Take Them Outside: Getting Started with Nature Based Learning

Presenter:

Becky Hallowell, 2025 Teacher of the Year

Have you ever wished your students would be more invested in your lessons or looked longingly out the window wishing to take your class outside? Come join the 2025 Maine Teacher of the Year, Becky Hallowell to learn not only how to take your class outside to learn, but WHY doing so holds numerous benefits for your students.
In this presentation, Becky will introduce strategies for safely taking students outside. She will discuss how to set expectations, create boundaries, use everyday materials to create a learning space, and procure gear. She will also share classroom management strategies, like turning a walk to an outdoor space into an opportunity for students to share their thinking.

Becky will share how she has molded her practice to include nature-based learning and why she believes it is so important. She will share research that indicates the physical, cognitive, and social-emotional benefits of bringing students outside to learn as she weaves in the success stories of her students.

Then, she will take participants out for a sit spot to learn the power of nature journaling and how a simple prompt can incorporate learning targets. Participants will gather natural objects, and Becky will share how to use a stick to teach angles and a rock to teach the order of adjectives. She will then encourage others to brainstorm ways they can incorporate natural objects into their classrooms.

The session will conclude as participants are encouraged to map their school settings to determine where they can incorporate nature-based learning. Becky will help brainstorm and problem-solve creative ways for teachers to include nature-based learning into their instruction.