I forget so easily how unnerving it can be for many young crew mates to leave the comfort of their routine (family, homes) to disembark on a potentially painful and emotionally raw journey of physical and mental stamina. Yet, every voyage-departure-morning as I organize my last bits and kids shuffle around grabbing their gear and say "hasta luego" to family, I'm struck conscious by students' uncertainty and the overwhelming buzz of their courageous energy mustered to step on. There's not a voyage experienced that I don't return elated by the shear bravery, compassion and just overall grit exuded by the young. All doubts I had on what I believed was a cap on the capability of 11 and 12 year olds, continuelly is being redefined. I'm sure by now you've heard about how soggy our trip into the woods became. Dripping tarps, saturated socks, moist sleeping bags, gray skylines, tree-top tippin' winds, cold fingers and numb toes. The stories are true. Some of natures less tolerable elements converged on the Jefferson Creek Trail system and presented the crew with a maelstrom of undesirable situations. We were forced to dig a bit deeper into our personal toolkits of wellbeing and readjust our mindsets. Everyone was successful to one degree or another. The images below are a bit of a contradiction to our struggle. Yes, they capture some exhaustion, stoicism, and wavering confidence, yet they truly highlight the grand time we did, with certainty, experience. One evening during Last Light we had a conversation around how challenging adventures almost always manifest into positive memories. How can that be true when adversity can pound hard times into an experience? I say, mindset and thoughtful, considerate reflection. One could proclaim our trip a failure because it was hard. Instead, I'd like for us to reflect on those small moments when a friend made you smile or lent their gloves to warm your unbearably cold fingers. Perhaps recall the complex smell of the drenched forest, the way the sun's heat, if only for a moment, elevated our spirits or how the wind rattled the pine needles and brushed against our cheeks. You hiked through the mountains for four days carrying supplies that nurtured and protected each of your crew mates. You walked halfway up Mt. Guyot in the clouds, over talus. We all ate filling food and drank clean water because of you. ...Or, maybe, we simply find solace in acknowledging that for a week our classroom was the Colorado wilderness. We exhausted plan A, B, C and ended up on plan D...elighful. Below are just a few of the 800+ images. At the bottom of this post is a link to the entire collection. Here's a link to our crews Google Photos page.
Science ExpeditionWe are building background knowledge for our expedition by exploring an "unknown substance" which we are using as a vehicle to hone our scientific thinking. This week one big idea and one guiding question were reveled, which are: Big Ideas:
To begin answering the question we tooled around with a loose version of the scientific method and some of "its" process': question, S.W.A.G., observations. Curious about the meaning of S.W.A.G.? Ask your 6th grader. We started off by distinguishing the difference between subjective observation and objective observation. What's the difference between subjective and objective observation? Check in with your child for an explanation. When we return from Voyage we will continue investigating scientific method and the differences between a systematic observation and an experiment? Below, the crew explores dry ice, which, I was able to consistently refer to as Object #1, or "unknown substance", for two full days before I gaffed and spilled the beans. So it goes. Now that they know the mysterious substance is dry ice they must still figure out how to prove it is what they claim it is. One scientific habit that we identified is that scientist take notes. To better understand how scientist have historically recorded their thinking we checked out a variety of ways curious minds from the past and the present process their thinking and communicate ideas via the scientific notebook. The images below portray students exploring science notebooks excerpts through a silent conversation. Zoom in and take a look at the students posted notes. Little MathematicsMath may look slightly different for some and quite the same for others. This year some of the crew will be working with *Ms. Amanda, our schools math specialists, while the majority of the crew will work with me. On Wednesdays the whole crew embarks on a journey to solve a math riddle or logic problem. Each problem demands systematic thinking and organization. The crew will work together to fill their tool box with problem solving strategies. Sometimes we will fail. Yet, we will always succeed in gaining insight into how to better approach future problems. For students I will primarily be working with our first unit is Prime Time. In this unit we explore relationships among factors, multiples, divisors, and products. This includes:
The kids took the pre-test for our first investigation. Ask your child to tell you about "The Factor Game", factors, multiples, prime numbers and composite numbers. * Ms. Amanda will be communicating directly with families in regards to student progress and course specifics. Below, crew work on their first logic problem and a handful of us set off and explore factors within the Prime Time unit. LiteracyIn the images below you'll notice a few literacy based things goin' on: the exploration of fables, reading with first grade buddies and organizing the classroom library. The "fable" list within the photos was generated through student observations. Reading - We are exploring fables and searching for "the life lesson" or moral. Why? It's an accessible and fun way to apply comprehension tools, such as "think aloud", "generating questions", and summarizing. Writing - Each crew member will take what they've learned from our fable research and apply to their own short fable. Students will each set personal writing goals and choose one goal to focus on while they generate a fable. We will also explore figurative language, expanding detail and creative ways of expressing the mundane. Team BuildingIt looks like play, and it is. Team building is an essential component to the success of voyage and classroom projects positive outcome. If kids can learn to work together to solve complex problems than the joy that learning together can bring is illuminated. So, we team build to develop communication, cooperation, creativity and critical thinking skills. Below are a few pics from the weeks team building activities: Helium Pole, Group Lift and the underside-of-lava-proof-raft-is-melting- Tarp Flip. Voyage PrepThis past week was full of lots of discussion around Voyage. "How many miles do we hike? Cotton socks are cool, right? Do I have to go to the bathroom in the woods or can I use the park outhouse? Will it rain?..." All great questions that ideally were answered clearly. Below are a few pics highlighting gear check, list of things to discuss, loading backpacks, choosing patrol names and growth zones. Take a look at the growth zones pic (last photo). The pink X's are locations that each student placed themselves in relationship to their personal level of comfort around a certain voyage related event. Most X's fall in the comfort zone yet a few landed in the growth zone and one or two exist on the cusp of, or deeply in, the panic zone. This could be a good tool to guide a discussion with your child about where their heads are one day before departure. Please see Ms. Deborah's blog post for Love and Logic date and time updates. Important Dates:Fall Voyage: 8/20-8/23
Day of Rest: 8/24 No School: 9/3 No School: 9/21 Fall Break: 10/8-10/22 No School :11/6 Thanksgiving Break: 11/21-11/23 Below are few images that capture the first few days of school. The pictures highlight a few intentions: team building, problem solving, acclimating to classroom space, play and teaming up with our first grade buddies, Mr. G's crew. The purpose of the first few days of school is to create a place that all involved want to take part. It's essential that we begin by generating a space that nurtures belonging, safety, trust, expression and curiosity. As we move through our days and weeks we will continue to play, solve problems and build a caring classroom culture, yet we will shift away from predominantly "team-building" exercises and gravitate towards more academics--the intention is to transfer our burgeoning skills to solving real-classroom, real world problems. Important Dates: Gear Check: 8/16/18
Fall Voyage: 8/20-8/23 Day of Rest: 8/24 No School: 9/3 No School: 9/21 Fall Break: 10/8-10/22 No School :11/6 Thanksgiving Break: 11/21-11/23 A Few Nuts and Bolts
Storm Dismissal - Orange FlagIn the event of stormy weather or unsafe dismissal conditions (lightning) we will have an orange flag storm dismissal. The following procedures will be in place:
1. An orange flag will be placed on the stop sign out front of the school. 2. Your child's teacher will send an email letting you know about the orange flag dismissal. 3. You will need to come into the school building and sign your child out from their classroom. -Our crew will be in the library *Please note: Children must be signed out and while it is often convenient to ask a friend to grab your child, we can only release students to you or people on your emergency pick-up list. Please make sure that you have updated this information at the front office. If you have small children or a caregiver who will be picking up your child, and unloading from the car provides an additional risk, please let your child's teacher know so that Ms. Deborah or another staff member can escort your child(ren) to the car. Do NOT park in the kiss and go lane unless you have been "approved" by the front office as needing your child(ren) escorted to the car. 4. Walkers will not be released until it is safe for them to be dismissed. 5. Children who ride the bus will be escorted to the bus for departure. If you have any questions about orange flag dismissals, please be sure to contact your child's teacher or the front office. |
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