Russ Dirks

I love learning and working alongside learners. Taking a deep dive into deeper learning has changed my way of thinking both professionally and personally. From observing my chickens (and thinking about how their behaviors are metaphors for learning), to co-planning/co-teaching learning experiences, to seeing the excited faces of connected learners; it all gets me thinking, wondering, learning, and acting in new ways.

I love to learn about:

  • sustainable living and our interaction with the environment around us
  • asking good questions that invite learning
  • honouring learners and what they have learned via documentation
  • building competencies, skills and dispositions in myself and the learners around me
  • growing a learner’s mindset

I enjoy supporting teachers and their students by collaboratively creating learning experiences including:

  • vermi-composter building, separating compost and building soils
  • learning in the outdoors (Tourond Creek Discovery Centre, Rosenthal Nature Park, and the outdoor spaces around schools and in communities)
  • deeper learning growth in all subject areas
  • a sustainable approach to living on planet earth
  • coming alongside the interests and passions of others

VIEW MY SHARED RESOURCES BELOW

Storytelling and Story Acting – Growing the Language Arts

“Once there was a spider. And then it ate some teeth… “, as told by Phoebe, a 5 year old in a K class at MES as it was being scribed. Moments later, as I tell the story to the class… “Could you be the spider? I’m curious about what a spider might look like…

Mar 6, 2020 · Russ Dirks

Spaces for Learning and for All Learners

Maybe the title seems a little obvious but having been a teacher for many years and also having been in numerous classroom spaces, both indoors and outside, I’m not convinced the spaces we teach in are always created with the learners in mind… “for learners and learning”. If you are feeling cynical, you could say…

Nov 2, 2019 · Russ Dirks

Touching Nature, Making Memories

“…we can now assume that just as children need good nutrition and adequate sleep, they may very well need contact with nature…The health of the earth is a stake as well. How the young respond to nature, and how they raise their own children, will shape the configurations and conditions of our cities, homes —…

Nov 1, 2019 · Russ Dirks