Blog Post #7

According to Wikipedia, experiential learning is the process of making meaning from direct experience. My son was lucky enough to be a pupil of one of the most masterful teachers I know. My son, Jeffery, spent 4 consecutive summers in Colorado experiencing the classroom of the earth. There was no set curriculum, rather, Jeffery and his two friends decided each year what they wanted to learn.

The first year they learned about shooting rubber duckies. Now how can that be educational? Think about it. The boys spent hours sitting on the front porch of the log cabin, shooting BBs at yellow, rubber duckies of all sizes that had been hung from a crossbar. The boys thought it was all great fun but they were learning at the same time. They learned about gun safety, gun cleaning, resilience (of the duckies to the BBs), physics terms like trajectory, drag, arcing, velocity, acceleration and more.

One year they shot and killed 4 beavers that were damming up a very important water way. The boys learned how to clean, skin, and tan the hides of beavers, they learned the importance of water in the high mountains in Colorado, they learned about water rights and municipalities. They learned how beavers can effect the lives of people and vice versa.

One year all of the boys were turning 15 and dying to get their learners permits to drive. That summer, they all learned how to drive a stick shift. They learned how to ride ATVs, build bridges, mend fences, build campfires, and cook food in the outdoors.

My son's senior year, this teacher took him on the trip of a lifetime. They spent 10 days in Alaska photographing Grizzly bears, fishing for salmon, and learning about glaciers. This man gave my son the precious gift of his time, knowledge and expertise, but most of all, he helped my child understand that our world has so much that it can teach us if we reach out and experience it. The mundane comes alive and truly inspires students to learn.