5 Strategies for Classroom Management: Embracing Nature Moments [Ep. 53]

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Strategies for classroom management

Teaching outside can be intimidating, especially if you’re worried about nature taking over your lesson. I like to call these “nature moments”, and although they can seem distracting, they’re a very valuable part of learning in nature. That being said, it’s helpful to have strategies for classroom management that allow you to embrace and capitalize on those moments rather than get overwhelmed and frustrated by them.

In this episode, we’ll talk about 5 strategies for classroom management to help you embrace those nature moments. By including nature moments rather than dismissing them, you are giving your students the gift of natural observation, they help you build community in your classrooms, they show your students that you’re invested in their interests, and so much more.

The following 5 strategies for classroom management are discussed in the episode:

Preparing for the nature moment before it even happens
Engaging with the nature moment to encourage scientific skills naturally
Feeding the nature moment to cultivate your students’ interests
Letting your students shine
Letting the moment happen

Nature can be very exciting and interesting to your students, including surprises like these mushrooms. — Strategies for classroom management can help you include nature moments in your outdoor learning instead of dismissing them.

Benefits to strategies for classroom management to embrace nature moments

When your students are interested, they can develop scientific skills naturally. Consider adding some time at the forefront of your lessons to let your students look around the green space. They’ll likely find one or more things they find interesting.

You could even use this opportunity to science notebook. If you wanted to go the extra mile, you could make this a habit, providing your students exploration time for 5-10 minutes before or after your lesson. Once they get used to this routine, they know when they’ll get a chance to look around the space and it can also give your students the opportunity to develop skills like observational skills, endurance, focus, and patience.

Getting into this routine can also be beneficial for you as the teacher or parent homeschooling. This special time can give your children the chance to move through the space of their own accord, but then it also gives you a chance to move from child to child to ask open-ended questions, to observe alongside your students, and also set materials up for your lesson if you’d like to.

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