Outdoor Education

One of the courses I get to teach in college is outdoor education and admittedly it is one of my favorites as it allows me and my students to escape outside. We did exactly that this past Friday for an overnight camp out in some potentially cold conditions. Four of my students wanted to try out a survival shelter for night constructed of sticks & a tarp, the rest put up tents, and they all survived the experience. Next week we head off to Red Rock for three days of skills training and some other cool activities are planned including meeting some local trappers.

I also managed to escape with JP & Pat for a mtn bike run Sunday from the Sandilands ranger station, red trail, suicide trail and back - I'm guessing we put on about 14kms but my odometer & speedometer stopped working again. Weather is looking good this week and so I'm hoping for more riding but I'm also not wanting to get too busy after last week's insanity.

Sept Long Weekend Cycling

Life continues on and we decided to take a break from cottaging it and stay home for a change. It's a little chaotic packing for our family it seems - it almost be nice to just have a set of stuff always packed to make traveling anywhere easier. I did manage to escape a bit though - a 40km Giroux loop with road bikes - complete some significant winds that allowed us to hit & maintain 50kms/hour going north and unfortunately has the opposite effect when going south - around 26km/hour. Jason & I enjoyed the ride though! We had some friends over for a bbq on Sunday and it was good just to chill out in the amazing weather.

The aim for certain members of Team Bodydriven was to mtn bike the classic Ingolf route but a 40 percent chance of rain ended up coming true at about 9am - and it poured. The thing about Ingolf is that it is amazing riding when dry, with some super technical stuff - but when wet it is absolutely treacherous - sort of like riding on ice! The rolling granite (complete with obscene sections of boulders or split rocks & little drop-offs (a few big ones too) can get a little slick and if you don't trust the rubber on your wheels it can get a little dicey.

Thankfully we avoided any downpour for most of our ride (about 10 minutes of rain in the epic 2 hours) but we did our share of close-calls and minor wipeouts. No bleeding though. A total of 16kms may not sound like lots but it is all rough riding and my hands are still sore from clenching the handlebars. Tomorrow it's back to college - registering a whack of new & returning students - and I teach my first class on Thursday - communications, Friday - outdoor ed, and next Tuesday - interpersonal processes - wooh!

Adventure Therapy

I taught an interesting class on utilizing teambuilding initiatives today for Recreation Facilitators associated with Therapeutic Recreation Manitoba. It was a large class of around 34 students who for the most part work in personal care homes with seniors. I have never done any extensive teambuilding with this age bracket but I definitely can see its merit. I encouraged my participants to explore and adapt experiential activities to their clients.

We had fun doing some de-inhibitizers & icebreakers and I have to admit my closing activity was a big hit - tower building! It is much more challenging debriefing 4 teams of 8 or 9 at once but it worked out alright. Two teams used tape & balloons and the other two used pvc pipe & fittings to complete there goal of constructing the tallest tower but still maintaining structural integrity. The winning team constructed their tower like an upside down cone and I was amazed at how strong a structure they created. I wish I would've taken some pictures!

The Joys of Teaching Outdoor Education

I love teaching and I know I can never escape being a teacher - it is a part of who I am. Sharing what I know and what I am learning excites me. Teaching resonates with me most when I can share what I am most passionate about. The past three weeks I had the privilege of bringing 15 students on an educational journey exploring outdoor education. The result was pretty cool and I can't take complete credit but obviously I played a role in the learning process.

My 2005 Outdoor Education Class!

The cool thing about teaching in the outdoors is that "teachable moments" are everywhere. Our classrooms are often so sterile that we lack the inspiration that is reflected in the wilderness so well. Reading my students' journals encourages me to keep doing what I'm doing. I'm not necessarily motivated by praise but when I hear comments like, "you made me think" or "this week was one of my best weeks of my entire life!"

Garth & Mandy making use of a teachable moment!

I can't help but grin and thank the Maker. In many ways, teachers are simply conduits for the learning experience to happen. And that's okay because of the change we get to see when the light bulb starts to glow and shine!

Teambuilding using the classic blind maze!

Here are some anonymous quotes from some of my students regarding their time at Red Rock doing outdoor education:

"I learned, I should be more optimistic about myself..."

"I learned so much about myself, about others, about God, about the outdoors!"

"I would do this all over again in a snap!"

"Thanks God for making this an unforgettable experience for us all and for helping us stretch our limits!"

"I learned to respect nature & wildlife, they have a far more important & intricate role than I ever though possible."

"Thanks for the awesome week we had. It has shown me so much about myself and given me a new perspective on myself and my life. I really needed this experience and I will always remember it."

That's just a sampling - now doesn't that make you want to teach! Changed self-perceptions, pushed limits, respect for Creation and the Creator! Pretty cool eh?

Mtn Biking Class At Echo Valley

Outdoor Education @ Red Rock

We had a simply amazing week at Red Rock Lake for the practical component of the outdoor education course I teach. Together with Red Rock staff and my friend Mandy, we taught canoeing, kayaking, mtn biking, wall climbing, archery, orienteering with compass/GPS, and basic bushcraft skills such as firebuilding. The shot below a picture of RRBC's waterfront and a tent of a few of my students brave enough to endure some below zero night temperatures. It actually was a beautiful week with temps up to 19 degrees Celsius on Thursday but at least 2 evenings resulted in frost on the ground the following morning.

Despite cold water temperatures we decided to go ahead with canoe and kayak instruction. The result was one canoe tipping near the island and two kayaks tipping near the beach. Fortunately, no one got hypothermia as we were near warm showers and a change of clothes. All in all, amazing weather for this time of year.

That's me in the orange Dagger Redline - an older play kayak I donated to RRBC a few years ago.

You got to love teachable moments like the one above. A flat tire on the trail to Echo Valley resulted in a lesson in changing flats! Mandy is standing in the background and was a great help in connecting with the female component of my class.

G