Morefield Mines

I think the Morefield Mines might be one of my favorite field trip spots overall. I love that you get to take home all the gems and minerals you dig for, pan, and otherwise find! My children were so happy to join my students on the field trip.

We came home with garnet chips, amethyst, and tons of milky quartz, smoky quartz, marble, amazonite, and other stones. I plan on using mine for the garden this year and to border the trees in my yard.

Since Parent/ Teacher Conferences and gearing up before Spring Break makes this always a busy time of year, it was so nice to spend a few hours doing something totally different. :)

a photo

I'm posting up here a picture I took over the holidays to share some of my photography. Sadly, I lost my camera at the AMS conference in NY. I have since purchased a new digital SLR which I'm trying out.

What I liked about this pose was that I could see her shoes! M is great at the sad or thoughtful shots.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Observance

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, our primary class participated in an experiment last week. We segregated the class so that brown eyed children could only stay on one side of the classroom, while the blue eyed children were on the other. We drew an imaginary line across the classroom. For about 10 minutes, we worked in separate groups. Luckily my assistant has brown eyes, while mine are green. (Green, hazel, and gray went with the blue-eyed group.)

After the timer went off, the children met back at our group rug and we asked them what it was like to be separated from their friends and not be able to use the whole class. The majority of the students said they missed their friends on the other side of the room. The brown-eyed children missed the snack area on the other side! We had read a story about MLK so we compared this to his story. The whole class was so glad to be back to normal!

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. " Martin Luther King, Jr., 1963

Becoming

Awww... I'm reposting this message here since it is so inspiring. Thank you so much, Erin!
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The task of becoming is one in which no one ever develops expertise. As a result it sometimes seems insane that we are allowed to bear and raise subsequent generations. Yet, somehow the complexity and enormity of the love we feel for our children makes knowing everything less important than learning what's important and letting go of everything else.
This morning with my knew arsenal of knowledge, three hours of sleep and the courage of my convictions my usually uncooperative three year old dressed, ate, cleaned up and with a little coaxing and a game of tickle monster put on her coat and went to school. Just before she left I said "Laney, thank you for helping out this morning. You are an important part of our family and in a family everyone make a contribution" to which she promptly replied "a contribution to your PBS station" and walked out the door. There was a time when my ego would have prevented me from admitting that I no longer had the skill set to deal with certain situations. I would have plugged along, on my own, in the futile search for answers. But an amazing thing happens when you become a parent your ego is suddenly smaller than your love for your child. In this end you go out admit defeat and do everything you can to obtain the skills necessary to ensure your part in helping your child to become the remarkable person they are meant to be. No matter what, there is no substitute for the sharing of experiences between people who embrace the same goal.
Everyone will ultimately find the path that works for them, and there are so many, but knowing that we are not alone in our journey is monumentally comforting. Thank you to Sarah, Tina and all of the MCC parents for providing a judgment free zone where we may all work toward mastering the task of becoming better parents and stronger people.

Happy Holidays best to you all in the coming year.
Erin Mahone (and Laney too)