Due to COVID-19, teacher candidates in the 2019/20 Bachelor of Education program have had to quickly adapt their teaching and learning styles through the use of online platforms. We are showcasing some of the wonderful examples of projects created by them as part of the community field experience.

Gagan Bharaj, Madelaine Chater, Mireya Hooper, Sara Ichiki, Gina Karaliolios, Jordan Moore, Ashlee Yoon & Nicolette Zaurrini
BEd Elementary & Middle Years (Education for Sustainability)

What is the name of the community partner or group you are working with?

BC schools + beyond!

What is your project’s subject area(s)?

Outdoor education

Tell us about your project!

The Fresh Air Project is an online database of outdoor education lessons geared toward K-7 classrooms throughout BC. It was developed as a way to address the increased screen time the COVID-19 quarantine was imposing on school-aged children and educators alike. We developed the website as an accessible virtual resource to keep kids engaged with the natural world. We also intended it to be a way to mitigate the stressors faced by educators to find competency-based outdoor activities in a sometimes overwhelming online world. The database is organized by subject area as well as grade level for easy searching.

Did you face any particular challenges in the planning, making or delivery of this project?

Creating the website itself was a learning curve, but overall it was a fun and enjoyable process.

How was the project received? Did anything surprise you about the outcome?

The project has been received well so far, and the lessons we’ve created and taught in our own classrooms have been great successes. The kids have been really engaged and we hope it can be of use to many other educators.

Can you tell us about a highlight of creating this remote lesson plan?

The process of collaboration with the TCs who worked together to create this resource was a big highlight. Putting all our heads together allowed us to create something far superior to what we could have created individually.

What media did you use to create your project?

Wix, Google Docs

Where can we view your project?

freshairproject.wixsite.com/home