This Tuesday after discussing an essay by Barry Lopez about how stories are embedded in the landscape, my students and I decided to go outside to take a walk in the snow. The snow was soft and melting. One student immediately reached down to make a snowball and roll into a bigger ball to make a snowman.
“Look how that works,” the young woman next to me said. “That’s so cool.”
Her remark surprised us so that we all stopped walking.
“You’ve never made a snowman?” I asked.
She looked at our astonished faces. “I’m from FLORIDA.”
Whatever task we had planned was suspended immediately. We all jumped in with our best snowman building tips. Once she’d built the little snowman, students quickly added branches for arms, a hat, glasses, and a muddy face. We went back to the classroom after that to do some collaborative writing, but I think we all felt like the important learning of the day had already taken place.
Photo taken by Florida Student, with her phone.
“Look how that works,” the young woman next to me said. “That’s so cool.”Her remark surprised us so that we all stopped walking.
“You’ve never made a snowman?” I asked.
She looked at our astonished faces. “I’m from FLORIDA.”
Whatever task we had planned was suspended immediately. We all jumped in with our best snowman building tips. Once she’d built the little snowman, students quickly added branches for arms, a hat, glasses, and a muddy face. We went back to the classroom after that to do some collaborative writing, but I think we all felt like the important learning of the day had already taken place.
Photo taken by Florida Student, with her phone.
6 comments:
AWESOME
Indeed. And I'm so glad she has a photo of it.
Aw, I LOVE that.
So exciting to be there when people discover something new! I still remember my friend's joy in crunching leaves during our first autumn at college. She was from Guam.
Excellent. She is much more likely to remember the snowman, ten years down the road, than Barry Lopez.
You must be the coolest professor to have.
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