Outdoor Ed was a blast! We went to the same place I went in 8th grade. It was so great to do it as an adult, without all the insecurities I had back then. Plus I got to have my iPhone and Diet Coke and flat iron. When I was in 8th grade, I remember doing this thing where we had to get everyone in the group over a wall, and I was freaking out because everyone was going to know how heavy I was. On top of that, someone tripped in the cafeteria and spilled soup on me, which was also very traumatic and embarrassing. Everything is such a big deal when you're in middle school! I try really hard to be sensitive of that with my students.
Anyway, this time was different. My coworker, Katie, and I ran the pond mucking station, where the kids collected muck and looked for organisms. This was not as exciting as it sounded, and we were glad that they added something new this year- the worm holes. After pond mucking for a little while, we'd take the kids over to the giant tube slides that they went down in sleds. The last group we had today was really good at launching people down them. When they launched me, I was actually briefly airborne. It was SO fun.
I think my favorite part of the experience was the night hike. When we did this in 8th grade, we were with this grumpy teacher, Mr. Martin, so most of us smuggled Walkmans along. A few girls got caught, and we got this huge lecture about how we'd never make it out of this metaphorical "basement" to the "attic." So I made sure my kids were not bored on the night hikes. I hung back for the first one, observing Katie. She tried to make up a scary story, but it was not very effective. So for the second one, I made up the story. I was pretty proud of myself; I included just enough factual details to make the kids really believe that there was an escaped serial killer in the area. During the hike, I kept looking over my shoulder, saying that I felt like someone was watching me. And then the wind would pick up at just the right moment, and the kids would think they saw something in the shadows. (They weren't allowed to have flashlights.) One girl started freaking out and crying, so I felt kinda bad about that. I guess her counselor couldn't get her to calm down (even though I told her I was lying), because the freaking out led to her being homesick, so she was up till 2 a.m. Oops.
So obviously, we teachers enjoyed ourselves and had just as many shenanigans as the kids. Around midnight last night, the science teacher woke up a bunch of the kids and had them come outside while he shot his potato gun. Me, Katie, and Heather were sharing a cabin, and apparently they were right outside our window and we slept through the whole thing. What a responsible bunch of supervisors we were!
Overall, it was a great experience. I got to know some of the kids, made friends with some of my coworkers, and just felt like I was on vacation for a few days. Going back to work tomorrow will be rough, but I can't believe the last 3 days counted as work and the week's almost over!
Anyway, this time was different. My coworker, Katie, and I ran the pond mucking station, where the kids collected muck and looked for organisms. This was not as exciting as it sounded, and we were glad that they added something new this year- the worm holes. After pond mucking for a little while, we'd take the kids over to the giant tube slides that they went down in sleds. The last group we had today was really good at launching people down them. When they launched me, I was actually briefly airborne. It was SO fun.
I think my favorite part of the experience was the night hike. When we did this in 8th grade, we were with this grumpy teacher, Mr. Martin, so most of us smuggled Walkmans along. A few girls got caught, and we got this huge lecture about how we'd never make it out of this metaphorical "basement" to the "attic." So I made sure my kids were not bored on the night hikes. I hung back for the first one, observing Katie. She tried to make up a scary story, but it was not very effective. So for the second one, I made up the story. I was pretty proud of myself; I included just enough factual details to make the kids really believe that there was an escaped serial killer in the area. During the hike, I kept looking over my shoulder, saying that I felt like someone was watching me. And then the wind would pick up at just the right moment, and the kids would think they saw something in the shadows. (They weren't allowed to have flashlights.) One girl started freaking out and crying, so I felt kinda bad about that. I guess her counselor couldn't get her to calm down (even though I told her I was lying), because the freaking out led to her being homesick, so she was up till 2 a.m. Oops.
So obviously, we teachers enjoyed ourselves and had just as many shenanigans as the kids. Around midnight last night, the science teacher woke up a bunch of the kids and had them come outside while he shot his potato gun. Me, Katie, and Heather were sharing a cabin, and apparently they were right outside our window and we slept through the whole thing. What a responsible bunch of supervisors we were!
Overall, it was a great experience. I got to know some of the kids, made friends with some of my coworkers, and just felt like I was on vacation for a few days. Going back to work tomorrow will be rough, but I can't believe the last 3 days counted as work and the week's almost over!
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