"One Thing" for Thurs. Nov. 7

Are we getting outside enough? With Daylight Savings hitting us (hard) it makes me wonder whether we will be able to get enough Vitamin D in our bodies. I have long been on record of being against whatever we call this "time" on the clock. I feel it is depressing to come out of work and it be pitch black. Do we really need the light in the morning when we are all at our house? Why not have it afterschool when kids are practising soccer and playing at the playground. I just don't think it's the safest way to live. And we're doing it because it's always been done that way and farmers need it to be light in the morning? Not a good reason in my opinion.

I believe that, curriculum aside, one of our jobs as educators should be ensuring that our students get outside, stay active and gain a love for the outdoors. If you can't love Vancouver, what place on Earth would you be able to love? In school what that looks like might be different. Whether that's running laps around the school with your class, riding bikes around the community, or doing walk to school campaigns, it all adds up to getting outside to do something. David Suzuki's I was impressed when my daughter's grade 2/3 class came home with notices this year that they would be riding their bikes to the community garden, so if they can do it...
Here's a link to a great document from the David Suzuki Foundation about Connecting with Nature:
David Suzuki website, CLICK HERE

I thought I would finish with this. At one of the school track meets last year, I saw one of the teachers at my son's school with a shirt like this one:
                                  
                                       Sorry the graphic is small, but if you can't read it, it says: 

"Ask Your Teacher to Take You Outside."

Should they really have to?

image from: http://teachinginkenya.weebly.com/uploads/9/7/1/4/9714886/1323746570.jpg

and yes, that link there is because I spent today in a meeting learning about copyright.