Sit Spots were chosen as a topic for us as a group to learn more about and share with each other so we get better at using this practice and then when appropriate we might share with visiting teachers so that they too can use if for this tool when facilitating learning.
I was first introduced to this practice through the Earth Ed folks(van Matre). They called them Magic Spots and went through a real process to create that feeling of magic that you can experience when interacting with nature in this way. (anyone still have those instructions-must have given my Earth Walks binder away)
I used this tool now and then over the years. Let me try to recall the progression.
1. Intro with something like the Veil of Silence with the group listening to sounds.
2.Introducing the idea of listing to nature on your own.
3. Describing what is going to happen as we go on a looped walk. Each of you will be dropped off at an area. Find a spot that is special for you and sit down there. In silence listen to what is happening around. Everyone will have their own spot and for this first time let's try to sit quietly for 5 minutes.
4. After 5 minutes we will come back to get you. Join the end of the line in silence. When we get back to where we started we can share what we experienced.
Something like that. Later on the kids might have journals or an index card to record thoughts, ideas or jottings. I might read something before heading out to set the mood.
The sit spot experience was certainly something most kids had never had before.
So how are you going about using sit spots?
Why is this a valuable tool that any teacher could use?
What curriculum might extend from it?
Here is a link to some thoughts on "The 5 Qualities of a Perfect Sit Spot"
http://wearewildness.com/5-qualities-perfect-sit-spot/
Other areas of focus for our first 6 week or so interval between getting together.
-I chose Sits Spots since that topic had most "votes" but we had other topics that I list below.
If one of them is what you are working on let me know and I will create a blog posting for it and we can start comments.
-how to of KBCs
-generating questions for an outdoor experience
-free play in an outdoor natural setting (forest play)
.
It is interesting to see how a specific practice which emerges in one area echoes in others. I've used a version of the "sit spot" strategy since the early 90's in secondary school writing classes. Students would be assigned a space to "sit" in our outside of the school with instructions to capture in writing what they witness. Typically we'd ask for them to focus on one or two senses only (hearing and smell, sound and sight, etc...) to help them generate a specificity of response. We'd explore different mentor texts, such as John's Updike's classic "Central Park", Robert Frost's poetry, etc... to see how they too relied on a depth of sensory appreciation for their environments in their writing. Not quite the same as the use of "sit spots" in the Early Years, but there are definitely some parallels.
ReplyDeleteHi everyone - and happy Monday - looking forward to catching up with all of you this week.
ReplyDeleteI was inspired to get moving on this 'homework' because tomorrow we have a teacher visiting who is part of our inquiry group. Our session happened last Wednesday and I think it was a good day in many ways. We had teachers do 2 sits during our day together and then shared with them that our OE team is delving into understanding sits as a focus for our own inquiry. I think that sparked a few teachers to do the same with their students. And so this keen teacher asked if we could introduce sits to her class tomorrow at the centre. She will then use this as a launch into sits and continue the work back at their school. She is having students make their mats in class this week...this was all her - we are just supporting her.
So she inspired me...below are my thoughts on the articles - Stan, I like the wide array to choose from - good mix of writing style, length and perspectives.
• from quick read through of the titles I was surprised by the titles - words like spirituality, prayer, meditation, ...so rarely do we hear these terms in the system and yet they are such a huge part of teaching to the whole child - it feels so good to finally see these words and know that we have an opportunity as a team to really use nature as universal religion that is non-denominational to support our students here
Magic Spots:
• liked that limited instruction is given around what to do in sit - "sit, listen, smell, think, watch"
• liked option of a diary - allows some kids a distraction...may need to ease into a sit depending on students - I do have questions about what should be brought to a sit and you'll see that in the last article
• loved the student quotes and poem inspired by the sit - great links to literacy if students were able to move from sit right into a literacy block
Mitchell Priutt BlogSpot
• like that he notes importance of science and nature connection to support and help land stewardship and conservation
• calls nature healing and rejuvenating and sees sits giving this - I agree
• recommends a journal for use during sits and even binoculars - but says no technology
• love that he mentions the importance of the seasonal changes of the sit spot
• fantastic that he includes bird language - reminds me of our work together last year at BORC with Chris and Alexis
last post continued
ReplyDeleteSit Spot Challenge
• loved that Kimana was lead into this article - remember the Tourist Test that Chris led us through last year in our first session at Sibbald - it came from that book
• this article was my favourite of the three because it spoke to the power of observation in the sit and made me really question should a sit include journaling while sitting there? or should that take place after the sit?
• this is somewhat of an ethical debate I think - there are purists of the sit that would say just sit and others that would say bring whatever
• I like how this article spoke to how each time they went back to the sit they paid more attention - truly building on nature awareness...indicators of awareness - these are key to the coyotes guide and I think have many links to learning skills on the report card
• the power of using the minds eye to document and then record it after is amazing - I've been fortunate to see friend's journal pages that twere completed after a sit and it is amazing to see the detail in drawings and descriptions
• I like that the author spoke about how they became more confident in their own work through regular documenting of their sits which often included sketching - they learned to get over their own self consciousness about their work...this is so important to building strong, resilient, confident kids
• refers to the journaling leading into research and how the desire to understand something from the sit pushed them further - tweaking drawings, building on previous knowledge
• lots of connections to this article as I too used to say oh that's a sparrow - then I looked in a bird book and realized how many little brown jobs there really are called sparrows.
So for me big question I have for myself - do students bring anything to the sit - journal, clipboard, binoculars? would I allow more stuff to go on a sit at centre because it is a 'special' place? Our DLRT suggested students bring an ipad to sit to document it - not sure I agree with that and think for me and where I want students to grow is to bring nothing to the sit...not sure though - struggling with this one and could many benefits to using tech here too? Would love to hear others thoughts...
Enjoy the rest of the week.
Gina