We (the new staff I am in training with) went on a short and sweet night "hike" the other night. We were to walk alone and then find a place in the grass to relax and reflect for a bit. As I walked down the hill through the woods I initally thought about how much I hate walking alone in the woods at night. I'm not exactly sure what I'm afraid of...I don't really think someone/thing is going to jump out and eat me...I guess it's a fear of the unknown. Then I thought about how much I love caving. One of my goals in life is to spend the night in a cave...just to say I've done it. I like big caves and small caves, massive rooms and birth canal type tunnels. Generally I'm a happy, relaxed camper as soon as I enter a cave. I feel freedom in the security of the walls around me.
The flip side of this is the insecurity and frustration that the four walls of a classroom instill in me. I almost feel claustrophobic as a classroom teacher. My favorite teacher moments were reading stories or playing math fact games...outside and away from walls!
There has to be a balance...right?
This is the entrance to Bear Cave. The first cave I ever entered almost 15 years ago. My heart smiles just looking at it!
1 comments:
Where is Bear Cave? Could be a tomb in the middle East. I hope you get to spend a night in a cave, just because you want to....wouldn't be my cup of tea. On the flip side, I spent a decade as a teaching assistant
for the Intermediate Unit in the south hills of Pgh. with
7 different teachers in 4 0r 5 classrooms and loved
every moment of it! I did get to decorate those class-rooms seasonally and do all the bulletin boards so I guess I got to set the stage and enhance the environ-ment to my liking. I never felt claustrophobic , but in some ways I had more freedom than the classroom. If
it were my class I would take the kids outside as much as I could. There was a great movie about a teacher in the in the 70's, I think, that I bet you would love about a teacher that took his kids out of the classroom to learn. A young Jon Voight portrays the free-spirited teacher. The movie I think is called "Conreck ". It's about freedom, success for
kids that were written off, and all the learning that can take place under a gifted teacher in an unconventional outdoor setting. It will make you smile and imagine the possibilities. I love your blog.
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