Field Trip

I feel so lucky this time of year.  Not only can I take my kids on a field trip that has absolutely no educational value, but I didn't have to mess with permission.  I told my kids on Monday that we were going and to bring the appropriate winter gear on Thursday, and then mentioned it to the principal on Tuesday morning.  It was that simple!  I was actually a little concerned about the principal's response (I hadn't had trouble in the past, but we have a new principal this year and he actually cares about what goes on in the elementary wing of the school); all he said was to make sure the secretary knew when we left. 

For the second year in a row, I could have picked a better day, weather-wise.  The wind was blowing close to 20 mph with stronger gusts, dropping the wind chill to well below zero.  We hardy Alaskans don't let the threat of frostbite daunt us, though, and we bundled up and set off.  I didn't really have a destination in mind.  I figured that if we wandered long enough, we'd come across something.  All I really knew was that this year's tree was going to be significantly smaller than last year's behemoth.

We ended up on the road to the airport, which is where we've ended up for 4 years in a row.  It's a road lined with trees.  Common sense, right?  Not quite. 

See, the trees aren't exactly right at the edge of the road.  There's a bit of land between the road and the tree line.  At this particular moment in time, the kids had convinced Doris (my first-grade aide) that they saw the perfect tree, so she and them trekked over to check it out.  I stayed on the road.  (One of my students has a bum ankle and was lagging behind, so I stayed on the road to keep him company. . . at least, that was my excuse.)  If you can't tell, they're sunk into loose snow almost up to their waists.  Not only did they not find the "perfect tree," but the kids couldn't even remember which tree they were so gung-ho about. :-)

Eventually, we found what Doris and I believed to be a decent tree.  The kids were not so enthusiastic about it.  After listening to a few complaints about how it was "a scrawny tree," I told them that "scrawny" is okay and asked if I needed to show them Charlie Brown to prove it.  The best part is that it's not even that scrawny; it a little bare in spots, but it's actually a cute little tree. 

I love this picture because it manages to capture just a bit of each individual personality, which is one of the things I love about this class.  Each student has a distinct personality that is very different from everyone else's, but they combine to form a group dynamic that is simply fun!  (The wind had momentarily died down to around 10 mph at this point and the snow wasn't blowing quite so bad, which is way this picture is lighter than the others.) 

After a couple of scuffles, the kids figured out how to take turns carrying the tree.  Walking back to the school was walking into the wind, so those of us not carrying anything were walking backwards to protect our faces.  It was actually quite humorous watching some of the less-coordinated ones.  My student with the bum ankle was quite tired, so I was bringing up the rear, cheerleading him on for most of the walk back. 

We had quite a bit of time left in the day when we got back to the school - over an hour.  With a little "help" from the kids, we got the tree in the stand and gave it a drink of water.  It's a little tilted, but I've got it tilted towards the wall, so it doesn't have far to fall. :-)

I put the lights on it after everyone had left for the day (including the kids in after-school tutoring - it turned into a long day).   I say we done good.  It's a cute little tree that adds a little festive touch to the room, and as an added bonus, my room smells like pine now!  (I'm blatantly ignoring the fact that I'm obviously allergic to it.)