Field Trips

I may have said this before, but I am terrified of field trips.  The classroom is a safe place where it is unlikely that you will lose a child.  The zoo or the farm or the park, not so much.  Those places have no structure, no lines you have to walk in, no being quite, lots of wide open space to be kids.  If you follow the news, you may have heard of the first grader that climbed over the fence and was malled on a first grade field trip.  That's my worst nightmare!

Today was our big zoo field trip.  I was dealing with anxiety all morning.  Finally, we loaded the bus and set out for the zoo around 9.  We got into the zoo and I sent a few kids with parents and kept 8 boys.  The first thing you see inside the zoo is an alligator and then the flamingos.  As we stood and stared at the flamigos all of my anxiety melted away.  The students loved just watching the animals.  We only saw a handful of animals due to the bus not arriving on time and bad weather, but not one student complained.  They were so happy to have spent 30 minutes inside the zoo. 

Since we didn't spend much time there, I didn't get many pictures.  However, I was able to capture a few of my favorite moments.

Not sure what happened, but these guys all started squaking and then they fluffed up their feathers and started fighting.  So funny!

We stood and watched this guy for over 5 minutes.  He would strut around his little area, let out a loud noise to get your attention and then spread his feathers and strut around like he was a model.  The kids were just amazed.

These nice tall fences made me feel much better about my children staying safe!

It was this guy's first trip to the zoo.  He was so amazed by everything.  I hated that he didn't get to spend more time there and see more animals.

This was my favorite part of the field trip.  All of the students up against the glass in awe.  It's such a special gift to share the wonders of the zoo with these children.  Have I mentioned how much I love my job?