Day Six: Central Noble 7th Graders

Today we had 90 seventh graders from Central Noble.  I knew that seventh grade would be significantly different from everything we had done before, and I really wasn't sure how much I would be able to connect or enjoy it.  I tried my best to go into the day with a positive attitude.

I taught with Ryan.  It was cool because a lot of the students and teachers knew who he was.  We had the station where we led students around the pond to look for frogs and snakes etc.  We saw Canada Geese and their goslings, Red Winged Black Birds, Northern Water Snakes, Frogs, and a Painted Turtle.  We found the turtle with the first group of students.  We were able to pick it up and let everyone get a closer look.  Unfortunately we only found it with the first group and never saw it again.  There were two Northern Water Snakes close to the edge of the pond that Ryan tried to catch each rotation but with no success.  We also failed to catch one of the many frogs we saw during the four rotations.  We also showed the students how to eat cattails and showed them garlic mustard.

After lunch we rode the bus with the students to the learning center.  From there we had a mini snake show with Don and then we headed out with our groups.  Our group went down the lane, to the observatory and then to the bog on the way to Reith Village.  We told them about the difference between a swamp and a bog, we showed them the deer, and we found a few Northern Water Snakes in the swamp.  For the most part they seemed interested.  It was weird to not really have any activities to do with them and let them just look on their own.  Not a lot of students had questions so I felt like I wasn't engaging with them very much.  We had multiple locations where we could tell them things that we know or have learned though, like the bog and the dam.

I just really struggled with the day.  I had a really hard time getting into it and connecting with the students.  They don't express their interest in the same way that young elementary students do.  You have to pull things from them so much more.  I didn't really find a way to adjust to that.  I'm glad I wasn't alone leading a group and that Ryan was able to connect with the students better than I was.  I am most definitely an elementary education major!