Wow, we blinked and three weeks have gone by since the last posting for Mr. Bill's Crew Happenings. As they say, time flies...whether or not you're having fun. Fortunately, the crew has been having lots of fun. One of those weeks was spent on our winter voyage at Keystone Science School, where lots of learning occurred--both about science topics and teamwork/character development. One of those weeks was TCAP (okay, well "fun" may be stretching it, but most crew members fully engaged themselves in the process and found out how enjoyable a good mental challenge can be.)
Here's a potpourri of some of the other kinds of learning fun our crew has had recently:
Plants
The Denver Botanic Gardens is a fun way to learn about plants. Our crew did fieldwork there as part of our "Survival Systems" expedition.
A Play
Watching a hilarious, energetic play is a fun way to learn about ways to overcome bullying and increase empathy for others who are dealing with difficult life circumstances. The crew thoroughly enjoyed "The Dairy of Abby Munson."
Objects of Interest
A fun way share significant aspects of our lives and personalities, and to learn about others, is when crew members talk about items during share time in morning meeting. More meaningful than the old "Show and Tell," students draw connections between objects and the life events/circumstances they signify. Other crew members always have great, probing questions for the person sharing.
Thinking
A fun way to live (and stay alive) is to...think. Of course, if you know Mr. Bill's crew, you know we're always thinking in one way or another. Here are examples of a couple more: mini exercises with logic/spatial reasoning, and vocabulary building.
All School Meeting
A fun way to stay connected to the rest of REMS and learn about kinds of cool stuff is at our twice monthly all-school meeting. Here are a couple ways members of Mr. Bill's crew had fun recently at all-school meeting: playing in a mini concert and dressing up as the surprise guest...a cow. Moo.
Up
And of course, a big part of the fun--and the learning--we do at REMS is
through adventure education. We just finished our second week of wall climbing for the year. We have a week in the autumn (I hesitate to
use the word "fall" :-) and spring (maybe I should also hesitate to use
the word "spring" since it's still winter and snow is falling heavily
today). It's an exhilarating, challenging way for students to overcome fear and
build coordination, strength, and finesse.
