Embrace the Mud

Something about the beautiful sunny spring days that just makes me smile and want to spend more time outside. However, this past spring was RAINY! I feel like it rained for weeks at a time! Now, I know that saying “April showers bring May flowers” but it’s hard to keep that in remind when there are endless indoor recesses and postponed outdoor activities happening!

And so, this spring I decided to enjoy the weather. I was reminded of when I had a class trip and it rained all day. In fact, it poured! We were at an outdoors learning centre that only had a small enclosed area for shelter. Fortunately, students were dressed for the weather so we decided to dig right in.

Now, I enjoy the outdoors as much as anyone else (though perhaps slightly less than most in inclement weather), but spending all day in rainy conditions was daunting and stressful. The students, however, were prepared and excited. In fact, none of them seemed worried at all – they wanted to enjoy the day being together, learning outdoors, and being physically active.

I learned to embrace the mud! I let go of the idea of a perfect, sunny spring day and found joy in watching the students play, race, and splash. The outdoor learning staff was excellent at keeping them engaged, active, and busy. In fact, I even found myself enjoying the opportunity to build a wonderful, perfectly imperfect day together. We all came back soaked and smiling and happy.

Sometimes that’s just the way education goes. We have days that don’t go as perfectly as planned; art lessons or science experiments that leave the classroom a mess at the end of the period. This is the essence of teaching – embracing those muddy moments and seeing all the fun that is happening. Sometimes that’s the biggest lesson of all.