I so badly want to just go to bed and not blog tonight, but so much cool stuff happened today and I know I’ll just not write about it if I don’t do it now.
The mantra that kept going through my head today was, “How did I get so lucky to get this job?!” The entirety of this ‘summer field trip’ experience is making me so excited to get back into the classroom and into my new school. J, the other new teacher I’m rooming with on this trip, is so awesome and I can’t wait to do some cross-curricular work with her (HEYO COMMON CORE!). The kids are in so much awe of absolutely everything around them. It brings me back to the first 6 weeks of GRS when Joe asked us about the importance of “wonder” in science curriculum. Wonder is all that I’m seeing from these students. I can’t wait to harness that and build on it in the classroom.
This morning we took the 8:00 am ferry to Block Island. This means we left the hotel at 6:30 in the morning! I had to have 2 cups of coffee (read: half coffee, half milk) to even feel awake. Thank goodness for the kids in my car – they were high energy from the get-go with plenty of sing-alongs. I think “Music Mondays” are a must in my classroom this year.
Once we got to Block Island, we started off at Adam’s Farm. Here’s a picture of some students checking out the animals.
Then we took a walk down to the point of the island. There are two currents that meet here (and at the time I’m writing this, I cannot remember them off the top of my head) and so there are waves crashing into each other from two different directions. In the picture below, you can even see where the two currents meet by the change in water color.
Mr. Sabo and students standing on the point
Also, GRS-ers, here’s a picture of some detritus that’s gathered along the beach. Mmmmm rotting seaweed…smells just like Lake Ontario.
After lunch, we were off to the Mohegan Bluffs. The bluffs are giant cliffs that overlook a beach. There are steep stairs to get down to a landing, and then you must traverse down some rocks in order to reach the beach. Some of the kids made me nervous, but that’s probably just because I was nervous about my own lack of balance on the rocks while wearing flip flops. Not smart, Miss S!
The stairs down to the bluffs
Students at the final landing, learning how to measure wave height by using a person as an estimate (Sound familiar, Michael?)
The bluffs. Mmmm rocks.
Things I’ve learned about my students from today:
- They like to complete tasks quickly. This could be because they were told that they could go swimming when they were done answering some questions, but they really really wanted to be done quickly
- They have SO MUCH ENERGY. ALL THE TIME. The whole day was go go go go go go go go with little time for rest and we just got back to the hotel and most of the kids were still go go go go go go go go go. It will be very important for me to remember to feed off of this energy rather than fight it.
- They still need practice with being specific. When asked how they measured wave height, many kids wrote, “we estimated it” or “we used our team leader.” I’ll definitely need to do some kind of experimental design work with them – probably the PB&J or shoe-tying activity to make sure that they are as specific and direct as possible with their procedures.
The rest of the day was spent swimming at the beach and exploring ‘downtown’ Block Island for dinner. And after two days, I can already tell that my two mantras from my spring student teaching placement will be the same as my two mantras for this year: be specific and Mrs. S is my mother.
