Do Outdoor Classrooms Really Work?

August 3, 2017 by Noha Helmy

After reading the article about outdoor classrooms by Andre Audette, you must be wondering if it really works. One of our ELC team members tried it out herself, and wanted to share reflection with other teachers considering outdoor sessions. Here is what Noha Helmy, a member of the ELC team, wrote about her experience with outdoor classrooms. “Every day, you come early to your morning class. The students start to arrive with their heavy steps, sleepy eyes, and empty stomachs. Another day with the same daily routine, teaching techniques and the same rules and regulations. If they try to bring in any coffee, I would take it away.

One day. I thought why don’t we take our writing lesson out side?! I don’t need the board. They are going to write. That’s it. So, I took the permission of the ELC head, chose a green spot, and asked my students to join me there after their break. Their spirits were lifted up high when I told them that they can bring their food and drinks with them.

We met there. They sat on the green grass. The weather was nice and the atmosphere was really refreshing. I asked them to write a paragraph about outdoor classrooms. My students’ reflections summarized all the cons and pros for such lesson. They wrote that they were happy with the change, and that the fresh air and the green scenery were refreshing. They enjoyed coming to the class with their food and drinks. They felt relaxed. However, some wrote that they were not happy about sitting on the ground. Some have insectophobia. The people passing by caused a lot of distraction. All in all, it was really nice to break the boredom circle of the daily typical classroom.

As a teacher, I was really interested in reading their feed back. I started to work on the cons, so the following time, I chose another remote spot. It had lots of chairs; it had also a nice shed. It was just near a small canteen where they can go and get what they want to eat quickly. That time, the feed back was great. There were no complaints. They enjoyed it 100%, and they wanted to do it again.”