A New Nickname

I should start this entry with the story of the title. I now go by the name Eskimo here at Natures Classroom. This is the name that the kids call me while they are here. I was given the name by a co worker, Retha, who decided that she was going to tell the children I spent time in college living with Eskimos.

The week went really well. We had a wonderful group of 7th graders this week. They were a small group. There were 22 of them (the entirety of their 7th grade class.) We began the day jumping right into program after some lunch. We took the kids on a  hike to check out some of the sites of the woods. We showed them several edible plants and then spit them all out. At the end of field group they said they were never going to eat plants again. After a little break, it was time for classes! I taught my first class and it went very well. the only thing I panicked about for a moment was the fact that the class was finished after an hour, and I had been given an hour and half to teach it. I decided to play some games with them for the rest of the time. The person who observed my lesson said she was impressed and thought it went well.

The next day we took the kids on a hike again in the morning. We took them to a place called Hemlock Point and Hemlock falls. They are two of the prettiest places on site. We found many frogs and many trees to climb. One student found a hollowed out tree and climbed in it. The visiting teacher came with us on our hike that day, and he was a very nice person. Later in that evening we took the students on a night hike. They surprisingly were not very scared. I did a chat with them about eye patches and pirates. (Pirates used to wear eye patches so that they could see better at night when traveling.) The kids enjoyed it and worked really well together trying to find our way back when we couldn't see.

On Wednesday we had an "all day". An all day is a field group that starts at 9:30 and ends at 2:00. We pack lunches and eat outside somewhere. We took the kids to an area called the "blow downs". the blow downs is the area that was damaged by a tornado two years ago. We hiked through and had the kids explore all the uprooted trees. Afterwards we found a spot to stop and have lunch. From there we found a fire pit and taught the kids how to build a fire. Later on that evening we had our Underground Railroad simulation with the children. I helped play that part of the pass giver, secret abolitionist, and sheriff.  The pass giver is the person who gives that students a fake pass in case they get caught by anyone while escaping slavery. The secret abolitionist pretends to be friends with the bounty hunter and
helps protects the slaves from being captured. The sheriff attempts to catch the safe house owner harboring slaves. The kids got a lot out of the activity. They said that even though it was scary they learned a lot.

On Thursday morning I ran my first meal. When you run a meal you are in charge of keeping the kids entertained during the meal. Meals are an hour long, but the kids only eat for the first half hour. After the eat I taught them a song, and talk to them about ort. Ort is food that the kids take to eat and don't. I told them about the largest landfill on Staten island. We also weigh how much ort the kids had at each meal. (Hoping they will waste less food when they return home.)

Friday was a short day, the kids left after lunch. In the morning we took the kids to the low ropes course. They loved it! Overall the week was awesome. I had a group of girls give me a giant group hug before they left. They each also insisted they get a picture with me before I left. They all told me that I should be either a teacher or a singer. One even said I should come be there music teacher.

Finally, this weekend I decided to take up a new skill. I purchased a ukulele and am in the process of learning how to play. My first goal is learning how to tune it. I'll be sure to keep you posted on the progress.