Audubon Lessons

I (Ken) joined Jonah and about 50 of his 5th-grade classmates went to the Audubon Center of the Northwoods (near Sandstone, MN) for a 3-day, 2-night field trip (Monday, May 14th - Wednesday, May 16th). Jonah's teacher (Mr. "G") was happy to have me come along because I would be able to share my experiences as a middle school teacher to a bunch of students who were about to enter middle school. Camp Audubon was beautiful.

The trees were in bloom.

Grindstone Lake was nearby.

The critters were a bit skittish. 50 fifth-graders, after all, aren't exactly quiet and placid.














I even found some time to walk and bird watch for a bit.  

 














Climbing Wall
Our first activity was the "climbing wall." Students were asked to spot each other and encourage each other to keep trying and push harder. Everyone set a goal to get above the black line.

Parts of the wall were tricky, even for Jonah who is quite used to climbing. (See Sheri's earlier blog entry that includes a photo of Jonah and Jazzy in a tree together.) Everyone tried climbing the wall, but many knew their limits and not all tried the hardest section of the wall.

Will they set goals and encourage each other in middle school? Will they know their limits? 


Team Challenge
On Tuesday morning our small group did some team-building and problem-solving exercises. They had to use supportive words, discover new ways to communicate, and achieve a group goal (such as moving two hula-hoops around the students as they held hands in a circle, arranging themselves on a log without talking or falling off the log, or rescuing a stuffed puffin from a river of molten hot chocolate). Will they be able to collaborate and cooperate in middle school? Will they be effective communicators?  

High Ropes and Zip Line

They also went on a high ropes course. Jonah, knowing I have a dread of heights, was looking forward to watching me sweat it out up there. Unfortunately, I was asked to monitor the zip line landing platform and didn't get a change to do the high ropes course. Darn. I did, however, get some great photos.

Each person on the course had a spotter that checked their gear every step of the way. Will they find someone in middle school that will check them at every step?

I'm beginning to think that it wasn't just the 5th graders who had lessons to learn.