Today I accompanied Aaron's class on a field trip to the Barrier Island of Capers Island off the southern coast of South Carolina (near Isle of Palms). It was a cold day with lots of wind, but plenty of sun. The tour consisted of a trip to Capers Island on a boat and then a tour around the island looking for sea shells and lessons on erosion and ecosystems. It also provided insight into Aaron's classroom and the 5th grade mentality.
So what did I learn today...that there is a whole new generation of kids in the world...that by 5th grade (in my opinion), it's too late...you can't teach basic fundamentals like respect for oneself/elders, manners, motivation, or just general human decency - regardless of a person's nature ability or the education (private/public) that they receive. Okay, so that might be a bit extreme. The experience was actually not that bad, and neither was the kids behavior as a whole. But, for real...what happened to saying thank you, picking up after yourself, and showing appreciation for others. For the most part, the kids were good - relatively quiet on the 2 plus hour bus ride to the island and relatively attentive during the tour/lessons, but after (upon returning to the school) the bus was a mess, the kids hopped-up on sugar (from the larger than normal-sized pixy sticks), and out of patience. Yeah, it was a taste of what Aaron and every other teacher deals with on an every-day basis - God bless them all! It made me thankful for my desk job...surrounded by adults in my nice quiet office.
Some pictures from the day at the beach. This shot represents the effects of erosion. If you look closely (just above the guide's head) you can see the "old" base of the tree.
A sand dollar...one of the many creatures we saw. Other things that I learned today...
1) The movie High School Musical seems to me to be an awful lot like Grease - only redefined a bit to fit into today's vernacular.
2) Moes is yummy!
3) The tide is cool.
4) Every once in awhile it is good to get out of your daily routine and experience the world from a different angle/perspective.
5) There is a lot left to see/experience in South Carolina.
2 comments:
When you went into Moe's did everyone yell "Welcome to Moe's"??
It is a very weird phenomenon we've found here in the ATH.
Yes, I think its a policy similar to Cold Stone, but man I love that place!
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