Why aren’t more classes outside?

Get outside.

We’re telling everyone to do so for Thanksgiving. Some cities are helping restaurants and bars move more of their operations outside.

But at school? Many educators in Arizona have dismissed the idea outright. That’s a mistake.

Because the benefits go far beyond improved ventilation and safer operating conditions.

The New York Times recently reported on schools across the Northeast and Midwest that are learning outside, on roofs, in parking lots and with stumps as chairs, despite cold temperatures and snow. Some districts are handing out hot tea and urging students to wear snow pants or bring water bottles to keep their cores warm.

The kids love it.

In rainy Washington state, students in one district tend a half-acre, districtowned farm that helps grow food for their lunches. Students who are struggling most with online learning get priority for the hands-on visits.

They love it.

Yet here we are in metro Phoenix, with sunny skies and temperatures in the 70s and low 80s, and if most schools that are still open for in-person learning send kids outside at all, it’s for the two state-mandated recesses (in the lower grades, at least), or maybe for lunch or physical education class.

Few are teaching core reading or math outdoors.

I get it.

Successfully teaching outside isn’t simply a matter of going outdoors. It takes planning to adapt lessons that involve computers and scheduling to ensure classes aren’t tripping over each other for the space.

Few schools also have spaces readymade for outdoor learning. Some say they don’t have the funds to buy tables or shade structures. Others worry that students will be distracted or that teachers won’t be able to properly sanitize anything.

But those who do outdoor learning say those are red herrings.

Vera Sagor regularly conducts math, reading and science lessons outside at Stanfield Elementary, a rural school near Casa Grande. The third-grade teacher wheels a board under a large shade tree to introduce the lesson, then gives students time to practice on their own or work in small groups.

The class brings blankets to sit on, and when students are reading or writing in their journals, they can spread out enough to safely remove their masks.

Students work in the fresh air for 30

classes

like to 40 minutes, then go back inside to assess what they’ve learned on tablets or do some work on the smartboard.

Kids love it. They have no trouble staying focused, Sagor said, and the change of scenery seems to put everyone at ease.

That’s important, because in-person learning is vastly different this year, and though many changes have been made in the name of safety, not all of them are necessarily good for engaging students.

A lot of hands-on and play-based work has been nixed for fear that it could spread the novel coronavirus. Students spend much of the school day working at their desks, not up and moving around. Some are still watching lessons with the remote students on their laptops, even though the teacher is delivering the content live, a few feet in front of them.

Combine that with the stress of this pandemic, and the isolation many students feel, and it’s no wonder so many are struggling.

Yet Principal Cybill Jacob has seen the wonders sunlight and a change of scenery can do at Peoria Flex Academy, an alternative school that is housed on the Peoria High School campus. Before the pandemic, students used a gated courtyard to grow herbs and vegetables in raised beds, cook in Dutch ovens or learn CPR skills.

But English and history classes are now regularly using the space for their lessons, and last week students were deeply engaged in an outdoor Monopoly game, using sticky notes so none of the pieces were shared.

They were working together safely. And there was not a cellphone in sight.

So, how do we get more schools thinking this way?

Well, for one, we can’t put this all on schools. Teachers and principals are already overloaded with everything else the pandemic has thrown on them. Few have the capacity to try something new.

It would be monumentally helpful if the state Department of Education offered best practices for moving lessons outdoors – particularly in adapting lessons for the environment but also in choosing and scheduling the space, so schools don’t have to recreate the wheel.

Some CARES Act funding from the governor also would go a long way, so schools can acquire the equipment to make this more comfortable for everyone.

But big capital improvements aren’t necessary. The students at Peoria Flex Academy move tables throughout the day, following the shade the building provides. Teachers spray surfaces at the end of class with the disinfectants they are already using indoors.

This is doable.

And the payoff would be more than worth the effort.