2017 Round-Up: A Year in Review
This past year has been filled with learning opportunities that have brought incredible clarity 
for 2018. My 2017 mantra and word for the year has been to ONWARD. It is exciting what happens in a year and how our community of Natural Teachers continues to grow. Thank you for joining me on this journey to reconnect children with nature. This time last year, I couldn’t even imagine how the year would unfold. Like in previous years, all I knew was that I needed to trust myself and dive in. Here we go with another Round-Up Year in Review for Outdoor Classrooms.
BLOG: Within a total of over 55 posts, we learned a lot about best practices for teaching outdoors from many Outdoor Classroom visits. We learned 3 Tips for Creating Outdoor Gathering Places, how to Add Nature Study Indoors and Out from our visit to the Parker River Community School and the In’s and Outs of Pond Day from 3rd graders at Brookwood School.
NEW PLATFORM FOR ON-LINE E-COURSES: There was no doubt about the few exciting growing pains that occurred when we transferred all the e-courses onto a new platform. This was a huge job that we did over the summer! The result? A smoother experience for you, the student. Can’t wait to roll out my NEW e-courses in 2018! 
DESIGN ON A SHOESTRING BUDGET COACHING: Programs wanting to take their outdoor classroom to the next level and not knowing where to start have found my NEW coaching option to be a perfect fit. Read more.
E-COURSES: The new e-course called More than Mud Pies: Making a Mud Kitchen was a delight create and continues to be fun to explore. I trusted and re-launched Exploring Nature in Winter for the second season and am finding it especially pertinent this winter with temperatures in the single digits.
ON-SITE WORKSHOPS: Facilitating live Outdoor Classrooms Workshops is always an honor as I love meeting Natural Teachers in person. This year, when the opportunity presented itself, I held many workshops outdoors in outdoor classrooms, on playgrounds, in the woods, and on black tops. I am filled with gratitude for these opportunities to inspire teachers to teach outdoors!
BEES: We learned a lot about our backyard bees this year and harvested a small amount of honey. It was a magical experience and very exciting to put my first teaspoon of our own honey into my tea.
GREATEST HITS OF 2017
- Interview with Mike the Gardener
- 5 Tips for Preparing a Bird House Installation
- 5 Steps to Reframe Mud Kitchen Overwhelm
THANK YOU to everyone who joined me in the Outdoor Classrooms Facebook page in 2017. I look forward to sharing a playful 2018 with you all. Looking forward to growing this great community of gardeners, farmers, teachers, parents, cooks, and outdoor enthusiasts.
Tell me, what are your Outdoor Classroom goals for 2018? What would you like to learn more about? What would you like to improve or implement?
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I welcome 2018 with a new mantra: Dig Deep for Harmony. Here we go!
Victoria
On My Nightstand
