Zoo Report

Went to the zoo today.

It's a great trip with the second graders.

What I love about this trip is that it's so well organized. The planning starts months ago, but only on the actual day can you tell how nice the organization is.

The teachers have a list of animals from the zoo and divide the students into pairs to do research. This is the part that I help with, but not a lot. I think I mainly provided access to the resources. Each pair prepares a report, writes a dialogue and creates a costume for their animal. They present their monologues to the first graders when they dress up and freeze like statues in their room. They get 'activated' and present their information 'in character.'

At the zoo, there's so many adults to help that it seems excessive....except....

I overheard another chaperone from a different school trying to keep track of her charges and was really thankful for our large adult numbers. I was responsible for two children. That meant that we got to see what we really wanted to, moved at our own pace, had no arguments over where to go, each child could hold the map, I didn't have to hold the stuff of 6 kids and it was just wonderful.

Wandering Boy was usually a few feet ahead of us and always said "okay, let's go!" Shuffling Feet was trying her hardest to read all of the map and walk at the same time. She told three other adults, "Look! Ms. V said I'm in charge of the map!"

How awesome is that?

We saw alligators, tarantulas (I have a great picture of that one), elk (awesome!), and many other things. We got ice cream with sprinkles and toys in the gift shop. It was a great day.

I also know that teachers are generous, but until watching our teachers pass out cash to students who didn't bring money, it doesn't really sink in. Cash passed to students is not tax deductable. There's no receipt for items purchased. It's just that quiet, behind the scenes generosity.

So for those of you who are parents....or might have field trip kids: Send a stack of fives to your child's teacher for that extra field trip money. It makes an awesome difference.