Skip to main content

What's in your rucksack?

So, there I am talking about some pebbles. What's that you say? How big is your bag?!? I come from an outdoor education background, and have been taking groups into the hills for around 14 years now.  I have to say that those years have been free of major incidents.  However, the everyday geography fieldtrip has often caused a few issues! Although I tailor the contents of my bag according to the trip, there is a fairly standard setting.  Here I'm going to list and explain the items I've been taking with me during the last few days.  I should add, that I am one of three staff.

Another caveat is that we ensure that the pupils who go are well prepared - indeed, I won;t let them on the bus if they aren't. Many of these items are for comfort, enjoyment and, most importantly, safety.

Clothing

  • The Rucksack is a Mountain Equipment Diamond 50+ - I love this sack and have had it for 8 years.  It's been everywhere with me.  However, I use it on trips as it can easily take 55 litres of gear and stuff.
  • 3 sets of waterproofs.  One is the set I'd wear, the other two are PackLite Gore-Tex.  Just in case anyone gets a right soaking!
  • 3 or 4 fleeces.
  • Some fleece trousers.
  • 3-4 spare sets of gloves and the same number of hats.

Equipment
  • First Aid Kit. Although everything can be used as first aid equipment, from magazines to laces.  The most important feature is to be first aid trained. Often, the only first aid that is needed are some kind words and some encouragement. It's also great for sitting on, and has a few duct tape patches where campons or an ice axe have damaged it.
  • 1 litre of water.
  • 1 litre flask full of hot Ribena.  You can still drink it if it's cold and kids, in general, universally like it.  I make it nuclear strength. Great for handing around during the wash up (debreif) section for raising the spirits.
  • 0.5 litre flask of coffee - rocket fuel for teachers.  Has top be freshly brewed that morning...
  • Netbook.
  • Power Monkey
  • Camera
  • Dry Wipe Board Pen - in the right conditions they are great for annotating signs and using the minibus as a whiteboard.
  • Mini whiteboard.
  • Chocolate biscuits
  • A comfort pack - this contains toilet roll, feminine hygiene products and a wide range of other stuff that I've found useful to have over the years.  
  • About 200 million pencils and sharpeners. To combat the 'Sir, my pencil has run out' comments.
  • Spare mobile phone
  • Cash for pay phone
  • Credit Card
  • Cash for staff munchies 
  • A Garmin Gecko GPS - with around 200 hours of battery life, this still is far better than the iPhone for recording waypoints. Upload these into Google Earth later to revisit the trip. Or, at lunch time, get the bored boys to 'draw' funny symbols which are then added to the world's famous landmarks later.....
There, I think that's about it! You should see what I put in the bus......
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

High Impact, Low effort

This month is the start of the #29daysofwriting challenge.  I enjoyed this last year and will be using my Staffrm account to post.  I'll also be reporting here, both to give a little more detail and to keep a log of what I have written. The challenge developed a great sense of community last year, which is why I'm choosing to write on Staffrm. What I would say to those who are new to writing or don't want to run out of ideas is: Write for yourself. Clarify an idea, write something out loud. The process of distilling thoughts into writing is immensely beneficial to your practice. If other read, comment and respond, that's a bonus. Ignore the muppets who know nothing of your context, style or students. Mix it up - I like to read about real stuff from real classrooms and schools and also about other stuff.  If we always write about school, how does that work for workload? If you've nothing nice to say, don't say it. So, the following has been 
5 comments
Read more

What makes a learning experience profound? Personal reflections and possible implications for classroom practice.

I have recently begun a Leadership Pathways journey.  As part of the first core day, we were asked to reflect on a profound learning experience. This got me thinking about how many profound learning experiences I have both been involved in, and how many I have been able to give to others.  Our group came up with a huge long list, but these are my five. Emotional Connected Demanding Reflective Collaborative As always, these are personal thoughts and quite mixed up.  I put them here so that I can look back on them (plus they’d get lost inside my world-cup-free brain) 1. Emotional I can’t think of a time where deep learning hasn’t engaged my emotions.  From being awe inspired to that tingle feeling when a student gets a light bulb moment.  From this-is-the-happiest-day-ever, to I-think-I’m-about-to die.  How often do we engage the emotions of those we teach?  Here, I would argue that having a safe learning environment is not always conducive to profound
4 comments
Read more

The danger of Teaching and Twitter conversations: poorly formed bipolar arguments.

Sometimes in life, there really are only two options.  Get the wrong one and you can look like a muppet.  Take this useful sign for the toilets in Morocco.  I successfully navigated it, choosing the right option.  The result? No egg on my face.  As a mountain leader, there are many right or wrong decisions that I’ve faced, as there are all over life.  It’s not a good idea to let inexperienced young people walk themselves down Snowdon.  They may die or be seriously injured.  If someone is showing the signs and symptoms of hyperthermia, you need to treat it fast in a specified way.  There is no real arguing with this sign: Other options are less obvious.  Take this sign recently spotted near to where I live: Now, I wouldn’t consider sleeping in a bin.  However, faced with a sub-zero night, I could see the appeal.  The danger? Being tipped into one of those huge lorries with a compactor. (by the way, I only really considered all of this thanks to questions from my four year old boy).
1 comment
Read more