Field Teaching and Dancing

I don't really have any pictures to post, as I haven't really been taking any lately. We've just been so busy!

But since my last post, I have been camping, dancing, and teaching! Last weekend, I decided to try out camping again for a night. This wasn't exactly camping in the normal sense, because we had a sweet set up, but I still slept in a tent! My car made the treacherous drive up the Gros Ventre road, and we weren't sure it was going to make it!

A great view of the Red Hills on the drive back

We have also discovered Blur Grass night at the Silver Dollar Bar at the Wort! We've gone a few times, and have had a blast! I can now moderately dance some country swing.

This last week was out first week long teaching program. We had 8th graders from Shoshoni, and I was field teaching with Martha, so I learned a ton! The students were great and didn't want to leave! We taught them about plant communities, geology, mountain building, glaciers, fire, research and legacy. It was an awesome week.

Next week we're on to community ecology research, so this weekend we are finalizing our research proposals! It should be an interesting week….Our research involves soil samples and soil compaction, so hopefully the ground is not too frozen!

~Meghan

Moose on campus!

There has been a plethora of moose on campus lately! Julie and I saw one right behind our cabin the other day, and then last night, a momma and baby joined us for dinner right outside the dining hall!

Grads had a field day taking pictures! We've also had some pretty amazing sunsets in the last week or so.

Everyone ran out of their cabins to get a closer look at this one

This week we are taking a Place Based Education class, looking at how to integrate place and community based education into our teaching. Yesterday we took a hike up to cobble ridge and worked in groups to brainstorm ways to incorporate some dimensions of place based education into our lessons while here.

Next week our teaching team (the Chugwater Chillers) teach Shoshoni middle school for a whole week!

~Meghan

Yellowstone! And some teaching...

So while my parents were here last week and over the weekend, we took a day trip to Yellowstone. My parents went up for a few days, and then took me back with them on Saturday! We saw lots of animals, and of course had to stop for just about all of them! We did see 4 bears which was pretty awesome.

This guy was about 65 meters off the road

And eating an elk

We also saw a momma and a cub up on a hill, but it's not letting me post that picture for some reason.
I decided I am not a huge fan of watching animals for hours, but it was cool to see them briefly!

And of course we saw some:

Elk

Moose

Bald eagles 

Pretty views (at Oxbow Bend)

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

I can finally say I made it to Yellowstone! After the shutdown last year and not having time so far this year, I had to take a picture with the sign to prove it!

Handstands during sunset. What else is new?

This week we had 5th graders from Edith Bowen on campus, and I was running morning and evening programs, which I loved. If I could run programming all the time, I would! Field teaching is great too, but I just really loved having all the students at once, and doing programs with them as a class.

We did however have a stomach bug go through campus, so that put a bit of a damper on some of the experience.

Next week we won't be teaching, but taking a Place Based Education class. Then we get to teach 8th graders for a whole week! Yikes!

~Meghan

SNOW!

Well we made it through September without snow. And today it snowed just a little bit! It's gone now, but was exciting while it lasted!

New snow on the Tetons

A lot of stuff has happened since my last post. On Saturday we had a Rosh Hashanah/Equinox/House warming/Belated Birthday party at Dana's. Ate lots of food and played some games. I tried so many new foods that night, you wouldn't even believe it.

Then Sunday my parents arrived in town! Had some yummy enchiladas (finally) in Jackson, and hung out with them for a bit. Our first group of 5th graders arrived that night as well, and we got to dive into our first week of teaching!

Then Monday was our first full day of teaching, and we were out in the field teaching about communities all day! Super fun, but super rainy! Went to dinner with my parents again (pizza this time, yay!) and did some looking around town.

Yesterday we took our students to the Kelly Warm Springs for a research project looking at the fish populations there. They loved it! I then volunteered to help with elk bugling, which was a great plan, because we heard a bunch of elk and saw several groups of them!

Today was the last day of our first teaching session, and it was hard to watch them go! But next week we get a whole new group to teach!

On another note, I have an awful cold, which sucks. But my parents will be back in town on Friday and I get to hang out with them some more! There is also a moose that has been sighted around campus a few times in the last few days.

Bull moose on Ditch Creek road

I'm sure I'm forgetting something awesome, but my head is swimming from this cold!

~Meghan