Tales from the Field: How YMCA Camp Seymour Started Revising Curriculum

Jill and Becca left the BEETLES leadership Institute in August of 2015, inspired, full of ideas, and ready to implement new professional learning sessions at their staff training only two weeks away. Jill had an immediate opportunity to implement BEETLES with students herself, loved the results, and became even more excited. For two weeks they planned and schemed, but then at the last minute, they decided that introducing the pedagogy in BEETLES while working with old curriculum might just confuse and frustrate staff.

Instead, they began hatching plans for a slower, more holistic program overhaul in the spring. During this time, Jill and Becca chose three existing lessons they felt confident adjusting without significantly interrupting the experience of long-time visiting classroom teachers. They decided it would be too much to simply ask teams of instructors to revamp the activities without a full understanding of the BEETLES approach, so Jill poured through each lesson, decided on the pieces she thought needed changing and wrote notes about the kinds of changes she thought would strengthen what was already there.

When staff came back from winter break, it was game on. In the first days of winter training, staff participated in two BEETLES sessions (Making Observations and Questioning Strategies) as well as some activities on the Learning Cycle. Then, Jill and Becca split staff into teams, with each team working on one lesson. Rather than simply forming teams on the spot, they were strategic. They asked staff to rank which lesson they most wanted to work on, then used this information, as well as Jill and Becca’s sense of who would work well together, to build the teams. Staff spent about two days combing through the lessons, using Jill’s notes and feedback as well as their own ideas, to completely revise each activity, converting them from instructor-centered to student- and phenomena-centered, and to inquiry- and learning cycle-based. Jill consulted with each group throughout the process.

In most cases, they didn’t throw out the old activities completely, but rather, re-arranged the order, cut some parts, and added others. After the initial revisions, each team piloted their unit with students, met to discuss and revise again, then finally taught it to the rest of staff to be officially integrated in the YMCA Camp Seymour curriculum. Instructors met this challenge with enthusiasm, spending significant time and energy on these revisions, with careful thought and sustained passion. While major revisions were limited to these three activities in this initial stage, Jill and Becca also led discussions with staff about ways to integrate additional BEETLES strategies into other curricula, hoping to empower instructors to make changes that felt right, but not overwhelm them with changes to every aspect of their teaching.

According to our recent interview with Jill and Becca, the experience so far has been fantastic: instructors are excited and empowered, students are much more engaged and connected to their learning, and classroom teachers are thrilled to see this engagement, along with teaching strategies and content that better supports what they are now being asked to do with the Next Generation Science Standards. With these initial successes, YMCA Camp Seymour instructors, program administrators, and visiting classroom teachers are fully behind updating more lessons, including a complete overhaul of one of their standard classes, Marine Science, which was recently piloted with willing teachers before becoming official this spring.

Becca and Jill were generous enough to share an example of how one of their 75 minute classes changed, complete with a before and after comparison of each part of the lesson.

YMCA Camp Seymour Reptile Class

75 minutes, indoors

OLD VERSION: subject-based, content-heavy, and instructor-centered	NEW VERSION: phenomenon- and student-centered, inquiry- and learning cycle based
Introduction (10 minutes): Naturalist brought live reptile to the meeting area to show to the students. Around the circle – your name and your favorite reptile Basic plan for the class, behavior/volume expectations and directions for how to enter the classroom	Introduction (15 minutes): Naturalist brings a Green Sea Turtle shell from a poached turtle to the meeting spot Naturalists know which classes a group of children have or haven’t taken. If they’ve taken a class that includes “I Notice, I Wonder, It Reminds Me Of,” staff can move forward to the next step. Otherwise, they introduce the three skills as the foundation of scientists’ work: making rich observations about their subjects, asking probing questions, and making connections. Students practice each skill aloud with a partner, then share out as a large group. We tell students that the class is student-centered, driven by their observations, questions and connections. Basic plan for the class, behavior/volume expectations and directions for how to enter the classroom Students are counted off into four groups and sent into the classroom
Content (35 minutes): Children sat facing a Naturalist and learned the four characteristics all reptiles share: Reptiles have bones (specifically spines, categorizing them as vertebrates) Reptiles hatch from eggs Reptiles have scales (and modified scales called scoots). Reptiles are ectothermic Children discuss common conceptions of reptiles and whether or not they’re true. Some examples are: All snakes are poisonous (change to: some snakes are venomous) Reptiles inhabit an important niche in their ecosystem (true) Reptile skin is slimy (false) Reptiles are scary (opinion and discussion of how opinions are shaped) Students meet each live animal that they will be handling. They learn how to handle each and some interesting adaptations to check out on each one.	Exploration (10 minutes): Students sit at a numbered station with their group. At the station, they find a couple of related items. Our four stations are: Scale/Scoots Bones/Spines Eggs Turtle Shells Students go through “I Notice, I Wonder, It Reminds Me of” with their items. As a full class, students share out their findings
Exploration (20 minutes): Students have unstructured touch time with each animal	Concept Invention (15 minutes): As the Naturalist facilitates this sharing, they probe children into discussing conclusions they can draw about reptiles based on the evidence in the room. They also provide information that can’t be deduced from their observations. This leads to revelations such as: Reptiles have bones (specifically spines, categorizing them as vertebrates) Reptiles hatch from eggs Reptiles have scales (and modified scales called scoots). Students meet each live animal that they will be handling. They learn how to handle each and some interesting adaptations to check out on each one. A question sheet at their station is introduced.
Conclusion (10 minutes): What’s one thing that you learned?	Application (20 minutes): Students have touch-time with each animal. As they change animals, they choose a question to discuss. Some examples of questions include: Observe your animal’s shape, behavior and other adaptations. Discuss, based on these observations, how you think your animal catches its prey. Notice the textures and colors of your animal’s scales. How do these help it survive?
N/A	Reflection (15 minutes): Naturalists have two options based on their students’ attention span and grasp of the concept, as well as the Naturalist’s confidence with their skills: Bring out a “mystery animal” (either another reptile or our tiger salamander). The children are asked whether or not this animal is a reptile (claim), provide evidence for their claim (evidence) and explain how they know their evidence supports that claim (reasoning). An example of a common answer: “I think that the mystery animal is a reptile because I can see it has scales and I know that all reptiles have scales or scoots based on the animals I saw today and prior knowledge.” The other option involves no mystery animal. The children can make any claim about reptiles based on what they observed that day as long as they can reason it with evidence. This is a more fruitful discussion that requires more critical thinking skills. It’s especially fruitful if we know students practice these skills in the classroom already.

OLD VERSION:

subject-based, content-heavy, and instructor-centered

NEW VERSION:

phenomenon- and student-centered, inquiry- and learning cycle based

Introduction (10 minutes):

Naturalist brought live reptile to the meeting area to show to the students.
Around the circle – your name and your favorite reptile
Basic plan for the class, behavior/volume expectations and directions for how to enter the classroom

Introduction (15 minutes):

Naturalist brings a Green Sea Turtle shell from a poached turtle to the meeting spot
Naturalists know which classes a group of children have or haven’t taken. If they’ve taken a class that includes “I Notice, I Wonder, It Reminds Me Of,” staff can move forward to the next step. Otherwise, they introduce the three skills as the foundation of scientists’ work: making rich observations about their subjects, asking probing questions, and making connections.
Students practice each skill aloud with a partner, then share out as a large group.
We tell students that the class is student-centered, driven by their observations, questions and connections.
Basic plan for the class, behavior/volume expectations and directions for how to enter the classroom
Students are counted off into four groups and sent into the classroom

Content (35 minutes):

Children sat facing a Naturalist and learned the four characteristics all reptiles share:
Reptiles have bones (specifically spines, categorizing them as vertebrates)
Reptiles hatch from eggs
Reptiles have scales (and modified scales called scoots).
Reptiles are ectothermic
Children discuss common conceptions of reptiles and whether or not they’re true. Some examples are:
- All snakes are poisonous (change to: some snakes are venomous)
- Reptiles inhabit an important niche in their ecosystem (true)
- Reptile skin is slimy (false)
- Reptiles are scary (opinion and discussion of how opinions are shaped)
Students meet each live animal that they will be handling. They learn how to handle each and some interesting adaptations to check out on each one.

Exploration (10 minutes):

Students sit at a numbered station with their group. At the station, they find a couple of related items. Our four stations are:
- Scale/Scoots
- Bones/Spines
- Eggs
- Turtle Shells
Students go through “I Notice, I Wonder, It Reminds Me of” with their items.
As a full class, students share out their findings

Exploration (20 minutes):

Students have unstructured touch time with each animal

Concept Invention (15 minutes):

As the Naturalist facilitates this sharing, they probe children into discussing conclusions they can draw about reptiles based on the evidence in the room. They also provide information that can’t be deduced from their observations. This leads to revelations such as:
- Reptiles have bones (specifically spines, categorizing them as vertebrates)
- Reptiles hatch from eggs
- Reptiles have scales (and modified scales called scoots).
Students meet each live animal that they will be handling. They learn how to handle each and some interesting adaptations to check out on each one. A question sheet at their station is introduced.

Conclusion (10 minutes):

What’s one thing that you learned?

Application (20 minutes):

Students have touch-time with each animal. As they change animals, they choose a question to discuss. Some examples of questions include:
Observe your animal’s shape, behavior and other adaptations. Discuss, based on these observations, how you think your animal catches its prey.
Notice the textures and colors of your animal’s scales. How do these help it survive?

N/A

Reflection (15 minutes):

Naturalists have two options based on their students’ attention span and grasp of the concept, as well as the Naturalist’s confidence with their skills:

Bring out a “mystery animal” (either another reptile or our tiger salamander). The children are asked whether or not this animal is a reptile (claim), provide evidence for their claim (evidence) and explain how they know their evidence supports that claim (reasoning). An example of a common answer: “I think that the mystery animal is a reptile because I can see it has scales and I know that all reptiles have scales or scoots based on the animals I saw today and prior knowledge.”
The other option involves no mystery animal. The children can make any claim about reptiles based on what they observed that day as long as they can reason it with evidence. This is a more fruitful discussion that requires more critical thinking skills. It’s especially fruitful if we know students practice these skills in the classroom already.

Jill is the Outdoor and Environmental Education Assistant Director at YMCA Camp Seymour and has been working in environmental education for twelve years. She loves working with kids of all ages, watching them discover the world around them.

Becca is the Outdoor and Environmental Education Director at YMCA Camp Seymour and has been working in environmental education for fifteen years. She loves anything outdoors, especially when her children are there to enjoy it with her.

YMCA Camp Seymour, in Gig Harbor, Washington, sent representatives to attend the BEETLES Leadership Institute in Santa Cruz, California, in August of 2015. Learn more about their program at http://www.campseymour.org/outdoor-education.

One Response to “Tales from the Field: How YMCA Camp Seymour Started Revising Curriculum”

Scott Jackson • May 4th, 2016 at 9:51 pm

Really proud of my team for their willingness to look deeply into our curriculum and strive to improve it. BEETLES was a great fit for us. Feel free to reach out to us to learn more about our work.