Monday, January 18, 2010

Pinnacles wrap up

Hey All,

Thank you for the trip last week. I can tell that all of you got a lot out of it.

Here is the list of items to wrap this unit up:

In your journals:
1. Complete reflections that were prompted before and during the trip.
2. Write an entry that "tells the story" about one aspect of Pinnacles. This could be about the geology, condors, hiking, the cave, the plants, habitat restoration, etc. You will be asked to share this experience with others on Thursday, so make it detailed and engaging so that others can learn, understand your experience, and appreciate what you are sharing with them.

Not in journals:
3. Connect with me before the end of the week to set a timeframe on the completion of your field project.
4. I also need a few volunteers to compile the pictures for a slideshow on Thursday.

Simon

Friday, January 8, 2010

Details, details, details

Hi All,

Enormous thank you's to the following for their contributions:
Tents: Noel and Kim
Stoves: Kelsey, Noel, Fae, and Kim
Lanterns: Noel, Sashko, Pascal, Fae, Bill, and Catalina
Coolers:Noel, Mickey, and Catalina

Shoppers: Kelsey, Sylvia, and Vivek

Monday Drivers: Erika, Evan, Kim, Yoni, and Bill
Thursday Drivers: Evan, Kim, Yoni, Brenden, and Benjie

Chaperones: Evan's dad, Kim's mom

WEATHER REPORT FOR PINNACLES NEXT WEEK:
Monday: 66 degrees- PARTLY CLOUDY
Tuesday: Low of 40 degrees, high of 62 degrees - FEW SHOWERS (30% chance of rain)
Wednesday: Low of 35 degrees, high of 62 degrees - SHOWERS (60% chance of rain)
Thursday: Low of 36 degrees, high of 63 degrees - SUNNY

Have a restful weekend, and be ready to roll first thing on Monday.

Journal Prompts

1. What are you most looking forward to about the Pinnacles trip?
WHY?

2. What are you least looking forward to about the Pinnacles trip?
WHY?

3. What Do you feel like your greatest challenge will be in the field next week?
WHY?

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Field Study

For Homework, answer the following in your journal:

What do you want to focus on specifically in your field studies at Pinnacles?

Why do you want to focus on this?

What will the final product be?

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Brochure Assessment

As you have been making your brochures, you have been working in groups to achieve a common goal. Please address the following statements:

1. Identify one thing that each group member, including yourself, has done well to help the group.

2. Identify one thing that each group member, including yourself, could do better to contribute to the group.

Be as specific as possible.

Brochure Basics

Hey All,

As you wrap up your "Selling Pinnacles" brochures, please make sure the basic requirements are satisfied:

1. Things are spelled correctly
2. You have good titles and images
3. It opens as it should, and is formatted correctly
4. There is a basic intro to Pinnacles National Monument prior to your more specific info
5. You cite your sources
6. Names of who created the brochure are included.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Day Two - some urgent needs

Hi All,

A much better day with lots of really positive engagement!

You all did a great job of jumping into your "Selling Pinnacles" brochures, focusing on: Pinnacles, talus caves, recreation, history, tourism, plants, wildlife, or condors. We will continue working on those to wrap them up tomorrow afternoon.

We are also making progress on the logistics front, but WE NEED SOME HELP!

1. WE NEED ONE MORE MALE CHAPERONE TO STAY THE ENTIRE TRIP. THE TRIP DEPENDS ON THIS!

2. WE NEED A COUPLE MORE DRIVERS FOR EACH LEG OF THE TRIP.

3. THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE HAVE AGREED TO CHECK IN ON THEIR FAMILIES' ABILITY TO DONATE THE FOLLOWING ITEMS:
TENTS: SASHKO, KIM, NOEL, BILL, YONI
STOVES: KELSEY, NOEL, AIDAN, FAE, AND KIM
LANTERNS: NOEL, HANNAH, SASHKO, PASCAL, FAE, MAHOGANY, CATALINA
COOLERS: NOEL, SASHKO, FAE, MAHOGANY, KIM, CATALINA, SYLVIA, AND MICKEY.

Nice work this afternoon developing the meals for the trip.

I look forward to another productive day tomorrow!

Monday, January 4, 2010

Day One

Hi All,

Off to a pretty good start. For those who have to get the rest of the forms or payment in, please do so by tomorrow. Also, at this point, this trip does not happen unless we find one more male chaperone and one female chaperone.

Today, we made our field journals, and answered the following prompts:
What are you expecting from this field experience?
How do you feel that you will best contribute to the field team?

Then we got an introduction to the National Parks.

After lunch, we took the opportunity to surf the Pinnacles website, identify interesting facts, and share them with the larger group. We also reviewed the packing list and travel itinerary for next week.

We will begin researching and developing brochures about different features of Pinnacles National Monument tomorrow.

TONIGHT'S PROMPT FOR HOMEWORK:
What do you hope to learn from this experience?
Answer this by building on things that may have interested you about Pinnacles from today's work. We will share these responses tomorrow.

One reminder that we all need to come ready to contribute to the larger group. There were some rough moments today, and I expect everyone to be ready tomorrow.