Teach-Secondary-Issue-14.5

+ Why your students need lessons in digital resilience + Could your classes benefit from the ‘100% rule’? + The ‘freedom of speech’ issue in schools that’s going largely unnoticed + Why your support for students with dyslexia ought to extend further than coloured overlays + What’s stopping science teachers from delivering practical science lessons? + How the experience of creating a memorial garden helped one group of students bring their community together + 5 ways to address students’ needs without differentiation CONTRIBUTORS ROISIN MCEVOY Head of schools training, Anna Freud ROBIN LAUNDER Behaviour management consultant and speaker LOUISE SELBY Feelance specialist teacher, author, assessor, trainer and consultant DEBORAH HAYDEN Head of history ZEPH BENNETT PE teacher and school achievement leader LEARNING LAB IN THIS ISSUE NATURE POETRY ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jessica De Waal is a school leader, PhD graduate and freelance writer exploring environmental literature, ecocriticism and educational issues Thinking about … Y oung people today are increasingly disconnected fromnature. They’re spending more time indoors, and less time enjoying being outside. which can affect their wellbeing and limit their understanding of the environment and the climate crisis. Nature poetry offers a powerful way of bridging this gap, as it encourages young readers to tune into their senses, focus on the present moment and explore their emotions. Through vivid imagery and rhythm, nature poetry can evoke the beauty and fragility of our planet, and in turn, help children to appreciate the natural world. It also provides a creative and emotional space in which to explore the urgency of climate change in a deeply personal way. Taking students outside presents themwith a chance to pause and reconnect with the world around them. Sitting quietly, they can closely observe and record what they notice through each of their senses – a gentle wellbeing exercise that encourages calm, focus and emotional awareness. Back in the classroom, students can then use their sensory notes as the foundation for descriptive poems that capture the essence of their outdoor experience, thus sparking their creativity while fostering an appreciation for the environment. (Example poems – ‘Wind’ by Ted Hughes; ‘Death of a Naturalist’ by Seamus Heaney.) Nature poetry also let students empathise and connect with the natural world. One effective approach can be to have them choose an aspect of nature currently under threat, such as the Great Barrier Reef, amelting glacier, or an endangered animal. After researching its features, habitat and the challenges it faces, they can give this natural entity a voice using poetry. Writing in the first person, the chosen subject could reflect on its past, express its fears and plead for help. This exercise deepens understanding, encourages compassion and empowers students to engage creatively with real-world environmental issues. (Example poems: ‘Extinct’ byMandy Coe; ‘Song for the WoollyMammoth’ by LaurenMoseley.) To help students truly understand the degradation of our planet, teachers can use ‘before and after’ photographs of, for example, deforested areas, polluted rivers or melting ice caps. Examining the contrasts between these thriving ‘before’ and damaged ‘after’ images, students can reflect on what was lost and then write a two-part poem. The first stanza should try to capture the beauty, life and vibrancy of the untouched environment, while the second explores the subsequent destruction, absence or silence. This approach fosters empathy, critical thinking, and emotional engagement with environmental issues. (Example poems: ‘The Greenhouse Effect’ by Carl Dennis; ‘The Purpose of the Chesapeake &Ohio Canal’ by Dave Smith.) At a time whenmany are growing up detached fromnature, poetry can encourage mindfulness, strengthen language skills and give young people a voice with which to express their concerns and hopes. Through rhythm, imagery and reflection, nature poetry will help students to both see the world more clearly and care for it more deeply. 75 teachwire.net/secondary L E A R N I N G L A B