My son is a graduate student at Penn State. There, the winters are grayer than the Louisiana winters he knew. The arrival of spring was especially welcome to him this year, so he asked one of his professors the other day if he could hold his classes outdoors.
Outdoor classes are common in elementary school, so my son didn't expect his request to go anywhere. But the professor agreed, and several young people went outside to soak up the sun while tackling the tougher technical challenges of 21st century robotics.
This news reminded me of a column I wrote a few years ago that touched on my own fond memories of outdoor classes. Sensing the itch of children dreaming of playgrounds every spring, some of my early teachers came up with a compromise.
“They took us outside and learned history and grammar under the shade of trees,” I told readers in 2019. I now understand that the teachers also valued themselves. As spring blooms, they don't want to be in the classroom either. ”
I wrote these words a year before the pandemic sparked a revolution in how and where many of us work. As COVID-19 lockdowns forced many employees to stay home, the concept of work became more portable. Millions of workers now have only their laptops and smartphones to get their work done from anywhere: on the kitchen counter, in a spare bedroom, or even a shady spot on a backyard patio.
Although the pandemic has subsided, many Americans continue to embrace the newfound possibilities of remote work, including having home offices outdoors. I notice this every day when I take a walk in my local park. I often see people typing on keyboards at picnic tables. It could be a student working on homework, an executive filing a report, or an accountant pondering numbers while enjoying the afternoon breeze.
I love spring weather as much as the next guy, but I've learned that working outside isn't always the best choice for writers. I am still bound to notebooks and scraps of paper as my work tools, and one strong gust of wind can blow them all under the lawn.
Some of my best work unfolded outdoors on spring days when I taught writing to college students. This season, like my son's professor, I also decided to offer lessons outdoors from time to time.
With notepads in hand, we walked around campus looking for stories, generating dozens of ideas from the people and places we saw. I wanted my students to remember that learning often goes beyond the classroom and into the warm bloodstream of the larger world. As I thought about my son, who was outside this spring with the wind blowing his hair and thinking about various things, I became even happier.