Explore (and teach)

Yesterday teaching exploring nature was lots of fun.  The group was very excited to be here, and had lots of energy and curiosity.  The weather cooperated and held off on the rain.  I wish that they could have stayed for a full 4 hours, because the hike easily could have lasted at least a half hour longer.  One of the students in my group was hearing impaired.  Thankfully his interpreter was along, and she did a wonderful job of interpreting his questions and comments.  It was interesting to notice that of all the students, he was generally the first one to notice something and point it out.
Since we were headed to the dipping pond first, I didn't want to spend a large quantity of time getting there.  I asked the students what they were hearing (bird songs), immediately realizing that for one student this would have no meaning, or be something he could participate in.  Realizing my error, I then quickly moved on to something else that focused on something we all could see (the hole in the dead tree that has a nest in it).  As a teacher, I desire to adapt and meet my students at their level and facilitate their learning.  Maybe that sometimes means I can't control, or plan for every contingency.  Hopefully, it means that I continue to learn and adapt to new situations.
Later, I was leading one of the bird hikes with the 5th graders.  They were all excited about the prospect of using binoculars. The first 20 minutes went well, most of the students saw a Baltimore Oriole & a Yellow Warbler.  I used my new ibird app to play an example of the call, and that was a huge hit.  It was a very full and packed day, and towards the end the group seemed rather done with seeing anymore red-wing black birds.  I had packed the bird migration game, and I should have used it for the last 5 minutes on the trail.  I was a little concerned about the time, and didn't want to start a game and then not be able to finish it, and so tried to occupy them with looking at birds for just a little bit longer.