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Home on the range...
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9 May 2002
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Today our third graders went on a field trip to the National Park here in our backyard. We went to a place called Ryan Ranch. My kids especially thought that this was kind of cool because I have three, yes three Ryans in my class this year. It makes things very interesting. You know how moms and dads always go through the list of kids as they find themselves exasperated. Well, imagine three Ryans. I often go through the list!
But I digress…
There are three third grade classes, and they are all so different. On our excursion, the three groups were put into two. That means that one of the classes would be split in two and each half would join the other two classes. Well, I got the boys of the class that was split in half. Oh joy! Now, I don’t have anything against boys. I love boys. I have eight nephews, and I know how sweet and innovative and clever they can be. These boys are different.
I always find it so interesting how there can be three so very different groups of the same age children who have grown up together. My class is pretty good, for the most part. I have a couple of boys that blurt out things all the time. I’m not talking just here and there; they are continually blurting out. It’s distracting and frustrating, to say the least, but they are both good boys. I truly enjoy each of my students this year. They all seem to have good hearts.
Again I digress…
I had five extra boys from Mrs. T’s class and one from Ms. M’s class with me. Yes, that’s all I had. The girls from Mrs. T’s class went with Ms. M’s class. So, it was my class plus five boys. You wouldn’t think that that would be much different. Think again. Poor Ranger Lorna. Our field trip consisted of a hike on a trail that looped around what used to be a ranch. There are various ‘stops’ around the loop where we pause and take a look-see at the evidence of the people who lived there long ago – Native Americans, gold miners, homesteaders, and the park rangers. At each stop, these certain boys would continue to talk while the ranger was talking, blurt out their little ‘stories’ or whatnot. They are all old enough to have better manners and to know better, but they are who they are. As he came from under the rock (where there were pictographs), one boy even stood up and cried out, “Jesus Christ!” I looked at him and calmly said, “That would be a referral, Mr. S.”
We looped around, passing the other class – we had started at opposite ends. I looked at the two teachers who had sent their boys and grumbled loudly, “Thank you, thank you. Truly, thank you”, and chuckled. They asked if I wanted them to take the boys causing trouble, and I said, “Oh no… We can handle it!” Heheh. There’s no way that I am backing down from that challenge. I am the adult, after all. They are just boys. And I will always win. ;-)
The rest of the hike was nice. I had the boys under control (for the most part) and we were able to enjoy the $10,000 house. It was made from the ground-up rocks that the homesteaders used to get the gold, so there was gold in the adobe bricks. If you look, you can still find gold in it now. It’s just flakes by now, but the kids still love looking closely to find gold! At the end, two of the boys (monkey-see and monkey-do) couldn’t hold it together any longer and went barreling over some rocks and jumping off like little maniacs. Needless to say, the one that was caught by the ranger became her “little friend” and had to carry the supplies the rest of the way. Heheh.
All I can say is that I am so glad that those boys are in the other classes. I know that their teachers take great care of them. Some kids are just that way – they listen better to *their* teacher. I think this was the case for them. I just felt, at the end of the day, that all I had done was nag nag nag. As I was venting about this very feeling, one of the teachers nicknamed me “Naggie Maggie”. Oh great. Just what I needed! Heheh. That’s okay, we came up with nicknames for the other two, as well. Ha!
There’s nothing like the end of a school day after a field trip. All I wanted to do is go home and take a bath. That’s exactly what I did.
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