What a GREAT day!! Although I am not a huge fan of walking around in grass that is taller than me, being around so many bugs, digging up weeds, and drinking warm water….I actually had a fantastic time! I liked feeling like I was helping and making a difference. I liked working as a group, a team, for a common goal. With a late start, I was truly surprised at how much we seemed to accomplish. The three areas that we worked to clean up and restore had great changes from the time we got there to when we left. I think it would have been fun to take a before and after picture of the sites we worked on.
Not only was this fun, it made me think about how I would apply this in my classroom. Maybe classroom is the wrong word…I think that working outside of the classroom can have major benefits. Working together as a team, for a common goal not only helps build community among classmates, it also gets you one step closer to the goal that you were trying to achieve! At my school we allow students to have their morning snack on the way out the door to first recess. Also, students go to second recess (lunch recess) right before lunch. Sometimes they are very hungry, so they try and sneak another snack before lunch. Needless to say, the playground gets covered quite quickly with wrappers, containers and TONS of baggies that once held students’ snacks. I think, instead of reminding the kiddos OVER AND OVER AND OVER again to pick up trash, we could just go outside and do it. I think this would really help the kids to see how much garbage there is, how important it is to pick it up and how easy it would be to just use the trash can in the first place. Not only would students learn about the garbage situation, they would have a good feeling about something positive they did for their school that day AND…the school would get cleaned…WHILE our class was bonding and creating a sense of community!
I plan to start small by picking up trash on the playground, then once they catch the “bug” we’ll take on bigger projects…together :)
I like your idea because after awhile you might see you won’t have to pick up the garbage anymore. Once your class realizes how much garbage there is then they will stop leaving the garbage themselves. They will also help remind others to not litter either, because they don't want to pick it up. They will feel a sense of responsibility to help keep your school clean.
ReplyDeleteAs well I would hope that when others start seeing that you are doing something to help beatify your school they might want to pitch in too. You might even be able to have clean-up schedule. And as you said the idea can spread from there.
One idea might be starting a group/club where you have students and teachers volunteer their time to help on specific projects. That way they feel committed to helping and of course since they volunteered you know they WANT to be there.