Wednesday 20 December 2006

Gems of the rainforest


Skookumchuck Narrows on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast is an awe-inspiring place to explore the rainforest, where the slugs are as long as my hand, and the ferns, moss and giant trees offer endless possibilities for exploration. The girls are fascinated, asking questions, picking up leaves, touching slugs, tasting moss. Their curiosity is natural, and it’s a beautiful thing.
I love that by immersing them in a new environment every few days, their sponge-like little minds lap it up. I also love that I can always find something to use for a school lesson. (Granted, those lessons are getting more and more slack with every passing day but what the hell - how much learning would they do in a real classroom, where even if they started at nine and finished at three, there’d still be 27 kids other kids clamouring for attention or goofing off?)
It must be a tall order for a real teacher to keep order let alone actually teach.
I wonder if, like me, real teachers ever use gummy worms as incentive.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bribery always has its place. As a teacher of teenagers, I could often be found throwing jellybeans around a room to get folks out of their seats and conscious again. Mind you this was not a mainstream, school-type classroom, but I still think the principle applies.

Nancy Harper said...

Thank you, anon. I like your style.