Making the Most of the Weather

• #UKEdChat session 595
• All weather conditions have something to often in education.
• Expanding the learning space expands the opportunities.
• Click here to view the tweet archive.

As a national obsession, as well as a regular national disappointment, the weather in the UK is notoriously changeable. For the moment, at the time of writing the weather outside my window is sunny and attempting to be warm in the first glimmers of Spring after a seemingly endless winter. As such, learners can begin to emerge from classrooms like butterflies from chrysalises to use the outside spaces to their full.

But it is not just the space itself that is of value to education. The natural objects are a treasure trove of art materials, data points, and mini-zoos. Learning out in the world, albeit often to a limited extent within the walls of a school, allows learners to experience something of the real world under the guidance of a teacher with new eyes. Such a change of perspective takes preparation and planning. This walking in the park won’t be a walk in the park!

While we pine for sunny weather, all-weather conditions have something too often in education. From rainfall counts and water erosion to wintry poetry and snow-covered paintings, as the weather is such a part of everyone’s life, it is only natural for it to be part of everyone’s education.

In this #UKEdChat session, which took place on Thursday 24th March 2022 at 8pm(UK), we discussed how schools currently use weather within lessons, how to use the outside environment to augment learning, and what weather-related ideas you can add you your own teaching.

Questions

1. How do you think the weather impacts on your teaching and pupils’ learning?
2. In your opinion, what is the best weather for teaching and learning?
3. What precautions do you have to take because of the weather in your school?
4. How have/can you use elements of the weather in your teaching?
5. How do you think the use of the outside environment changes when teaching different age groups?
6. What are your favourite fair-weather outdoor learning activities?
7. What are the important things educators need to think about when taking lessons outdoors?
8. When will you next take learning outdoors, and what might you teach about?

You need to Login or Register to bookmark/favorite this content.