Well, I survived my first field trip. Our class of six went to the Pipestone National Monument and the Jeffers Petroglyphs today. Since there were only six students, all of us fit into my vehicle (I asked for a parent chaperone, but no one stepped forward). We headed out bright and early at 7:30 in the morning.
I thought they'd fall asleep on the way there, but no, they were super pumped up and loud for about the first hour and a half. It took two and a half hours to get to Pipestone, so I figured the energy couldn't last too long. The boys ended up falling asleep after they used up their energy. Of course the girls thought this was wildly funny and wanted to prank them while they slept.
Once we got there, we watched the video they have visitors watch and then we looked at a few displays in the Visitor's Center. My students kept trying to catch my eye when they spotted the "millions of years old" wording on the displays. We had talked about that before we left (something along the lines of God creating the earth about 6,000 years ago, but it looks way older, but most scientists don't believe in the Bible, so they say millions of years).
After getting the chance to cut some pipestone, we headed out to the trail. It was only about 45 degrees and windy, so we kind of hustled through the Circle Trail. That didn't stop my kids from wanting to climb on every rock that stuck out of the ground or peer into every pit that looked like a quarry. I had to keep reminding them that this area was sacred to the Native Americans, kind of like our church, so we needed to stay on the path.
I cannot believe how often I heard "Miss Heintz!" today. Wow. Every two seconds one of my kids would spot something or have a question and would just talk over each other so I would answer them. Whew! I'm glad they had so many questions and were so observant, but I barely had the chance to catch my breath!
Of course we had some technology troubles. One of the girls brought extra batteries, but all the batteries she brought were dead. I let her use my camera while we were at Pipestone until we got to a place where she could buy batteries. We ended up stopping at a gas station to buy her some, but they went dead after about 20 minutes at the Petroglyphs (they were the cheap-o brand, so what do you expect?).
Another girl didn't have any batteries for her camera and had asked one of the other 6th graders to bring some. Of course he forgot to bring them and she didn't have any money along to buy more. So she was moping around for about half the field trip. Not once did she think to ask someone to lend her money or to borrow someones camera. I didn't know what to do. I kind of wanted to step in, but my camera was already loaned out and I'm a firm believer in having students do their own problem solving. If she would've asked, I would've helped her, but since she didn't, she was kind of stuck. Eventually, she shook it off and ended up having a good time anyway.
We left Pipestone with just enough time to cruise over to the petroglyphs. I had intended us to eat our lunch outside, but since we were running a teensy bit late, we ate in my car on the way over. Since I had never been to the petroglyphs, I borrowed my family's GPS so we wouldn't get lost.
From leaving school, we ran into at least three detours due to road construction. I was kind of surprised that I was able to follow the detours, but follow them we did. When going from Pipestone to Jeffers, we had to cross the road that runs between Slayton and Marshall. Right now it is completely closed down because they're redoing the whole road. Somehow, by following the GPS, we ended up on a gravel road that wasn't on the GPS map. I remember this road had been closed for construction earlier this summer, but I didn't see any signs saying that people couldn't drive on it. Of course this road led to the completely closed road (which was being repaved), but again, there were no signs saying that I couldn't drive on it! I only had to go a little ways on the new road, so I thought maybe I should chance it and just drive on it. But then, there were those roller machines smoothing the pavement, and I had a vehicle full of 6th graders full of energy from their lunch.
I stopped in the middle of the road, trying to decide what to do. My kids were completely oblivious. I ended up chancing it. Crossed the road, no problem. Then, after passing through Currie, the GPS told me to take this gravel road off the main highway. Hmm, well, the GPS must know best. We ended up following this gravel road for about 20 miles. Every once in a while a sixth grader would pipe up, "Miss Heintz, where are we?" I wasn't too worried because the petroglyphs are kind of in the middle of nowhere; I was more worried that I had typed the wrong address into the GPS because the location "Jeffers Petroglyphs" was not a preset location. It was a pretty crazy drive. The GPS took us down minimum maintenance roads, up hills, around curves, all on gravel roads. It did shave some time off, so we got to the petroglyphs right on time (even after stopping for batteries).
The petroglyphs were so cool! We did some things in the visitors center first, mostly looking at artifacts. As soon as we got in the center, they started looking at the artifacts that were on display. Once again, my ears were filled with "Miss Heintz! Come look!" This time it was because they recognized a lot of the artifacts from the topics we've been studying in Minnesota History. I was quite proud of my 6th graders; they knew 90% of the questions our guide asked. She was very impressed with them. They asked great questions about science and social studies.
They all got the chance to throw an atlatl (a large spear) at a fake bison. Everyone missed (including me). But it was super windy, so the wind took or arrows. After everyone got a turn, we headed out to the petroglyphs. About halfway there, one of the boys asks, "Miss Heintz, can I go to the bathroom?" Are you kidding me? I asked everyone to go before we left! Of course he didn't have to go then, so he didn't. I told him he could go back to the visitors center and just come find us afterwards, but then the other 6th grade boy realized he had to go too. I thought it was kind of suspicious that both of them had to go, so I came along too.
As soon as they were finished, they wanted to run back out. I wanted to catch up to our group, so I told them they could and with that, they were off like rockets! Not wanting to be left behind, I sprinted right along with them. Man, it was hard to keep up! But I did! They kept turning around to look at me. I think they were kind of surprised that their teacher was holding her own with two speedy soccer players. Eventually their energy petered out and we walked the rest of the way.
Out on the petroglyphs, the wind was even worse. But it was a nice, sunny day, so we could see the carvings really well. Our guide still brought a board and a mirror along. This was to create a shadow and then direct the sun so the petroglyphs would stand out more. About halfway out to the through, one of the boys asked if we were almost done because he was cold. We wrapped it up and headed back to school.
Then came the lovely time for contacting parents to come pick them up. One girl needed to be dropped off in New Ulm, since we were passing through. One boy didn't have a cell phone, so he borrowed mine to call his mom. Another girl didn't have her cell phone along, but couldn't figure out how she was going to call her dad. Eventually I helped her come to the conclusion that she needed to ask to borrow someones phone. After she got done calling, she told me, "Miss Heintz, you have to drop me off at my house." Excuse me? I have to? It sounded like she was ordering me around. I said, "What?" and then she amended her statement, "I mean, could you drop me off?" "Well, since you asked so nicely, we could probably drop you off."
We got her dropped off and left one of the boys at a gas station (don't worry, his mom wanted him left there!). Everyone else came back to school, grabbed their pumpkins and spider plants, and headed home. I cleaned out my car. It's amazing how much garbage can accumulate from one day. Whew! All in a day's work.
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