The Natural World

The ten design principals underpinning all we do at McAuliffe reflect the educational values and beliefs of Kurt Hahn, founder of Outward Bound. These principles include an appreciation of The Natural World.

In June, we will plunge headlong into The Natural World with a three-day, two-night camping trip.

This trip will be “Challenge by Choice”- there will be a challenge of some sort for everyone, but each individual will choose their level of individual challenge. 

There will be some Crew-based activities including preparing and cooking a meal all together.

Cat Videos On The Internet

“And, please don’t waste time watching cat videos on the internet.”

That’s how I ended the instructions to my crew a few days ago. It’s actually something I say a lot. It’s what I hope will be a funny way to follow up on my instructions that they make use of this time for something academic, i.e. homework, classwork, reading etc. We only had about 20 minutes and they had no interest in playing a game or doing a check-in.

My instructions did lead to a telling interaction:

Student: “What did you do for fun when you were in 8th grade, Mr. McKellar?”

Me: “I watched cats.”

Student: “I don’t understand.”

Me: “I watched cats.”

Student: “I don’t understand.”

Me: “I watched cats, actual cats”

Student: “I don’t understand.”

Me: “The internet hadn’t been invented yet.”

Student: “Okay, but I still don’t understand.”

Me: “I watched cats, real cats”

Student: “I don’t understand. How did you do that?”

Me. “We had cats and used to watch them play….in real life….not on a screen…in my backyard - real cats!”

Student: “Ohhhhhhhhh, I understand.”

Find The Things That Excite You

“I can get excited by learning something new.”

That was the HOWL (Habits of Work and Learning) target I wrote on my front board Friday.

I think sometimes kids think it’s cool not to be excited or impressed by the things they learn. They act as if they’ve seen it all already, that they can not be surprised by something. They can be really blasé about really exciting things.

I think sometimes they don’t allow themselves to be excited - it wouldn’t be cool.

Trust me, there are way more important things than coolness. There is the excitement of exploration.

I learn new things every day. I get excited when I’m surprised by something I didn’t know.

I’m still thinking about all that I learned about the Colosseum in Rome a few weeks ago. I was blown away by all the amazing things I learned during a short tour (a retractable roof - really???). My imagination has been on fire thinking about how this structure was built and used all those centuries ago.

If you are studying the criminal justice system, plant cells or quadratics, seek out new ideas. Find the things that light a fire in your imagination. That “thing” will be different for everyone. 

Find what excites you - things that you want to learn more about. Actively seek out new ideas and new information. The lessons we teach are not the end of the topic...they are the beginning.