The teachers at Fort Assiniboine School have found an interesting and creative way to teach their students about geography.
According to Kindergarten teacher Colleen Kiselyk, the students are participating in a virtual tour of Europe with British-born adventurer, writer and motivational speaker Anna McNuff, who is presently hiking across Germany.
“We were chosen along with four other schools from around the world to participate in her latest adventure and we get to help her make decisions about her journey,” Kiselyk said, adding that McNuff will Skype with the children directly in an effort to allow the Fort Assiniboine students to make travel choices.
“We get to learn about geography in a really neat way by taking part in her tour,” she added.
Kiselyk said McNuff began her journey on February 16.
“She is travelling on foot and by bicycle, and she is seeing how far she can get by ferry, foot or hitchhiking,” Kiselyk said, adding at each stop along the way McNuff posts a vote on Facebook, or a poll on Twitter.
“Our students have already made four decisions for her, and she regularly posts updates so that people can be aware of where she is at any given time of the day or night,” she said.
“It really speaks to my own adventuring spirit,” Kiselyk said, adding she initially found out about McNuff last year as the adventurer was running across New Zealand in an attempt to raise money for a children’s camp for kids with special needs.
When this tour came up, Kiselyk said she jumped at the opportunity and sent an email asking to participate on behalf of the school.
“We never expected to be chosen but it is really cool. All the kids are on fire over this and everybody is talking about it. It’s kind of neat to hear that happening.”
Kiselyk said there are maps in all of the classrooms with push pins marking the places where McNuff has been based on the children’s decisions.
“She updates us regularly and gave us a personal message that she was off on her way, and wherever she is in the world on March 13, that’s where the tour ends,” she said, adding McNuff routinely meets with people who send her messages saying they are in the same geographical locations along her journey.
“All of the children at Fort Assiniboine School are participating in this and it’s great because there are so many different levels of understanding. Kindergartens think that Edmonton is far away and others have a different perspective of the world. The beautiful thing about this is that all of the kids, from Kindergarten to Grade 9, they are all excited about this,” Kiselyk said.
If you are interested in following McNuff’s tour across Europe along with the children at Fort Assiniboine School, you can visit McNuff’s website at http://annamcnuff.com.
