Field Trips, or Crazy Meets Insane

It was about time to let the inmates out of the asylum, so to speak. Or, in plain English, we finally took the first-graders on another field trip. That poor strawberry farm never knew what hit it!

We visited that same strawberry farm last year. Now THAT was interesting!

Last year, one child asked about the giant dogs by the side of the road. They were goats. Another refused to pick the strawberries. He was really worried about the bugs hidden under the leaves. They might be deadly, after all.

Considering that and other things that happened the previous year, this last field trip dropped considerably low on the weirdness scale.

This time we lost two kids. No worries, though. We replaced them with two red, juicy strawberry monsters. We teachers were hopeful the two giant, walking strawberries were our missing kids.

The only other major snafu involved bathroom doors. In other words, the bathrooms at our lunch destination were locked tighter than Fort Knox!

"Mr. Haworth," came the cries. "I can't hold it!" "Why is it locked?" "Can I go in the woods?" "Can you break the door open, Mr. Haworth?" "Why don't YOU unlock it Mr. Haworth?!"

If I had a key, I would have opened the door. That would have been the only thing that could have stopped the miniature dancing flash mob that was taking place just outside those locked restroom doors.

There were other incidents that aren't even worth mentioning here. However, suffice it to say, this teachers assistant is field tripped out until next year! Ciao!

A-maze-ing Learning!

Ever tried to train a wild cat? Ever tried to train an entire pack of wild cats? Now, have you ever let an entire pack of wild cats loose on a farm and told them to behave? I have. It's called a field trip.

The pack of wild cats in question would be our first graders. We decided to set them loose on a local farm under the guise of an educational field trip.

On our way to the same field trip last year, one of our kids commented on the "giant dogs" we saw on on our way there.
"Those are actually goats," I said.
"Oh," he said and sat quietly a moment. "Mr. Haworth? What's a goat?"

My comment winner for this year goes to the student who told me in the corn maze "I'm only allergic to corn when its on the cob, Mr. Haworth."

Thank goodness there were no cobs in the corn bins full of corn he jumped and played in!

He told me a few of the other food items he's allergic to as well. Coincidentally, they were the same healthy foods I was allergic to when I was his age.

During the "school" portion of the trip, they showed us foods they grow like wheat. Wheat straw comes from wheat. So does wheat flour. What can we make with flour, she asked. One hand shot up and the girl attached yelled, "popcorn!"

I don't know that what we've taught the kids has stuck. But I do know what we SHOULD be teaching them.