How hard it is to escape from
places. However carefully one goes they hold you - you leave little bits
of yourself fluttering on the fences - like rags and shreds of your very
life. ~Katherine Mansfield
When I taught my middle school classroom of mixed
6th, 7th and 8th graders, we spent a great deal of time exploring the sense of
place. This includes
characteristics that are unique to that place, involving what humans have
brought, their local knowledge and folklore. It is important for humans to identify oneself in relation
to a particular place on Earth.