May 5, 2017: Kodiak field trips

Today was J- Jewel Beach Day!  We took the kids to Jewel Beach for a first grade field trip.  I LOVE thinking about the huge differences between teaching in Kodiak and teaching in Chicago.  Field trips are just some of the ways that these schools are polar opposites.  In Chicago, the most outdoorsy trip we ever took was to a farm.  The kids walked around an immaculate dairy farm (that even had electronic information boards for the kids to read and interact with).  And even here, their parent chaperones were hosing them down with sanitizer before lunch, swatting frantically at insects, and struggling with farm smells.   In Kodiak, we wake up and see it's going to be 48 degrees and just a slight chance of rain, and we pack the kids up and walk 30 minutes to the beach!  Kids throw on their waders and Xtratufs and are in the ocean collecting sea glass and crab shells.  Our parent chaperones are digging in the sand alongside the kids, happy to be seaside on such a "beautiful" day.   There are dozens of things I appreciated about teaching in Chicago, but I have to say Kodiak field trips are my jam!

I also have to say that I really liked this note that one of my student's mom put on his water bottle.