“If the structure does not permit dialogue the structure must be changed” -Paulo Freire

Call to Action

Let your students surprise you.  Hold class outside for a day.  Watch and see if your students' engagement differs.  Are they more distracted?  What are they attentive to? How can you use that to your benefit?  Further, try and tie in your teaching content to what you found them attending to.  Use the spark.


Freire, P., & Ramos, M. B. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Seabury Press.

Louv, R. (2013). Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. London: Atlantic Books.