Well then…. looks like I seem to be a tad forgetful and need email reminders to post….. huh. Ah well.
Since I last posted I can say that a lot has happened! I have successfully taught 2 different classes by myself! They included a pond class, A candle making and wagon packing class. I have also lead groups around for GPS classes.
Now, onto the first one. The pond class was relatively straightforward. The class walked down to the pond (which is really a lake, but it has the same invertebrates) and I then gave a small explanation about why it is a lake and not a pond, then we talked about adaptations of the flora and fauna in the aquatic environment. After I finished talking, that’s when the fun began! The children were let loose with nets and buckets to catch critters! I also grabbed a net and bucket, after all, the teacher needed to interact with the kids and have fun too! I also needed to make sure that we caught some important critters. After we finished catching stuff, we brought it all back to the big bucket and combined it together. Students were then asked to identify some of the critters with guide books we provided. After all that was done, we moved to wrap up the lesson and walked back to the assembly building.
The candle making class was less active, but still entertaining. first, earlier that morning, we had set up cans of wax around a fire to melt down. this took a couple hours. Then when the students arrived, we gave them a small piece of cotton string and talked about what people in the 1800s who were planning to move west of the Mississippi had to prepare for and what they did when they got there. after we had finished that, the students got up and formed a line behind a can of wax. The line was to give each student a chance for the wax to cool on their string. If they dipped for too long in the wax, they would just melt off the wax that they already had on it. While they were doing this, we talked about what candles are made of and what the frontiersmen used for wax. (beeswax and animal fat). when they finished making their candles, we sat the kids back down, and talked about the journey itself. This was something that took very little time, as the next activity was simply putting checks on a page. Wagon packing was just making a list of stuff we provided with the weight of each item, as there was a 400 pound limit on what they could bring.
there were other classes that we taught but I will summarizes those throughout this week as I will be mostly cleaning the office and doing chores around the DBOC. This is because the groups that are supposed to come out have all cancelled because of the flooding.