The Floating Classroom - A Unique Outdoor Learning Adventure

Paddling for students burns off energy and introduces the great Canadian Outdoors. By combining paddling with interactive learning, a floating classroom is created... that no student will forget.

A new approach to outdoor education has been the concept of a floating classroom. In southern Ontario, near Paris, the Grand River is being used as a teaching backdrop. Students can hop aboard a raft with naturalists, foresters and historians to do a paddling adventure into the valley.

Eight-man rafts are used because they paddle like large canoes, but offer total safety. The goal is to get all students into the outdoors... far from the computer screens of feigned reality. The paddle in the hands of the student becomes like the familiar "computer mouse"... maneuvering through the large "River" screen.

The very act of rafting creates team work. As students paddle together, the guide reads a "Joe Bushman" quiz. In response, students banter... seeking the answers. From ridiculous laughter to amazing insight, everyone finds themselves cheering or groaning. There are tough inventive questions like "which animal in the valley fights bum to bum... or how can you keep your pots shiney without scrubbing them?"

Then there is the natural competition between rafts, great effort and energy is spent trying to sneak up and splash. Added are competitions where teams pull to shore to compete in "Cook dat Egg". In this situation, each team is given a pot, egg and matches. The goal is to see which team can build a fire, boil the egg and eat it. The desire to win develops instant team strategy... along with the decision of who will eat it! This whole event brings forth leaders & doers from unexpected corners.

Along the way students can stop to swim or body surf a river swift with life jackets. They also enjoy dumping out their water bottles and filling up with the real stuff from springs. The highlight is the unexpected... spotting a deer, seeing a plunging osprey or surprised by the flash of a large fish. The excitement of "where is it" catches every ones attention.

Hikes are conducted to give a "feel" for the Carolinian Forest that the group is paddling through. There is the chance to see beaver chews, try wild edible plants, taste wild honey and learn aboriginal remedies. Trees identification is taught by using the quirks of smell and touch. There are climbs to scenic bluffs where students sit in a panoramic classroom, hearing the peculiarities of the extinct Neutrals in the valley below.

The story telling while sitting together in the rafts, is where interest is honed and history remembered. Each guide has a repertoire of stories... telling about wildlife, European settlers and aboriginals. Students absorb as quickly as the tale is told. And questions flow.

These 4 hour floating classroom adventures make the Grand River Valley come alive. While rafting, students discover the variance in river depth. They experience water power by walking against the current, amazed at the difficulty... gaining a healthy respect for more turbulent water.

The floating classroom concept provides a unique way of "experiencing everything together". Many education facilities have been blind-sided by the imagery of whitewater, thus labeling all rafting as risky.

Ironically, rafting is safer then any canoe or kayak trip because the guides can control where the students go, and the rafts don't tip.

Teachers will discover that the "inattentive" student thrive in this world of hands-on experiences and story telling. The youth's pretentious veneer peels back with each learning experience. These students are the very ones wishing the trip would not end... and talk about it for days after.

Rafting the Grand River is an excellent field trip. Regardless of size, skill or swimming ability, students can safely experience the river... and still be right in the middle of it all. And that's what the concept of the floating classroom is all about!

Garth Pottruff worked for a number of years with the local canoe & kayak outfitter in Paris and was not satisfied with the teaching venues there. He found that with school groups, canoes were constantly tipping over because of the students lack of skills. The guides spent more time rescuing then teaching. And the trip mileage was so long that paddling dominated the adventure.

In response, Garth created the Grand River Rafting Company. By using rafts he was able to create a teaching environment where every student could go down the river in safety, but experience paddling. He chose to deliberately shorten the trips and increase the experiences... thus creating the "Floating Classroom".

For some schools rafting is not an option... so Garth transferred many of the experiences into a Hiking Classroom environment. So whether it be hike or paddle, students can have the opportunity to experience.

Garth is a forester, professional guide and historian. His enthusiasm is contagious... and his techniques of teaching catch everyone's attention. Teacher after teacher... from public school to university have commented on how insightful are his learning experiences. He makes the classroom come alive.

Garth realized that for many teachers, organizing a field trip is time consuming. So to help teacher's with field trips, the Grand River Rafting Company offers a Teacher's Aid Package to assist in planning a customized program for that teacher's class. Further questions can be answered by calling toll free 1-866-286-7722 or email.

For teachers wishing more prep material on the Grand River Valley, there is an educational website on the valley and aboriginal history called Grand River Rafting Blogs and Legends.

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