Beyond the Classroom Walls

Each year, the middle school designates one week "Experiential Learning Week," a time for learning beyond the walls of the classroom.  The students enjoy the opportunity for hands-on experiences, which makes it worth all of the hard work of the teachers to plan the week!  Some of this year's trips and activities were the same as last year, and some were new ones.

Monday:  In the morning, students took a spiritual gifts inventory and had a chance to put their spiritual gifts in action as they planned activities for the elementary school.  The "encouragement" group made scones and cards for the teachers.  Mixed groups of students with "leadership," "mercy," and other gifts prepared lessons for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade classes.  In the afternoon, we went over to the elementary school to do those activities with the students.  The second graders had a lesson about nutrition, specifically focusing on sugar in favorite foods and beverages.  The third and fourth graders had the opportunity to take a spiritual gifts inventory like the sixth graders had in the morning, and they broke into smaller discussion groups to talk about ways they could use these gifts to serve others.

Tuesday:  We spent the day at Augusta Raurica, a site of Roman ruins just over the border in Switzerland.  The highlights of the day for me were having an impromptu toga party in the replica of a Roman home and exploring the Roman baths near the Rhine River with two girls!

We made the statue "BFA appropriate" so she could be in our picture...

Wednesday:  Our morning involved rotating through three stations: cooking, baking, and etiquette.  Two moms led cooking and baking - salad, pasta, and chocolate cake - while I taught the etiquette lesson.  During the etiquette time, students set their own places at a table and learned some essentials for table manners.  Then, they put their etiquette into practice while eating the food they had prepared for lunch!  In the afternoon, they ventured into the woods for some outdoor education activities.

Collecting everything needed for a place setting

Completed place setting!

Waiting to be seated

Friday:  Today we learned about the history of electricity at the Electropolis Museum in France!  The students' favorite part of our morning was the static electricity demonstrations with sparks flying and hair standing on end!  Of course, the playground out back was also a hit.  This afternoon, the students relaxed at another teacher's house to watch some episodes of Man vs. Wild, which tied into our current English unit on survival literature.  It was a great ending to a great week!