Day #11 (Excursion day!!!)

Today we went on an excursion to the Healesville Sanctuary.  All the animals there were Australian animals and it was quite exciting.  The kids were excited and they behaved really well during the entire trip.  However, today I was not with my class.  I was working with the other Prep class because they did not have as many helpers as the other class.  It was still good because we were able to have a great day.  It was also really great because I was able to see another type of teaching today when the students had their Discovery Session.
The students were really well behaved and this is probably because many of their parents were around, and they knew that they were representing the school.  The students seemed to enjoy their time at the sanctuary.  I'm really glad that the students had a great time because it was a great learning experience for the students. The students were able to see various wetlands and wetland animals, which was what they were learning about in class.  It was really great because students were able to learn a lot and see and interact with what they were learning about in class.  This will also really help students with their research projects that they will be doing.
The students also went to a Discover Session, which was when a Sanctuary Teacher taught the kids about wetlands and the different animals there.  He showed the students various animals and allowed the students to touch the animals as well.  The kids really enjoyed this because it was quite hands on and exciting for them.  It was also a learning experience for me as well.  I was able to see how the Sanctuary Teacher was able to entertain, teach, and get the students to listen to him.  For example, he was able to get the students to remain sitting by having all the students put imaginary glue and gluing their bottoms to the floor.  It was a very creative idea and it works and the kids seemed to enjoy it as well.  Although this may not be the most practical thing to do in a school classroom setting, it was great to see different techniques from different types of teachers.
During the Discovery Session, students were also given the opportunity to interact with a wetland by scooping out some water and looking for water bugs.  The kids really enjoyed this and they behaved really good during this activity, which was great.  The kids really enjoyed what they saw and they seemed to have a lot of fun.  They learned a lot and they were doing a really good job sharing and listening to directions.  It was really great that I was able to go on a day where students went on excursion.  It is not a very common occurrence in schools and it was really great to be able to experience what a field trip is like.
I must say the day was really tiring and there were many changes tot eh schedule that we originally had.  The teachers had to constantly be thinking on their toes and think about what is the best thing to do.  We had a lot of great activities and we did a lot of walking.  Many of the kids were tired but surprisingly not that many fell asleep on the one hour bus ride back to school.  I was dead tired and nearly fell asleep on the bus.  It was a really great day though in many aspects.  The weather was good, the students were well behaved and had fun as well as learned a lot, I learned from and observed a new type of teacher and teaching, and I was able to interact with parents.  I've attached some photos below of some activities from the day.

 Wildlife Hospital - students are observing the vets perform an examination on an injured bird

 Discovery Session - students learn about a tree owl that lives by wetlands

 Discovery Session - students are looking for water bugs in the wetland using a bowl, net, and magnifying glass