Well, I have reached that point. It is the day before we depart Skagway Alaska and head back home. The year culminating field trip seems as though it is over before it began. After all of this preparation, the end is here. The final day of our trip was spent with mostly free time. It was a refreshing change of pace that let most of us relax and enjoy what we have accomplished over the course of this trip and the year. The last hour of our day was a large game of opt-in soccer, dorm time, or park time. What an amazing end to an amazing experience.
During our time in Skagway we went on a historic tour of downtown. From the teaching perspective it was refreshing to hear our guide concede that the students knew more than she did. It was hilarious for everyone and a fun time.
A trip of this scale is bound to have its ups and downs. There were periods of incredible stress. Moments when you think you have lost a student, or there is a serious behaviour management issue, Now as I lay in the internet cafe across the street from my hotel room I am writing my final reflection.
Beyond the learning, what has been great about this trip is seeing the friendships form that you previously would not have seen much of in a school setting. Students who were previously not super friendly with one another became quite close.
Throughout this experience I have seen students working quite hard on their inquiry projects, and I have been recording little notes when I see things that I think are good. I worked one – on – one with the students who needed extra support. The way that the field trip was organized however, made it possible to only meaningfully observe about 50% of my classes’s work on their inquiry project. A lot of meaningful assessment will have to continue to take place after we return home.

BREAK — time passes!

IT is now 9:11am on June 2nd. We have boarded the train from Skagway to Whitehorse. The train is an idyllic ride through steep peaked mountains. The views are just astonishing. As this ride makes it way across the jagged rock some students are working diligently on their inquiry projects while others are playing cards.
It was a 5:30 am wake up call today. Many students are fighting the urge to sleep as they recognize these are the last moments of their trip. We will see how long that adrenaline will last. Soon, I imagine many of them will be sleeping.
Throughout the trip we have been exposed to a number of different ecosystems. So many things which tied into my science lessons were noticeable. One thing I am really glad which I looked at with the class was the concept of the midnight sun. We looked at why the sun sets so late in the north. The reality of dealing with the midnight sun was another issue, especially when we were camping.
We had one student, who repeatedly woke up at about 3:00 am because it started to get very bright outside. He would wake up and assume that the camp had packed up and left without him, while in reality everyone was still sleeping. Everyone, including the student, had a good laugh about this. It is really disorienting! I also have to laugh because the same thing ended up happening to me. One night we moved inside a cabin instead of camping because it was pretty cold and wet. Inside the cabin, I was on the bottom floor while the students, and another adult were upstairs. I woke up in the middle of the night and didn’t see any students. Alarmed I sprung to life, put on my shoes and went screaming out the door. In my semi-conscious state I imagined that I had forgotten the students outside! My panic quickly dissipated however when I saw the pile of shoes outside the front door. “Oh yeah!” I thought, after realizing we had moved inside the cabin for the night. When I recounted this story to the other teachers in the morning, they laughed and said that I “Pulled a S” Pretty funny indeed.
Overall the trip has been wonderful. I think another reflection in a few days will be warranted once all the excitement of the trip has gone. It is amazing how many experiences one can have in such a short period of time. A bond between the students has been built. A bond between the teachers and students has been built. At the end of the year it will be hard to say good-bye.

BREAK – Some time passes

Now as I sit in the Tim Horton’s at the Vancouver International Airport I will write my final piece of the day. it was a long one. Wake up was at 5:30 am and I am just sitting down now, at 8:17 pm to post some final thoughts. Pretty much the entire day was travel, much of it was on the train which was relatively relaxed and allowed for students to freely mix with one another. This was a great way to just have some final bonding! Parent pick up went smoothly. Most parents were waiting for students at the door. A few students had to wait about 20 minutes before their parents arrived. That was bound to be happen in  a group this large.

Overall I have to say the trip went really well. We are tired. Beat. Exhausted. But with the hard work comes a sense that we can walk a little taller; proud of our accomplishments. All this preparation, and now its done. All of the years learning was brought together by actually visiting the historic site. I can’t believe how much I learned. And the ideas that you are not sure are right or wrong in your head that are confirmed by your visit.

I am so tired now. I hope this made sense. I think I will post again when I have had some time to regroup.

See you soon!