"Living the Lesson"

"The Edible Schoolyard" was a video showing students at Martin Luther King Middle School in Berkeley, California beginning their day, not in the classroom, but in the organic garden they are growing together. The garden is said to be a "learning lab for social studies, math, science, and life. The children grow, cook, and eat the food produced by their hands. The children seem to comprehend better with they are taught using "the hands on" method. As well as teaching the children ecology, the garden helps them to learn to build communities along with cooperating with others. Children who may be good in math, science, and English, may not necessarily be good with their hands so this is good experience for them. The same applies with someone who is not good in the before mentioned subjects but good with their hands, this give them the opportunity to explore a field in which they may excel. The idea for this program was that of Alice Waters in 1994 to improve school lunch programs.
Awesome is the word I use in describing "A Night in the Global Village". This video profiles the Global Gateway Program taking place at the Heifer Ranch in Perryville Arkansas. The program allows students (in this episode the children are from the Rocky Mountain School of Expeditionary Learning in Denver, Colorado) to experience living as others do in "developing" countries. The five acre ranch is set up in communities designed to resemble those of the country they represent. The children experience first hand what it's like to live without little or no food and water, live in abodes not "fit for living, and to share and cooperate. What better way to teach a lesson than to live the lesson.
As a future educator, I continue to be impressed by the types of resources available to enhance the learning experience. Both of these programs, which are hands on, would be great to use.