Observation prompts

A regular part of the spring and summer professional development is making short observations in your outdoors space (schoolyard or backyard) to get to know that space. Below are the ones we used in Summer 2021.

Day 1:

• Use your 5 senses to explore your surrounding area and come up with questions related to anything around you that you observe.
• Document your “I wonder” questions in your notebook - write as many as you can!

Day 2:

• Think about the space you are in over time. 
  • What is it like now? 
  • How might it have been different 1 day ago? 1 month ago? 1 year ago? 1000 years ago? Etc. 
  • What might it be like in 10,000 years from now? 
  • What ideas are you drawing on to support your ideas?

Day 3:

• Grab some binoculars and observe any birds you might see
• Feel free to write your observations in any way you choose. You might sketch a picture, make a list of adjectives, or write out more detailed observations.
• You could think about the following questions…
  • If you see multiple birds, what are the similarities and differences between them?
  • Where is the bird?
  • What is it doing?
  • Why do you think it is doing the behavior that you see?

Optional: Gratitude for your schoolyard

Some inspiration from Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants:

“The land is the real teacher. All we need as students is mindfulness.”

“We are showered every day with gifts, but they are not meant for us to keep. Their life is in their movement, the inhale and the exhale of our shared breath. Our work and our joy is to pass along the gift and to trust that what we put out into the universe will always come back.”

• Think about:
  • Your schoolyard - envision what it looks, feels and sounds like to you - to more than human beings.
  • What are some ways that you can observe and show gratitude for these outdoor learning spaces? 
  • Who uses your schoolyard?  How are they welcomed into the space?