Wow, what a great educational experience for those students. Making school come alive like that is not something students would soon forget. I like the idea of expeditionary learning, giving students the opportunity to learn in an authentic manner.

This was a really great idea. As an educator I saw how it was a lesson that reached all learning styles. These students won't forget this lesson.

I would have to agree that the opportunity that those students had to participate in the history and culture of the Haida People was a great one. When history can come alive and the students can recognize the relevance, is when real learning takes place.

What a wonderful experience for those students! As a teacher, I understand the importance of making connections to real life, and presenting material to students in fun, interactive methods that challenge them to use critical thinking skills. My fondest memories of my own school years are those that allowed me to explore my world by touching, and interacting with my fellow students rather than traditional test taking or lectures. In addition, in my own desire to increase my pedagogy of skills, I have discovered understanding how students learn, as well as how educators implement lessons, directly correlates with how well students grasp a concept. Now if only we can come up with more ways to raise the funds needed for awesome trips such as these...

I have been getting pleasure from reading the blog sites this past week. I really enjoyed the expeditionary learning video clips on edutopia's spiral notebook blog! I had seen the clip about the canoe exchange with the Inuit people of Alaska somewhere else once, and I remember thinking how awesome it would be if all of America's schools could have such a high caliber of excellence in their teaching strategies. I can only wonder what that one expedition cost monetarily from start to finish, yet at the same time, I am reminded of a certain credit card commercial that with the punch line, “Priceless!" You can bet that those children do not return home after school and say that they had a boring day!

I once attended an in-service on various ways the human brain learns, and I was forever changed. If anyone is unfamiliar with psychologist Howard Gardner’s theory, it is certainly worth looking into. In his book, Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences (Gardner, 1983), he suggests “that each individual manifests varying levels of different intelligences, and thus each person has a unique “cognitive profile.” The areas of intelligence he purports are bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, linguistic, logical-mathematical, naturalistic, intrapersonal, spatial, and musical. He also suggested spiritual, but excluded it because it failed to meet certain criteria. My colleague Sherry Carman (Carman, 2007) mentions some of them in her discussion post.

Even if it is difficult to take an actual expedition, it is still possible to create centers in a classroom which can target every area of intellect within the human brain. After the aforementioned in-service, I planned a lesson about Native Americans. I read a story in a dim room about an Apache boy and his blind grandfather, but I had the children sit on the floor around a “campfire.” It looked real and consisted of a small fan that blew “flames” made of orange and yellow nylon set aglow by lamplight. Native American music along with night noises played in the background. Later that week, we made a canvas teepee and painted native symbols on it. The teacher used clay to have them try their hands at pinch pottery. The students loved the lessons! I was not brave enough to get into costume and hold a powwow with them, but who knows, maybe next time! It is so unfortunate that the most utilized forms of communication are spoken and written words when there are so many other modes of dissemination.

I completely agree with everyone else. It is so true that thoses students will remember that lesson for a long time. Since it is impossible to have an experience like that for every lesson, it is important to improvise. The idea of creating something in the classroom, like the lesson mentioned above about the Native Americans, in order to reach the students is important for success in the classroom. Very monotonous learning is tough for many students to retain. I am new to teaching and I would love to hear other ideas, such as the Native American lesson, and your experiences with them! Thanks for your imput.

What an adventure! Students simply will nto forget such an experience. This takes the "hands-on" approach to the ultimate expereience. Since the brain has the ability to sculpt itself from outside experience (Wolfe, P., 2003) this type of learning is sure to stay with the child for a lifetime. The memories of this experience will certainly carry over to other areas of learning and application.
Reference: Wolfe, P. (22003, Fall). Brain-compatible learning; Fad or foundation? Retrieved May 24, 2007, for http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa..edu/forum/fall03/brain.html

According to Wolfe (2003), "we do learn from reading and hearing, but the strongest connections are often made through concrete experience" (p.4). What a wonderful concrete experience for these students. It is so refreshing to read about a lesson that values hands-on experience. With No Child Left Behind looming in the background, many teachers are worried that these types of activities will not translate to the test, so they see no value in them. It is so important to understand that while this type of enduring may not translate to multiple choice tests (although that is debatable), we must remember that life is not a multiple choice test. No reading passage or test could possibly measure the knowledge, understanding and appreciation of Native American customs that this lesson taught these children.

Reference
Wolfe, P. (2003, Fall). Brain-compatible learning: Fad or foundation? Retrieved May 24, 2007, from http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa..edu/forum/fall03/brain.html

Amazing! This is so rich and valuable, the kids will remember this forever! It's really sad that in today's society the first question out of the districts mouth would be... "What state standards does this meet?" Not,"Wow, what an amazing experience!" Guaranteed the children will remember this for a lifetime and the "stuff" out of the book for a day.

Wow! That is an amazing experience for those little ones. This is an experience they will remember for the rest of their lives. I believe it is important to have activities like this integrated into the lessons. The students will enjoy the learning process and remember what was taught.