What a crazy whirlwind of a day I had today. If you didn't know, today was my FIRST day of teaching here at Merry Lea! I was so excited last night that I found it difficult to sleep, and I tried to review as much as I could to make sure I didn't disservice the kids by forgetting anything. This morning I was so anxious and excited for the kids to get here that I could barely stand it! I love the feeling of excitement I get and the thrill of being in front of the kids (and the parents... don't forget the parents!). The day flies by when you are having fun doing what you love.
The four of us (Miranda, Katie, Monya and I) set up for Farmcraft. If you couldn't guess by now, a lot of hard work, heavy lifting, and muscle power go into setting up for Farmcraft. We go all out for these kids! Merry Lea has an excellent relationship with the surrounding school districts and the spots for this field trip are VERY competitive! A teacher actually told me that they compete over who gets to come to Merry Lea, how often, and when. Incredible! Such pressure for a newcomer to uphold the shining reputation!
As we were setting up, we went to find Jane, who wasn't teaching today, but was kind enough to come help us with the farm animals. We said hello to her, and she kept looking at the goats and shaking her head. Carol had a puzzled look on her face and asked, "Is George eating the turkey food?" Jane said, "Yep... he sure is. I don't know how to keep them from eating the wrong food." Let me explain-- I mentioned in my first post about the evil tom turkey who lives in the pen with the angora goats. Until he is moved into the electrified pen, he is staying with the goats. Well, when Jane went to feed the goats, the tom turkey kept eating the goat food. When she went to feed the tom turkey, the goat kept eating the turkey's food. Carol said this is not good, because when goats eat too much grain they can get very sick.
Next thing you know, Jane is in the pen moving the turkey food outside of the pen to where only the turkey could stick its head through the fence to get the food. Then you see George sticking his face through the fence... which was a funny sight to see. I laughed pretty hard at the whole scene. That goat, George, will eat anything, and he will eat a lot of it. He loves to eat.
Unfortunately, the kids were about 40 minutes late to their field trip. Oh no! For this reason, we had to cut one of the stations and quickly go through the ones that were left. Once the kids showed up, we got them successfully off of the bus and into the loft of the barn for the introduction. It is during this time that I can most easily assess the group and see what we're getting ourselves into for the day. During this time you can easily see behavioral issues, parent/chaperone involvement, and multiple other things.
While Carol was giving the introduction, there were some children on the first row who were causing some problems. She took it upon herself to interrupt the program not once, but twice, to ask one boy to calm down and allow her to finish the introduction. I had to quietly move from my spot down onto the floor where the boys were in order to keep them from shredding the carpet they sit on in the barn. I quietly (like a ninja) moved down to the floor, gently removed the piece of carpet from the boy's hand, and held it in my own. As soon as I did that, there were no more issues with them. It was just the one boy who kept acting out that caused problems.
After Carol introduced us and got the kids excited and pumped up for their day, the other instructors and I walked downstairs and waited for our groups to be assigned. I was the third teacher in line, and had to wait anxiously for my group! As I saw them running towards me, I noticed that the behaviorally challenging boy was assigned to me. I'll admit, I had a moment of panic, and curiosity as to why he as assigned to me. This was not my first rodeo with behaviorally challenging children, so I was not too worried about it.
Funny story-- I did not know this until after I was done teaching, but Carol had originally intended to give the challenging boy to Monya, who is a retired teacher and is also an expert with behavioral management. Turns out, the boy she did give to Monya was the brother of the boy she gave to me-- an identical twin who was dressed the same, had the same hair style, and who you could not tell apart if you had no idea they were identical twins. Carol apologized profusely, and I just said "Well, I just thought you were giving me a big challenge to break me in on my very first day!"
Yes, he did provide me with some interesting challenges throughout the day, but I was able to handle it. Heidi, my adviser from Arches National Park, always told me it is when you have challenges that you learn the most about yourself and your teaching style. I totally agree with her! Carol was very apologetic, but I just laughed and told her I handled it and that it wasn't an issue.
What a day! I began my first day of teaching journey with the kids in the Summer Kitchen. In this kitchen there is a wood burning stove, and we talk about how lots of ingredients that were used 100 years ago were made from corn. I asked the kids if they had a great imagination... because they needed to use their imagination to help make the *imaginary* magic muffins! We took our ingredient card, and each student helped to measure out the ingredients which we then mixed together in a big bowl. How many muffins are in a dozen? Let's count! I hit the muffin pan with the wooden spoon 12 times to pretend we were putting the batter into it, and then I put the thirteenth muffin scoop in my pocket to see their reactions. It was hilarious. I said, "What? You mean I can't have one?" First graders are fun. We put the magic muffin tin into the oven to let it "bake".
The wood fire stove in the Summer Kitchen is quite large and I showed them the inner workings and talked about the energy contained in the wood and how the ashes were used to make soap. The bucket came off the wall, and I told the kids the bizarre way that people took baths in the olden days! First the youngest child would climb into the bucket of hot water provided by the stove, then the second youngest, then the next and the next and the next... and then the mommy goes, and then who goes last? Daddy! Why? "Because he's the biggest!" That made me laugh. Dad would go last because dad was probably the dirtiest from working outside all day. What did they do with the water once everyone was done bathing? "Make soap out of it?" Not quite. They would take the water and pour it on their vegetable garden! Nothing was to be wasted! The concept that people took baths in a bucket without a shower head was bizarre for these kids! I loved seeing reactions to these concepts.
Once we were all done talking about the stove and bathing, it was almost time to change stations. Wait a second! The muffins are done baking! I opened the top of the stove and pulled out a covered bowl. Oh my goodness! You all did such a great job baking these magic muffins! I took the top off of the bowl and revealed the real corn muffins. Jaws dropped and I heard "WHOAHHH!!" Magic muffins are great! Each kid had the chance to try a piece of a muffin. A note with the stove: it is very important that you feed the fire, otherwise it goes out and it is not fun trying to get it restarted!
The next station was about meeting the farm animals! As soon as we got to the animal pens the turkeys started gobbling and making so much noise. They are so very loud when they have visitors! It was difficult to talk over all of the chaotic animal noise. I told the kids that the turkeys were just so excited to see them all that they wanted to show off their big feathers and talk to the children. One boy raised his hand and had a need to tell me that he speaks turkey! Can you go over there and ask them politely to be quiet?
We went into the barn and I am proud to say that I crept up on a chick and actually caught it! This was my first time to wrangle a chicken. I was proud! Little did I know that a bigger animal challenge was awaiting me. The kids pet the chicken, and we talked about the various animals. I brought them out the goat pen and explained to them why the tom turkey was acting so strange. I asked the kids, "Do you have bullies at your school?" "Yes!" "This turkey is a big bully, and he is hard wired to try and beat up the other turkeys. That's why he paces back and forth, back and forth, all day every day!" I told the kids to stand behind the pen while I went into the cage with the tom turkey and the two angora goats. Now the fun begins!
The tricky part was the fact that I had to creep into the goat pen, grab a goat to let the kids pet, all while making sure the evil tom turkey didn't escape. Challenge accepted! I unlocked the two locks, walked in, and both goats ran away from me. Carmel, the brown goat, is scared of people. Naturally when she ran, George ran too. I gently walked up to George and took hold of his horn. I spoke sweetly to him, so the kids would remain calm. Well, George is a BIG goat and Paul made it look so easy when he did this on Thursday. I began leading George, who then decided to lock his knees, which resulted in me literally using every ounce of strength I had in me to drag him through the dirt little by little, inch by inch. The good news for George was that I'm always up for a challenge! He was being so stubborn but I thought to myself, I will get him outside if it kills me so the kids can see him.
Eventually I got him safely out of the pen, all while holding him by one horn, trying to close the gate, and making sure the tom turkey didn't escape. Don't ask me how I did it because I have no idea. The funny thing is that, as soon as the kids started gently stroking George, he instantly relaxed. It was as if as soon as he knew I wasn't intending to shear him, he sighed and stopped being so stubborn. Until next time, George. If I'm sore tomorrow from goat pulling, I won't be able to do much but laugh.
Before we left the animals, I asked each kid to do their best turkey noise. Some were pretty good! Then, the same boy who told me that he was fluent in 'turkey language', told me that he could speak Pig and Piglet. I asked him, what is the difference between pig and piglet language? "Uh.... umm... one... is bigger?" Adorable. Even though his turkey noise sounded more like a dog in pain, his adorableness made up for that.
After the kids washed their hands, we were off to the cider press! It is at this station that I really had to provide clear instructions, especially for my little behavioral problem, because the grinder has some pretty sharp gears. Luckily for me, my group was amazing and followed my instructions so well that I made it a point to praise them as often as possible. I was very impressed! The kids lined themselves up in two different lines, and one group came around one side to drop the apples into the hopper, and the other came around the other side to turn the crack and grind the apples into mush. Below the grinder is a bucket with a net in it where the apple mush collects.
Before we pressed the apples, I took one out of the bin and pushed on it as hard as I could between my hands and asked the kids if I could make apple juice from this. No! Of course not! After we ground up the apples, I reached my hand into the bucket to show them the mush, to which they all said EEW! Gross! and then I squeezed it. A lot of juice came out. Wow! I then took the lid to the bucket and put it down in the bottom, and then used a lever and screw to push the lid down as far as possible to get as much cider out as possible. The cider then falls down an inclined plane into a bucket, and the kids were fascinated to watch this process. Once all the cider was in the bucket, one kid took a sieve and another took a funnel and we poured the cider into containers that each teacher brought with them.
Once the containers are taken back to the school, they are chilled and then given to the children to drink the next day. How exciting! Although the apples were no longer pretty, the kids highly enjoyed eating the smashed apples out of the bucket before we put them into the compost bin. Before we talked about the compost bin, we discussed the fact that in the "old days", people tried to use every part of everything that they could. Therefore, they would use the cider to drink, cook with, or make things like apple cider vinegar. The chunks would be fed to the farm animals or used in the compost bin. The kids couldn't believe that 100 years ago, people used everything that they could! One child asked me if we could give the whole bucket to the pigs, but I had to tell him no because do you know what else loves apple pieces? Yellowjackets! If the apple chunks sit in the trough and are not all eaten by the pigs, then the yellowjackets come. We do not want that!
Once we had made cider, we trotted over to the garden so the kids could see what growing vegetables looked like. The kids were told about how families would produce almost all of their food themselves. I picked some small, ripe orange tomatoes and let the parents and kids try them. Mmm! They even asked for seconds! Sorry, but we need enough of these for everyone! I snapped some fresh green bean pods off of the vines and broke them into pieces. The kids gobbled them up! Kids actually liking vegetables must be a Northern thing. We talked about how fruits and vegetables needed to last throughout the year, so it was preserved by drying, pickling, or canning. Energy for drying came from the sun; energy for canning came from fire. Food provided the energy for the family's bodies to be able to work and play! Next it was off to the canning station.
Here we discussed how they would can their produce, and the children tried to guess what was in the cans. We had everything from dried corn, peaches, grape juice, to canned beef! Gross! We took the bucket of apple chunks from the cider press and dumped it into the compost pile and talked about how compost piles work, what happens to turn the rotting fruit and organic material back into soil, and about how this soil is perfect for growing fruits and vegetables in! The kids got a good smell of decomposition in action.
Before I knew it, it was time for lunch. I took my kids back to the grassy part of the farm and had them sit with the rest of their class. My kids were begging me to let them see and feed the pigs again, so I made a deal with them that they could only feed the pigs if they all agreed to wash their hands afterwards, which they did. When we made it to the pigs, I explained that the pigs can mistake fingers for big juicy carrots, so I had them grab some leaves, then put their hand into mine so if the pig decided to nibble them it would get me first. Granted, these are first graders so their hands aren't that big and luckily the pig didn't try any funny business. The black pig loves to interact and talk (oink oink) to the kids. The kids love hearing the pigs talk to them! The pink pig was too busy trying to root its way out from under the fence. When I took the kids over to greet the piggies, there was dirt flying all over the place. When I walked over the the pink pig, it looked up at me like "What? I wasn't doing anything!"
Paul is planning to build a cement trench around the pig pen so they won't be able to dig out. They root so much around the fence that there are piles of dirt everywhere. Even though it might take them a while to dig deep enough to get out, it is better to be safe than sorry. I asked Paul, "What happens if a pig gets loose?" He laughed and said "YOU have to catch it!" What I would like to know is, how do you even catch a pig?
I was in charge of watching the kids during lunch and they were so anxious to ask me when my birthday was and share their food with me, which I gratefully declined. If you value your health, it is wise not to accept food from children!
After lunch, the anxious kids went on a hayride around the area while the rest of us cleaned up and pressed the rest of the apples. I was in charge of collecting trash and recycling, and cleaning up bathrooms. Then we met the kids and helped everyone get off the hayride, and we ALWAYS make sure to wave to the school group as they leave. One funny thing that a parent said to me as she was getting off of the ride: "I have hay in places one should never have hay."
We had a small meeting after the kids left and we finished putting everything up and I got to tell Carol and Paul about the kids who ran up and gave me hugs and how one of the girls said, "Miss Katherine, I wish you'd come to our school." "Come to your school and do what?" "I dunno.... just come and stay!"
Also, getting to hear: "Miss Katherine! You're the best leader everrrrrrr!" truly made my day and I was beaming from all the positive feedback I had received on my FIRST DAY! I even had an adult ask for my email address so she could send me pictures. I hope she sends them soon so I can put them on here for you all to enjoy! The teacher of my group came up to me after the trip was all over and told me she thought I did an excellent job. I thanked her so much and told her that was the best compliment since this was my first day. She was shocked! She said she would've never known. What an amazing compliment.
After our first practicum meeting and first assignments, I rushed to my house to grab my phone and head to Columbia City to run some errands. I looked at my phone and noticed that the "Update" it asked me to approve in the morning had corrupted my phone. I couldn't open my screen without a stern warning: "Android.web has encountered a force close". Say what? Panic! I couldn't call anyone, I couldn't open my text messages... it was useless. What do I do NOW? Well, it was off to Fort Wayne after my errands to find a Sprint store.
I was in the Sprint store for about 3 hours. I will spare you the details, but I got traded multiple times and eventually ended up being given to these young tech boys who were desperate for someone to listen to their stories. They were pretty curious about me... so I participated in small talk just to make the time go by faster. After they figured out I wasn't from around here, they asked me where I was from and I said I am from the great state of Texas! One guy immediately asked me, "Did you go to University of Texas or to A&M?" I quickly responded with "There are more schools than just those two in the state of Texas. Besides, A&M isn't even in the Big 12 anymore. They recently joined the SEC." We then discussed their first game against Florida. Then, this guy, who is from Ohio and has never even BEEN to Texas, showed me this huge Texas Longhorn tattoo on his arm. How very classy. He said "What, you've never gotten drunk and made a mistake like this?" I said "....No. Just fix my phone please!" The small talk continued, and the other tech boy was very eager to tell me many stories... and honestly I tuned him out and kept saying nicely, "I just want my phone to work!"
I've had some very interesting interactions with Indianans here. There are always stories to be shared once they find out I'm from Texas. I always get these two questions from people I meet for the first time: "Why did you choose to come to Indiana?" and "What do you want to do when you graduate?"
Since I had such a long day, and wanted to celebrate the success of my first day of teaching, I decided to treat myself to some amazing Thai food from Baan Thai Elephant. This place is so good, and they have a 27/30 review on Google. I trust Google! I took my food to go and ate it at home. I have no problem eating at a public restaurant by myself, but I just wanted to go home and relax. I hadn't even changed out of my work clothes at all!
Well, if you made it all the way to the end of this incredibly long blog post, then congratulations! Hopefully my next blog will have pictures of yours truly teaching this program again! For now, since this blog was picture-less, and that's not like me, I will conclude with two pictures from when we took the 9th graders out into the swamp. The first picture is of the students searching for macroinvertebrates, and the last picture is of Paul holding up a jar full of lit methane gas that Jane collected from Kesling Wetland-- right behind my house!
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