#8 on the list

I was sitting next to one of our first grade boys during dismissal a week or so ago, and he pulled out his Christmas wish list. Number 8 on the list was “Feild Kit.” It’s the simple things that bring a teacher joy—finally buying enough goggles for every child, my students referring to "real scientists" with the intonations of awe that others might use for rock stars, a handwritten note from one student to another reminding her to water our classroom plants, a frustrated child who stomps over to the Peaceful Table to calm himself. What I love most is when a child is so enthused by a learning activity that he adopts it and makes it his own, weaves it into his life outside of school. That is success! So to discover one of my classroom creations among the top ten on a child’s Christmas list is a gift all by itself.

Just in case Santa is scratching his head on this one . . .

This year our class has begun taking “Field Kits” with us on field trips. This idea had been percolating for a while, but the final motivation came after a couple of weeks in the field with paleontologists. We need to do more science in the field, and we need the tools to do it! Ask anyone who came near me while I was putting the field kits together. (Even those who didn’t venture close were subjected to my field kit excitement via e-mail, complete with photos.) I was a huge nerd about them—way more excited than a rational person would be.

Each Cooperative Science Group has one, and the Materials Manager is responsible for carrying the pack. In August, when each of our faculty received a freebie nylon bag at a museum professional development day, I begged enough bags from colleagues to supply each Science Group with a pack. I then visited EPO (a store filled with a bizarre collection of things, where I bumped into a friendly Science Specialist from the Curriculum Department, also poking through the bins, looking for items that might be repurposed in interesting ways) and began to assemble a collection of tools young scientists might need in the field: a compass, a retractable measuring tape, a magnifying lens, a plastic container (for any specimens we might collect), and a first aid kit (hand sanitizer, tissues, bandaids, gloves, & wet wipes). Each group’s Scribe carries a conference badge holder/neck pouch with a "field notebook," a retractable pen, and a mechanical pencil. Thanks to the generous contributors to our DonorsChoose projects (including my freshman roommate who is now a "real scientist"), our Field Kits also include mineral test kits and field guides: Houston Birds, Texas Trees & Wildflowers, Texas Wildlife, Texas Butterflies & Moths, Fossils, and Rocks, Gems, & Minerals.

The field guides arrived just before a class fieldtrip to Hermann Park, ostensibly to see "Strega Nona" at Miller Outdoor Theatre. We arrived a few hours before the play, and, after a mini-lesson on how to use the guides and their compasses, Cooperative Science Groups were off to explore the park. The children were thrilled to be able to use their new field kits in the park. We’ve enjoyed trips to Hermann Park for many years, but never before has our walk in the park offered such a rich scientific learning experience. Viewing themselves as field scientists, my urban students really attended to the flora and fauna around them.

They measured,

and magnified.

They observed and identified.

They compared

and collected,

but I think what the children loved most is the sense of empowerment and independence they felt in wondering about a tree or a bird and being able to identify it without adult help. This opened a whole new world, helping them to feel and act like real field scientists.

Many thanks to Carolyn Leap for noticing that some of our nylon packs had frayed and supplying us with new ones!

"The greatest sign of success for a teacher . . . is to be able to say, 'The children are now working as if I did not exist.'"--Dr. Maria Montessori