First Field Trip

I took my class to the Kennecott copper mine today. It is the largest open-pit mining operation in the history of the world, and it's pretty freaking amazing. I had invited Even to bring his class along, so it was a big group. We had a good time.

It was obviously the first field trip of the year, and it may have been Even's first field trip in, I don't know, maybe ever. He wasn't as organized as he will be someday, and it made me feel like I've really got my act together. Woo, go me!

But it was a hard day too. Field trip days always are, right? There's the stress of making sure everyone gets off OK, and - even though you've got chaperons - making sure everyone gets back to school is kind of stressful too. I rode with a parent - Even had ended up with WAY more drivers than he needed, so I rode with Jennifer Knapp (who I'm a little shocked to learn is a churchgoing Mormon - I guess you just never know with Walden folks) and SIX little boys. When we got back to school I had the biggest headache ever. There was only a half-hour of school left, so we told the kids to find something quiet to do, and we called it good.

After school I learned that some parents are giving Even a hard time for not being academic enough? WTF is that all about? They complained on the SECOND DAY OF SCHOOL that there weren't enough academics going on in the classroom. Give the guy a freaking break already! Then last week the mom came into my class and says, "There is always so much going on in here - they're so busy with work. So what are you using for trackers this year . . . " and so forth. I knew something was up. Problem is, their child was one of SJ's little pets last year, and so they have this very skewed idea of what Walden is or should be like. We're not heavy on the academics - yes, we are concerned about testing and want our students to do well, but that is not the end all be all of what we are about. Fortunately, Lois is not the kind of administrator who would try to solve things by moving the child - b/c you KNOW they'd want their child in my class, and I don't really want to deal with those parents.

Tomorrow Kati is doing the Second Great Lesson. LIFE is coming to our classroom. How exciting! We'll also do a punctuation KE. I've got several kids who are really balking at writing their key experiences - not sure how to address that, except to collect the cards and hand them to each child in turn, "OK, now go write these down . . . " I didn't really have this problem last year (or the year before - except for JJ), so it's new.

I hope to finish the leveling for spelling tomorrow, and I'll probably be staying late at work to get the readers ready to go out in the take-home folders on Friday. It'll be a busy day.