Metal Detecting With My Students!

[Troller]

Its been a while since I have been on here, its been even longer since I have been out dirt fishing! I have been so focused on my final months of my Masters Degree that I have scarcely had time to breath let alone think of getting some free time to go metal detecting. Last Friday the bug hit me again and since I only had four students in my group I decided to introduce them to the hobby! They loved it! Their first reaction was that they were going to find all kinds of gold and treasure. After they patiently sat through a fifteen minute introduction in which I quickly dispelled any false notions of finding buried gold in our area the kids were still very anxious to get started. I had two detectors there and so the students were split into two groups. The students were taught the proper way to swing the coil and proper digging techniques and then let lose on the school grounds. I half expected a disaster, however the students were incredibly respectful and followed instructions to the letter. What I found even more enjoyable was that everything the students dug up was treasure to them! They were so excited to dig up even a penny. One student found an arcade token that is incredibly unique and one in fair condition is worth about ten dollars to collectors or so the internet tells me. This activity with students has had such a far reaching impact! For example students wanted to research their finds. The arcade token is one example of this. Every student picked up a chrome book during their free time and searched the internet trying to figure out the tokens origins. To be clear we are not talking a run o the mill token here. It is about the size of a half dollar! Lastly the students are constantly on their best behavior now because they know that if they can't be trusted to follow the everyday rules they can't be trusted with the machines.
I realize the paradox in introducing people to the hobby, the more people who partake in the hobby the less goodies there are for us to find. In this case however we are talking about 2nd 3rd and 4th graders. Due to the fact that they probably wont be able to convince mom and dad to invest in a decent machine and as such this is their only opportunity to experience the hobby. On the other hand though many of the students asked how I learned to metal detect and my reply was, "I don't spend all my time on an electronic device! Instead of hunting for virtual treasure I get out there and do it for real!" To finish this post up if getting one or two students away from sitting on their tablet for two to three hours a week means I find a few less coins then it was worth it.

 

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[austin]

Retired teacher here. Think you've done a great thing. Students will learn history, geology and get some exercise. I applaud you...

 

[bigfoot1]

I agree...its a great way to get the kids out and going.I too applaud you

 

[kcm]

Not only that, but they will (hopefully) never have a thought process that involves banning areas from detectorists. They will "know" that there are good people out there who take the time to do things right and proper. I salute you, sir! Well done!

 

[KyKatt]

This is great!!!!!! I used to hunt with my dad back in the 60's now I take my grandchildren. The imagination of a child is wonderful!!! We found a 50 cal lead ball and the questions started about could this have been used in the Civil War and many more questions after that! Now she is hooked on MDing!

 

[dirtdigginfool]

What's the saying...."Take a kid hunting"...?...Great job Troller, you've planted some seeds, I wish one of my teachers had introduced me to detecting when I was young...thx for sharing...ddf

 

[WhiteTornado]

Not only that, but they will (hopefully) never have a thought process that involves banning areas from detectorists. They will "know" that there are good people out there who take the time to do things right and proper. I salute you, sir! Well done!

That alone is priceless. Nice job on introducing the next generation to this hobby

 

[Troller]

Found by students while metal detecting! Now if I leave the machines at home the kids complain so much that I have to leave to go get em.

 

[KyKatt]

Take a kid hunting and you will never have to hunt your kids!!!!

 

[Chizzy]

Too many kids with their noses buried in those electronic devices!! My son's family used to host foreign exchange students from all over the world.......Denmark, Croatia, Ukraine, China, Argentina. They all had the same common interest.........those infernal smart phones!!
Good for you for getting your students out and making an effort to change the culture of the next generation...............

 

[Troller]

Thank you Chizzy! Actually my Master Thesis for college is on the impact of media consumption on the development of the adolescent brain. Really interesting stuff when you really dig into it. Truth be told very little is known about how extended periods of screen time impact the developmental process of the brain. Its a subject hasn't really been considered until recently when Internet Addiction was added to DSM-V. There is quite a bit of debate as to whether or not IA should even be considered for addition to the manual. Anyhow studies have shown that there is a correlation between cortical thinning in areas of the brain the control impulsiveness, empathy, focus, and memory. Its really intriguing stuff. Would you believe that a 2009 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that adolescents ages 8 to 18 spend 7.5 hours a day consuming media, and in the that 7.5 hours they pack 10.5 hours of actual media exposure through media multi tasking? Scary isn't it? That the equivalent of a full time job 7 days a week! It just drives me nuts when these kids come in and say did you watch this or that program last night? "Did you watch diggers last night?" why watch something and think how cool it would be to do it when you can go out and actually do it?
Anyhow I will get down off the soap box now!

 

[Troller]

My students are metal detecting machines! It wasn't overly hot out today but normally even 83 degree weather is enough to keep kids these days inside where its air conditioned. I remember when I was growing up in the boonies in south western Michigan, we would leave the house right about dawn the roam the the woods that surrounded our house until well after night fall. The temperature didn't matter at all! if we got warm we would just take a dip in the swimming hole. We didn't even wear shoes half the time! We were barefoot rowdy heathens back in the day. Today is a different story with our youth, "Drink out of a hose?! are you serious?! thats like child abuse or something?!" Of course we cant have our students actually drink from a hose but when I tell them that we did its like an old timer telling me that they walked to school in the snow barefoot up hill both ways! Anyhow today was a lot of fun! My students first actually wanted to hear about my trip to Anclote Key and listened intently as I peppered some history into the story. I was amazed at how enthralled they were with the legend of Jose Gaspar. Anyhow they were ready to go detecting again and never once complained about being too hot! Lunch time came around and the other teachers and I had to refuse to dig anymore holes and confiscate trowels.
Funny story though I have a 2nd grade student who literally always manages to find the metal eraser fastener that holds the eraser to a pencil. The kid found his third one today and damn near lost his mind. All I could think is welcome to the club! Anyhow I talked to him and said, "hey, a hundred years from now archaeologist might consider such a find a major break through!" Two digs later he found some change and was happy.
All and all great day of metal detecting with students! (In case any of you are saying, "wait... its summer!!! I work at a summer program for kids)

 

[Troller]

Found today while metal detecting at the Elementary School. The student had a hit at 8 inches so we started digging. The pin pointer was going nuts everytime we probed the hole. Just about an inch to the left of the initial cut, about an two inches down we found this WEBLOS scarf gatherer.