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Class Camping Trip - Fund Raising |
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Page 1 of 7 A DREAM COMES TRUE
By Kim Bierly
Hello from Oak Harbor, Washington. We're a small town on Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound. I teach 28 fourth graders in our public school sytem.
I've taken my class, with another teacher's class, on camping trips for the past couple years. After last year I said, "No more!" I didn't enjoy working with the teacher I went with. I felt stressed from the planning and organizing, and two classes were just too many kids! This year the class camping trip emerged out of a beginning of the year project. We were making a dream quilt where each kid's square was a dream for something to do this year. Lots of "I hope we go camping!" squares based on their expectations that Ms. Bierly's class goes on a class camping trip every Spring. I was also approached by enthusiastic parents, so I listened and reconsidered, their enthusiasm sparking mine.
I decided we'd do it again this year, but there would be some differences. It would be just our class, and we'd go somewhere new. And we wouldn't wait until the last minute to plan, organize, and fund raise. And I wasn't going to do all the work. We teachers too often get caught up in taking control and being in charge. Often there are tasks we take upon ourselves that could be tackled by the students. Yes, it may seem easier if we just do it, and it will get accomplished faster if we do it, but there is something to be said for sharing the tasks. I realized this camping trip was fertile ground for curriculum if I involved the kids in all phases of planning. What follows is the story of our class camping trip and all the important and relevant work the kids put into planning for this class project.
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