Frustrated with the weather and having a hankering to try winter geocaching, I decided to spend time in the forests, and on the trails, of Duck Mountain Provincial Park with my brother.  Searching for caches in the winter certainly proved difficult and I had a few key learnings from the experience that I need to share.  I hadn’t adequately prepared the information from www.geocaching.com. I did write down the coordinates correctly and the name of the cache but in most instances I neglected to write down the clues or specific details. Next time I will put more time into this front end of this process.  I was naive to think we wouldn’t need the Google Map printout, which would have been handy at times.  Having only previously cached in non-wooded areas I was unable to foresee the affects the trees would have on the GPS reading; had I been thinking, I would have packed a compass to back up my conscious and negate the fear that we may be walking in circles.  Had I better prepared the trip we would of had a much higher success rate than 1 out of 4 caches. With all this being said, it was certainly fun to skidoo the trails, high step through thick snow, tramp across frozen marshes and enjoy the sounds of the forest.

I made a short clip of our experiences that day.

Give it a watch.

This video also highlights a few more things folks should consider about geocaching.  Both safety and ‘leave no trace’ principles are a concern at different intervals of the experience. At one point I slip and fall, and other point shows us nearly mow over a young sampling.  Reflecting on the experience brings these issues to light. These two principles must be at the forefront of planning such an outdoor excursion.

To complete the task I ended up using iMovie on my MacBook. I was all set to use photostory after viewing David Jakes tutorials, but when push came to shove, I shoved myself into the unknown world of Mac. It took a little time to figure it out, but I did, and I am glad I did. iMovie is a great tool full of neat features.

Over the weekend, I compiled photo’s and video of my favorite activities at the lake. My biggest challenge was remembering to take the camera with me. To beef up the story I then used some of my friend Jeremy’s photo’s from his time at the lake last summer and a couple pic’s from flickrstorm.

I am happy with the end product, but do recognize some weaknesses and things I want to do different with regards to timing and sounds. I also thought it would be cool to voice over a poem or reading that encapsulates my thoughts, feelings and reflections on my time out there, but alas, I ran out of time. Perhaps next time. Possibilities are endless with how digital storytelling can be used.

So without further ado, my weekend of relaxing.

Diving deeper…

The story of lightinthewoods. I will have to add a page on this subject because it represents so much to me but for now a brief explanation of the blogs title. First on all, it is my last name roughly translated from German to English. It is representative of my love for the outdoors. This further symbolizes my philosophy on teaching, as a model and facilitator, it is my hope that students are attracted to the light, follow and are guided by the light. I hope to shine light on new learning for students. Light also brings about mental imagery of electricity, and in turn, I have been able to apply this to my thoughts on technology in the classroom shining new light on education and learning (as represented by the woods). The light cliches are seemingly endless, but I foresee that much who I am and will be as an educator is reflected through this phrase.