Vision

Our vision was to create a resource for students and staff members at St. Timothy School that would encourage them to take the time to turn off devices, focus on nature, focus on their mental health, and gain a greater appreciation and knowledge of our Indigenous ancestors and their land.

We felt that by creating a Sit Spot Kit, classes would have easy access to materials that would help them with the above vision. The kit contained journals, pencils, whiteboards, and markers. By providing these materials, students and teachers were able to take time to journal about their wonderings and observations. Because the journals remained in the kit, week after week, students were able to read reflections from their peers. As well, the kit contained Indigenous stories that served as a way of gaining knowledge and greater appreciation for our Indigenous ancestors. With the help of our school librarian, the stories were carefully chosen and connected to our bi-weekly themes. The kit also provided classes with mindfulness activities that were directly related to the themes each week. Teachers could use all or as few resources as they wished.

Action

Through a brainstorming session with a small group of teachers, the contents of the Sit Spot kit were explored. We felt it was important to tie in Indigenous stories, mindfulness activities, journal prompts, and short discussion guide scripts. We incorporated resources from The Outdoor Learning Store and the Learning for Sustainable Future database.

We started off by hosting a “lunch and learn” for staff members. We wanted to introduce Sit Spots to our school’s staff, helping them to understand the benefits of its implementation and to walk them through the contents of our Sit Spot Kit.

Next, we created a sign-out schedule for staff that was easily accessible. Teachers could sign out the kit on a daily basis for 80-minute blocks. Bi-weekly, the mindfulness activities, lesson plans, and Indigenous stories were changed, allowing for a constant variety of resources.

One of the key pieces to our kit was the journals. Weekly, students added their reflections to the journals. These reflections were then available for other classes to read and respond to. To share our Sit Spot journey with one another, teachers have been encouraged to take photos and share them with other classes via class/teacher social media accounts.

Reflection & Celebration

It is uplifting to see the excitement that the Sit Spot kit initiative has brought to our school. Students from Kindergarten all the way up to the Intermediate grades are taking the time to pause, reflect, and appreciate our beautiful surroundings.

We have celebrated our Sit Spot journey by creating a culminating video that was shared with the school community.

Links