Field Trips. Sorta.

I think I have come to decide that one of the best parts of my job is field trips.  I suppose for some they can be a hassle what with all the organization and work that often has to go in pre-trip and the stress of getting places on time and without problem, but the outcome is always so worth it.  You get to go somewhere interesting, and you can connect with students on a different level than the everyday classroom relationship.

The field trips that I get to go on at Branksome Hall Asia are super cool.  The grade 11s and 12s that I work with are involved with different CAS activities for the International Baccalaureate program.  Every other Monday, I have the pleasure of taking six of my students to an after school care center where they teach little kids art and music.  Three of them teach art, two teach piano, and one teaches the violin.  There are maybe twenty children at the center, maybe a couple more, ranging from four or five to twelve-years-old, I think.

Honestly, each visit is crazy.  The center has two pianos with one in a separate room, so the music kids all divide and conquer.  Everyone else does art.  And it starts off well. But those young boys only like to sit still for so long and at about 30 to 45 minutes, we lose a few of them to the movement urge (which is often accompanied by the need to shout and play tag).  But amid all the crazy, it is still a lot of fun.  My students really show these kids that they care through their actions and each week the kids are excited to see them.  I also find it fun when the little ones try and talk to me. The really young ones prattle on in Korean while others try to use the few English words that they know.

The other field trips I get to go on are related to student well-being.  The students in residence are pretty much stuck at the school and they work incredibly hard all week.  I have taken girls to the library to study on Friday nights and early on weekend mornings.  Seriously.  Some of these girls never stop.  Because of that, we dons try and plan outings to give the girls a fun break away from the residence.

This past Sunday, students had the option to go Ziplining for a couple hours. Only three signed up (out of the 42), but we still went and had a blast. It was a long drive to the other side of Halla Mountain to get to to the venue, but the facilities were stunning and the staff was incredibly efficient.

View from the top of the first ziplining tower.

Along with ziplining, we had green tea ice cream in the cave café before heading back to the school.  The best part of the trip is hard to pick--the gentle banter between the students over music selection during the car ride, my one student's crazy yells with each ziplining run (she screamed a lot, but she did it!), simply getting to know more about what my students are interested in, or the trip in its entirety.  All I know for sure is that I would take students again in a heartbeat.

That's all for now.

Love and Hugs.

Send me a Postcard: From Fort Henry

Well, we're into December and the weather still cannot make up its mind.  Monday was 9°C, Wednesday 5° and Tuesday?  Well, Tuesday this week was a startlingly frigid -17° feeling like -22° with the wind.  My body was not prepared for that sudden descent into the ice box.  And you know, I probably would have been okay had I only needed to walk to and from school, but nope.  Tuesday, I had the pleasure of going on a field trip with one of my classes to see and experience Fort Henry in Kingston, Ontario.

I had never been to the Fort before and was excited to see this historic site.  And honestly, the day was lovely: the sun was shining and the sky was patched with blue.  But, as the main body of the Fort is pretty much outside... Cold. It was a cold field trip.  I say that I couldn't feel my nose, toes or fingers after a few minutes, and sadly I am not exaggerating.  An hour after I got in from the cold, I was still struggling to warm up my finger tips.  (Luckily no frostbite!).  Still, despite the cold, the Fort was pretty cool.  And it had a killer view of Kingston!  Just look at that lovely image.

Image of Kingston from Fort Henry

What's really cool about Fort Henry is the way that the site is run.  The employees work hard to create an interactive learning experience.  At different times in the year, they put on dramatizations of battles that the public can come and watch.  And, in addition, our tour was also like a play.  Our guide was in character the whole time (I think he said he was a Lieutenant Colonel... either way he was near the top and he was in uniform) and addressed as army recruits.  We had to march and answer his questions as if we, too, were part of the militia force.  It made for a fun learning experience.  At one point, he mentioned how groups would sometimes spend the night and I honestly wished that we could have been doing a sleep over trip.  Before I knew it, our time was up and it was time to leave.  This was definitely one of the best Tour Guide/Museum experience that I have ever had and I wish it had been longer.