Adorable 4th graders

This past week we had 156 adorable 4th graders here. They were pretty cute, and very typical 4th graders. They came with every question imaginable, and didn't always want to listen to the answer. However, they were excited about everything, and they never had to be convinced that something was cool. As usual, my field group was into looking for frogs and animals. They also got to learn about shelters, and how to build a fire. They all love it here.

One of my favorite conversations from this week was with a student at dinner. This is how it went:

Student: "When did you have your first crush?"
Me: "When I was younger"
Student: *list of all of her crushes shes had* "See that boy over there, I like him, I am going to ask him out."
Boy at Table: "I thought the boy was supposed to ask the girl out?"
Student: "Whatever, they take to long!"

I noticed also with this group there was a lot of gender stereotyping. They boys thought they were stronger, the girls thought the boys were annoying. They also clearly did not want to interact with each other. I had to have many talks with kids this week about the issue. I think in schools they are perpetuating the stereotype.

As a staff this week, we all participated in chop stick challenge. How it worked was everyone was given a pair of chopsticks. Any solid foods that you ate during the week had to be eaten with the chop sticks. We all played until there was one person standing. I made it until Wednesday night. I accidentally ate some food that I was using to teach a class :(. It was still fun though.

This weekend I spent some time with the staff, since this is going to be our last week together. I also, did a lot of cleaning and packing.

For our last week we have 2 schools coming. Both are coming for 3 days, and both are 5th graders. I am teaching jellybellyology, shark dissection, inside out kid, camouflage and staking, megastructures, soccer ball digestion, and shelter building. Its going to be a very busy week.

Then on Saturday I will be moving into camp. Our staff training begins on Monday morning. I am really excited and looking forward to the new adventures camp will bring.

Here are some pictures from the week:

Only 2 weeks left at Natures Classroom

This past week we had 90 6th graders. They were very nice children. They were much more skilled at listening then our children from 2 weeks ago. They all were very excited to be at Natures Classroom. They were from Connecticut. They arrived on Tuesday and stayed through until Friday. It was a week that required a lot of flexibility. With the exception of Wednesday it was very hot! Wednesday we had rain during the morning, humidity in the afternoon, and thunderstorms at night. We had to change all of the evening programs this week. The kids still had a great time, despite last minute changes.

My filed group was pretty great this week. We called ourselves the goofy goober and they enjoyed hunting for salamanders and edible plants. They were great at working together as well, so they were able to go to our ropes course on the last day. I had one child whose name was Ethan. He was quite an old soul. He wore a Indiana Jones hat all the time. He said his mom gave it to him when he was little, and he's worn it ever since. He also told me that his grandpa has 2 '57 Chevy's. Whenever he goes to his grandpas they work on the interior of them. Ethan told me "one day, one of them is mine."

This coming week we have 155 4th graders coming! They will be coming on Tuesday and staying until Friday. I am going to be teaching shelter building, shark dissection, soccer ball digestion, and laughing yoga. Laughing yoga is all about the science of laughing. You do several exercises with the kids to make them laugh and feel happy.

This weekend I am hanging out in Dartmouth at Retha's house. We have been preparing for camp. I only have 2 weeks left at Natures Classroom before I move to Plymouth for the camp season!

Here are a few pictures from the week: