The Edible Schoolyard and A Night in the Global Village

I really enjoyed this educational clip. The Edible Schoolyard , located in Berkley, California, along with the Martin Luther King Junior Middle School, has taken learning math, science, social skills, and social studies to a delightful new level. Not only was it interesting, but it makes you wonder how a teacher could incorporate different real life situations to help students learn. And learn in a different, but fun way. It's like the "head fake" that Randy Pausch talked about in his last lecture. Which simply means students learn in a fun way while unknowingly learning some type of educational objective.
Even though students at the Edible Schoolyard aren't in a classroom setting, they learn the same core subjects being taught in a public school. They learn math by calculating ingredients needed for cooking and using measurements. Science is learned by discussing things like water molecules and condensation. They also learn social life skills, for example, working as a team. And this style of learning just happened to be created by the wonderful mind of Alice Waters, who was only trying to improve the school lunches...Way To Go!!




The next video clip of the Rocky Mountain School of Expeditionary Learning at the Heifer Ranch is amazing. You often hear about modern kids being spoiled or being born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Well, the kids from this learning school is learning how to live on the other side of that spectrum. On the ranch, the students are divided by numbers and placed in different styles of living conditions based on other poor, underdeveloped countries. They have to learn survival skills that are out of the norm. Skills like how to cook food without a stove, how to communicate without talking, how to negotiate with others, and teamwork. This style of learning not only teaches those skills, but it also teaches students to be thankful for what they have because there are those in the world who are less fortunate.

Both of these videos had a lot of educational value. Students will learn how to deal with real life situations. From growing their own food, to communicating, to working with others as a team. And even though the learning environment is different, they both still serve an educational purpose.

Both videos made me realize teachers can form ideas outside of the "box". And a fun, interactive, learning environment can teach students on many different levels on various subject matters, all at one time. There are so many resources educators can use now, teachers have no excuse for not being creative. And being creative like these two schools, will leave a long, lasting impression in the lives of their students. And that's what counts! To find out more, please visit this link for the Heifer Ranch or visit edutopia .