Mrs Alysha Rocher

On oct 27^th our class met at Cottonwood Island Parl for land and place-based learning and lesson planning. This was a great experience as last Thursday we also met at this park for another class. I found I was able to connect both classes together to inform my ideas on land and place-based learning.

Last Thursday when we met at the park and participated in an activity where we were split into two groups. Myself, in group A, was walked over to a tree and asked to get to know the tree by observation alone. Group B was given a book on trees and asked to study the Cottonwood tree. Then we all came back together and discussed the activity from both sides – now understanding that our tree was a Cottonwood tree. There were other groups in class that participated in a similar activity, but by using google, AI, or YouTube. As a class we found that the groups who were asked to observe had a much more personal connection with the tree and we all gave our trees a name, however our facts were lacking. In the other groups they had all the facts, but lacked the connection. This was a wonderful example of how both types of learning have a place in education.

I feel like we were then able to bring this learning to our class on Monday at the park. My group created a lesson plan for grade 2 Science where we are looking at the life cycles of trees in the area. Our lesson would follow a day in the classroom when we learnt about coniferous and deciduous trees. We would then take this knowledge to Cottonwood Island Park, look at trees with our students, and talk about what kind of trees they are. I feel this would make a perfect balance of experience, connection, and facts as was demonstrated in the class above.

Both of these classes at the park have made me think about the value of land and place-based education. I love how learning on the land and in place brings a personal and experiential connection to education that we would miss out on if we just stayed in the classroom.

In this class we participated in The Blanket Exercise which was guided by Dr. Daniel Sims. This was an impactful physical representation of the history of Indigenous People throughout the colonization of Canada.

As this activity covered history that most of us in the class were already aware of, participating in The Blanket Exercise was very different from learning in a lecture or a book. The exercise started with blankets laid out all over the floor and we were asked to sit or stand on the blankets. Some students were also given coloured cards. As the activity progressed, we were told stories of what Indigenous people faced in the past, and as these stories were told we, the indigenous people for the sake of the activity, began leaving the blankets. Blankets were folded and removed as Indigenous people were displaced from their land, and as this happened, we either had to squeeze onto other blankets or leave the activity altogether. One of the most shocking steps in the story was when everyone with white cards had to leave the activity as their lives were taken by diseases that were brought over from Europe – seeing the amount of people that had to leave the activity at this time was overwhelming. It was heart breaking to observe children being moved to separate blankets representing residential schools, only to be returned back but without knowledge of their culture or family anymore.

After the activity we participated in a sharing circle. Many students with Indigenous families and friends expressed deep feelings of how hard this activity was for them as they had to see and feel what has caused their family and friends so much trauma, and see how resilient they had to have been to make it to todays world.

This activity was powerful for me as it was a physical and emotional experience that we participated in – helping us feel a tiny piece of what Indigenous people must have felt over the years.

Wow! That a fantastic day at West Lake Provincial Park. We started by finding our sit spots from “Me and My Sit Spot” by Lauren Mclean, reviewed Land Acknowledgments and the First Peoples Principles of Learning, and ended with a “Walking Curriculum” by Gillian Judson.

I found a sit spot looking out over the water where I could see the beautiful golden yellow of the leaves reflected on the lake. I remember in the story the child talked about how as she sits in nature she begins to slowly notice more and more around here. After about 7 minutes sitting in my spot I looked down beside me and noticed white daisies that I didn’t even know were there when I sat down. I found this an amazing representation of what we notice when we sit quietly for a period of time. I felt connected, alive, and open to learning.

I loved reviewing the “Reconciliation in Land Acknowledgments” pamphlet that was shared with us from the 2024 UNBC B.Ed. Cohort. I particularly enjoyed the poem Land Acknowledgement that it used in Primary schools in SD57.

“Here is the land

Here is the sky

Here are my friends

And here am I

We thank the Lheidli T’enneh

Whose land we work on and play

We promise to take care of it

Each and every day”

I find that this is a beautiful way to make a Land Acknowledgment personal, relatable, and understandable to children. This poem and the whole pamphlet did a wonderful job of explaining the meaning behind a Land Acknowledgment, how to make it personal and meaningful – not just a set paragraph that we recite.

Lastly, we participated in “A Walking Curriculum” by Gillian Judson. This consisted of a series of activities that had us connect to land in meaningful ways. My favourite activity was all about movement. It asked us to walk around and observe movement with our eyes and then imitate it with our bodies. It also invited us to observe how we know there is movement without seeing it with our eyes. For example, the sensation of the wind or the sound of leaves rustling. I feel like this was a really fun activity that students would enjoy.

I greatly enjoyed this beautiful fall morning at West Lake learning from the land. I am so grateful to live, learn, and play on the land of the Lheidli T’enneh. When I am outside learning I feel happy, awake, and amazed at the beauty around me. I hope to take some of these practices into my classroom someday.