Two weeks and counting

Joined: 23 Mar 2004 Posts: 72

The countdown has begun! Thirteen days from today, I will begin my adventure. All of the logistics seem to be falling into place. For example: my passport came early last week, I got my physical qualification toward the end of the week, and I recieved my flight itinerary as well as a draft of the plan.

As I have already mentioned in my journal, I am hoping that my students will be able to share in this adventure with me. We spent some time this week looking at the researcher's journal. I think this really brought some reality to what is about to happen. Some of the kids seemed genuinely excited about looking at these journals. Some of them were impressed with how "high tech" the scientific equipment looked. For others, the living quarters (berthing tents, outhouse, etc...) were fascinating. Of course, there are those that were simply delighted to discuss (again) how cold I will be, and how warm they will be:). I definitely felt some excitement in the room about being closer to departure.

I introduced my students to the project that will help guide them through this trip with me. They will be creating a condensed version of their own journal of the trip. Once a week, they will read the journal entries from myself and the researchers. They will write down information about things like successes, challenges, and anything else noteworthy. They will then be taking that information, and creating a journal of their own, as if they were traveling with me. I took a sneak peek at a few of the rough drafts as they were writing, and saw some great things beginning.

Right now we are working on the logistics of how to communicate with my students live. The goal is to get some sort of speakerphone hooked up, so that the kids can ask questions. They have already begun generating a list of questions, and I am looking forward to reading through those questions next week.

This next two weeks is going to fly by. I will begin packing this week, and before you know it- off we'll go!

Talk to you soon-

Nikki