It is Sunday now and I am able to reflect upon my experience in the Adironacks. I have been going through alittle shell shock since I have been home but my wife is tolerating me.
It was amazing the enormous amount of information that I took in and have taken away from the experience.
I will share here what I have gained (I am probably missing something):
1. Collaboration: The trip allowed us as collegues wether it be experienced, young, old, different opinions, etc to live together, to work together (KP, activities, and projects), and to figure out how to appreciate each other and respect one another. I am certain we all walked away from this gaining something from each other.
2. History: The history of the the Adirondacks is very interesting due to architecture, natural beauty as well as tattered by anti-semitism and human destruction. History needs to be learned and not forgotten as well as appreciated so we can learn. I must say that the boat house was probably the coolest piece of history that I saw first hand. Thankyou Tim for being such a great story teller and also an interesting person to discuss the Bueracracy of education with. I will surely check in with your blog. I do not neccessarly agree with all of your ideology but I share your views that CHANGES ARE NEEDED so our children's future can be Bright and the system we have is to antiquated to make this happen.
3. Enviornment and Sustainability: It was very cool to hear from Beth and Karl about the oppertunities for new Green Energy Employment and Hubberts Peak. It is great that you two have taken upon yourself to be the guinea pigs to create a more sustainable life. We can learn first hand from your experiences and make that treck following in your foootsteps realizing that it is not as scary as one would think. Karl, after our discussions I hope you are still my fellow "Collapse Anxiety" person, but you do believe as I do that we as a human race will overcome when the time comes and it is coming! We need to keep preaching and educating and the world will succeed.
Beth thanks for talking me through my thesis idea. If I hadn't come to the Adirondack classroom course I still would be pondering the idea.
Meeting John Slade and hearing his story was also very uplifting. He is definitely a keeper for next year.
4. Challenges: What can I say... we hiked a HUGE mountain, one that I didn't realize would be so much of a challenge but we did it. I overcame my fear of heights and walked across a rope up high and then a log and then another rope. For the culminating activity I climbed up 70 feet and then did a zip swing across... one of the 10 coolest experiences of my life. I also swam (and got a tow) across to the other island, and used a kayak for the first time.
5. Nature: 3 out of the 5 mornings I woke up and went for a hike, and saw the sunrise. Camp Huntington is really a very beautiful place. It was also interesting to learn from ED and hear him say the bird sounds (thanks Tracy for recording them) and also learning about what a bog is and eating winter tic tacs. I really love being in nature and experiencing the peace. I am hopeful that next year my wife and I can do this experience together as professional development.
6: Professional Development: After all that we did, Tracy and I were fortunate enough to finish a great lesson using VTS strategies titled Symmetry and Patterns in Nature and Architecture from the Adirondacks. I will use this lesson in my 6th grade classroom next year. I will also integrate it into a Math walk around my school for a project that the students will put together. I will forward you the additional lesson plan after I write it.
Conclusion: What can I say, great scenery, great food, great experiences and most of all it was nice making so many new friends.
