A Walk in the Woods

When I titled this blog “Adventures in Room 5”, I didn’t necessarily envision the kind of adventure we had today.


Over the past few days I have been administering assessments to determine the kids’ math proficiencies and spelling abilities. While I finished up some spelling assessments this morning, the majority of the class worked busily on their individual rodent research. For some of them, this was a real exercise in stamina, having to stick with one project for forty minutes. The kids did a great job focusing, and were in need of some physical activity. On the spur of the moment, I decided to reward them with a walk in the woods.

Off we went, full of excess energy and enthusiasm. When we reached the nature trail, there were two other classes arriving, with the same idea to take a hike. “Miss Emily, let’s go up this way. My old teacher used to do read aloud at the top of this trail,” suggested one of my adventurers, pointing at a trail leading up the hill. I gave a quick questioning glance to one of the other teachers who had just arrived. A shrug and a nod told me that it was fine, and off we went.

Soon we came to a fork in the trail, and we as a class decided to take the trail to the right in order to avoid plowing through a beautiful spider web stretched across the trail to the left. The trail brought us to a rather steep set of stairs descending to the creek bed far below. Some of the kids bounded down effortlessly. Others looked at me with doubt. “I’m a little bit scared, Miss Emily,” admitted one younger student. We all grabbed hands and carefully worked our way down the steps to the bottom where the others were waiting.

And then someone tripped and took a tumble. With great consternation, the class gathered close to help our friend up. After a few deep breaths and a Band-Aid from Gary (our aide), we all buddied up, held hands and made our way down the last steep, slippery stretch of trail to the picnic tables below.

“Well, that was some kind of walk, huh?” I said to the kids, breathing a sigh of relief. Big eyes, toothy grins, and nodding heads told me they pretty much agreed. Everyone had an opinion to share...

“It was an awesome, but crazy adventure,” said Alexander.

“I was scared that Miles had broken his arm or something!” said Ruby.

“I was trying to snowboard down the leaves on a piece of bark,” explained Jeremy.

“I thought that it was scary at first, but then I figured out that it was really, really fun!” said Pema.

“It was awesome and I liked it because it had to do with nature,” Nancy explained.

“Me and Jeremy adventured farther than the rest of the class when we got to the bottom of the stairs,” said Connor.

Kaden said, “It was kind of unexpected.”

“It was exciting with a lot of action,” Maya added.

“I was scared that Miles might have gotten hurt,” Diego shared.

Liza agreed. “I was scared that Miles got the wind knocked out of him.”

“At first I thought it was scary, but after, when I started slipping, it was fun,” said Sophia with a happy grin.

“It was sort of scary, but at the end I felt okay,” said Miles.

“I held on to a pole so I wouldn’t fall,” Anya explained.

So, as you can see, our little walk turned out to be a bit more than we had bargained for, even though it was no more than fifteen minutes long. But watching the kids help each other out of a tight spot and celebrate their successful journey made me realize that sometimes challenges can turn out to be unexpected and unforgettable bonding experiences.