The Tesla high schoolers came to the Catamount Mountain Campus for four hours during our third lesson. My co-teacher and I went into the day planning a slow hike and a very simple science experiment. We ended up merging lesson plans with another group because only two of our students showed up in the morning. The beginning of the lesson had the most opportunities for the students to have first-hand experiences with the Catamount Mountain Campus. We began the day with an inquiry hike/tour of campus. Students were able to see all the buildings and other highlight locations such as the lakes and wikiups. Everyone had the option to swing outside of aspen and have hot chocolate or tea in the wikiup. In the afternoon, the group spent most of our time getting to know each other better over hot chocolate in the wikiup or around the fire with s’mores. Students and student teachers held numerous conversations on topics that participants have a strong passion for, such as family structures, birth control, and abortion access. These discussions provided space for students to discuss personal experiences on these broader world issues.
I wish we would have had an explicit mindfulness activity in the lesson. Originally, I had planned to do sound maps with my students. This is a short activity for students to sit and observe the sounds they hear around them. While they are observing, students draw a map or picture visually representing the sounds they heard. This would have given the students an opportunity to have a personal experience that connected them to the space. Another way I would want to improve the lesson would be giving the students an explicit opportunity to recreate (fishing or boating). These activities were mentioned as options but there was no follow-up. If I had the opportunity to re-do this lesson, I would have had time set aside to recreate on the lakes.