Down at the zoo

This past weekend, for my tourist event for the week, I went to the Colchester Zoo. Going there in a double Decker bus, I had the Simon & Garfunkle song "At the zoo" in my head (or at least the parts I could remember).
The brochures and pamphlets of the Colchester Zoo conveniently omit the ticket price for entrance. So when I got there and learned that I had to pay £12.99 (or about $28 Cnd, compared to $4.25 back home) it really soured my experience for the first 30 minutes or so. I could have taken a train to London and visited the Natural Historymuseumm and Science museum for less that price.
After I got over the cost, I started to realise why it was more expensive. Their set up was very hands on and informative. There were very simple bits of information for the youngest kids on the windows of the enclosures (such as "We are otters" and "We eat fish"). There was ample opportunity for the kids to press buttons to light up maps and information, factoids about the animals were posted on the walls or bushes, and more in-depth information was also available for upper-level understanding. I think some of my favoritee bits were watching the chimps (and watching people's reaction to the chimps), feeding a giraffe, and going through a Plexiglass tunnel through the Sea Lion pool. The Sea Lions can obviously see us in the tube and will swim right up to and over people standing in the tube.

As for teaching, it has a been a busy two weeks. Some of the students are really fun and want to learn. They bring a positive energy into the classroom. There are, however, a several spoilers who either cause great distractions, are rude to the teacher and/or fellow students, or simply refuse to go work. And there are a handful that do all three. The British system to to stream the students, which means that the brightest ones are in different classes than those who struggle the most academically. Those with behavioral issues will join the lower achieving groups, so these classes can be a real handful. The first week was tough for us all, as students begin to get into their groove. But not all of them are like this. Last week I got to work with a Van De Graaff generator and have the students experience it. As a Biologist and Chemist, I don't often get to use this kind of physics equipment, so I was enjoying it a lot, too. (I've got to have my fun once in a while, too!)

Kevin