Saturday, February 21, 2015

Snow, snow and wouldn't you know... more snow

Well there's only one week left in February. And winter has no intentions of slowing down. Every week I look ahead at the weather forecast and see another snowstorm headed our way. Right now my guess is that we have about three feet of existing snow on the ground. In areas where it's been piled it's at least five feet. For perspective that's about level with my shoulders. Now for everyone who listened to me talk about my expectations for this job, you know that I frequently mentioned wanting lots and lots of snow. While I'm quickly tiring of shoveling out vehicles, walkways, raking off roofs and the constant school delays or cancellations, I continue to be thrilled by the prospect of more snow. However the week ahead promises the threat of ice as well, due to warmer days and cold nights. Luckily schools are on break this week so we don't have too many places to go outside of camp.

Our first three weeks of teaching have been amazing and exhausting and a mixture of many other emotions. More and more I can see myself working in this sort of environment long term. It's quite a change for me from what I've done in the past. I distinctly remember all my years in school being terrified to speak in front of a class. I admit I was nervous before I got into the classrooms here, and I still am slightly nervous at times. But it quickly fades once I get into the lesson.

This is due largely to having a teaching partner that I can rely on. This was especially true for our past week. On Valentine's Day a large number of us volunteered at a winter festival on a farm a couple hours away. The wind chill for that night was -25 and the day wasn't much warmer. By the time we were headed home I knew that I was getting a cold. This cold turned out to be a week long illness. After resting for a couple days I felt well enough to teach on Tuesday, but realized when I returned home that I had pushed myself too quickly. I spent the next two days off work. My teaching partner stepped up and taught alone on Wednesday, but he too fell sick and our Thursday lesson had to be rescheduled. So now I'm finally almost 100% and looking forward to being more active.

I can already begin to see how fast education season is passing by. Mid April we finish teaching in schools and transition to conservation season, which will last until we finish in late October. We have our tentative schedule for the rest of the year and I'm excited to hear about the projects we'll be doing. One event I'm extremely excited about is called All Corps. This takes place in mid July in Massachusetts. Basically several corps including ours come together for a few days to meet and we have competitions. I'm assuming some of these will include things like fire building, races and survival skills. But the specifics haven't been shared with us just yet. One thing we do know is that last year NH Corps took home the silver hammer and we've all got gold in our sights. We are also in the process of designing our flag to take with us. Each cabin will be coming up with their own small design and we will have a large design for the corps as a whole.

For now that's it for the big news. Most likely I'll spend a good portion of my weekend indoors, watching movies or playing board games and possibly watching more snow fall tomorrow. If I get inspired to walk around in the cold I may add some photos later today or tomorrow. Take care.

Saturday, February 7, 2015

It's February Already?

Where does the time go? It seems I'm always mentioning this in my blogs, but it's so true. I can hardly believe I've been at Bear Brook over a month. Already I have so many stories and new friends to talk about, I could go on for hours. Last week we received nearly two feet of new snow, another few inches throughout the week, and today through Monday we're due for at least another foot. It still amazes me that it's not just a foot of snow on the ground, it's a foot of new snow to add to everything that's been on the ground since the day before I arrived. So we'll be over three feet soon. And even if you don't like the cold, I can't express enough that what I see each day just sitting on my front porch is some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen. Sure the negative temperatures at night and only a wood stove to heat our cabin has left us fairly cold in the morning, but when we're having a snowball fight or sliding around the ice on the frozen pond, it's hard to remember how cold it actually is.

Last week concluded our education training. We worked intensely with our teaching teams to create our first lesson and prepare for the upcoming week. Due to our snow days schools were canceled on the days we were supposed to observe classrooms, but we were all able to reschedule. Being able to meet the teachers and students ahead of time was a great advantage. My teaching team consists of me and one of my new friends Brandon. Together we teach three days a week, two lessons a day at two different schools, four 4th grade classrooms and two 3rd grade. We also have three after school programs, one each day that we are teaching. Monday is our usual community day in camp, we teach Tuesday through Thursday, and have Friday in camp to plan for the next week.

So far we've had very few challenges with our lesson planning and teaching. My initial nerves quickly disappeared and we were able to improve each time we taught our lesson. Our basic lesson plan for the next nine weeks will consist of New Hampshire animals, plants, habitats and ecosystems. Basically we could be teaching anything nature based. The purpose of us coming into the classrooms is to add a science lesson that some of the school may not be able to provide. We also do our best to get the kids outside, even if there is three feet of snow. At the end of our ten week program, which is mid April, we will be doing a Service Learning Project in each classroom/school. In the past this has been anything from and outdoor classroom to a mural in the school to a recycling program. It's an opportunity for us to leave a lasting project that the kids can see as they continue in school and it enhances the school program as well.

That's the basic overview of what I've been up to for the past two weeks. There is always something new happening and I'll be sure to keep everyone posted as best as I can. Which reminds me, Valentines Day is coming up next weekend. We drew names for a "secret valentine" who we will leave handmade gifts throughout this week up til Valentines Day. I've got a few good ideas up my sleeve. And Valentines Day we'll be headed to Prescott Farms for their annual Winter Festival, where we will be volunteering but also we will be able to participate in activities such as a sleigh ride, a bonfire, and other outdoor activities. As I said, there's always something going on. =)