I want to discuss field trips and what exactly constitutes an educational field trip. I love field trips and my grade level team takes many throughout the year. The concern I have is whether the time missed in class is worth the educational value of the field trip. With the growing push to raise the achievement level of all students I want to know what is most productive for the students. A question I have for other educators is, what do you do during your field trips to help the students learn something and make them educational?
For myself I have tried once in a while to have the students take notes or do some kind of assignment related to the field trip while they are on the field trip. I feel that it is very important for schools to value the community they live in and try to involve the community in the education process.
One big concern for our school district is that because of bus scheduling elementary field trips must be over by 1:30 p.m. This would be OK for some field trips but for other field trips it really makes it hard to go and do what we would like to do.
I am also curious as to what field trips other educators go on that relate to their grade level core standards. I teach 4th and 5th grade depending on the year, so I am looking for ideas for those grade levels, but I also think many field trips will work across many grade levels. Let me know what you think. I would appreciate some feedback on this.
Sincerely,
Mr. A
Blair,
ReplyDeleteWe took our 3rd graders on a field trip to Zion National Park this year. In third grade, part of our curriculum focuses on habitats. Our other third grade teacher, Mrs. Glover, came up with some excellent activities for the 3rd graders to do while we went on the River Walk and the Lower Emerald Pools. She had the students find as many habitats as they could, she also turned it into a competition among groups. The students were very engaged! I set up the field trip through Zion (Zion provide an excellent orientation with one of the rangers),and she planned the activity so we shared the responsibility of making it all happen. It was probably one of the best field trips I have ever planned and been on. In previous years we would go to Zion and go to a Human History Museum and watch an educational film on the big screen. To me that totally defeated the purpose of going to Zion. Our adjustments to the plan made what we were already doing so much better, and the students were now engaged in discovering the different habitats.
Nice blog, Blair. I thought I was cool because I learned how to do one and then I saw some of the blogs of other students.... I don't feel so cool anymore.
ReplyDeleteField trips can be difficult to plan. We try to always have the field trip fit our curriculum in some way. We also try to do as many walking field trips as possible. We visit local museums, high school events (we are just a few blocks from the high school). Some other ideas would be the newspaper, book stores, local businesses or other places that correlate with the curriculum.
ReplyDeleteThird grade also includes the solar system. We go to the planetarium for our 'big' field trip. It is free for students, so we only have to pay the bus expense.
Good luck!
I think that field trips are always worthwhile because they are experiences using all the senses.
ReplyDeleteThere is an old book by Victor Cline, a psychologist. It was called, "How to make your child a winner". He was involved in the Korean War as a psychologist. They did a study on the soldiers who could not fight in the face of battle, and those who were courageous and strong. They did questionnaires to see what experiences they had in their life previous to being a soldier. They found no correlation between the types of experiences they'd had, Even things like whether their parents spanked them or not, but a great correlation between the amount/quantity of activities/experiences. The experiences were everything from baking a cake to running for school office. His premise was that just sheer quantity of experiences give children courage and ability to think well "under fire" so to speak.
Anyway, under that premise, I think that field trips are experiences and are always beneficial. Going to Zions, for example, may be something that some students never do unless taken by the school.
Thanks for all the comments. I think the Zion field trip is a great idea. I wish we had more time to spend over there. Because our buses have to be back to the school by 1:30 we can't go that far.
ReplyDeleteI think walking field trips are really great also. Our school is in the middle of town and we have the opportunity to see many historical sights that are within walking distance.
I do think experience outside of the classroom is also very valuable. The students need to just get out and do something else once in a while.
This is a big question that I always have. I know I am always encuraged to take my students on a field trip every year. I am always carefull on which ones to go to. I, like many other teachers have a desire for the students to learn something while they are there and not just be a day away from school. For high school students it is important to focus on their future.
ReplyDeleteI like that you are asking questions, most blogs I have read it seems like the author has all the answers with no room for improvement. Way to grow!
ReplyDeleteI went with a science teacher to the Hansen Planeterium in Salt Lake several years ago. Things like that are what usually get remembered. They remember what they learn, but not usually when they learned it when it occurs in the classroom because all of the days eventually bleed into one. A field trip provides a much needed respite.
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