Field Trips vs. Field Experiences…

The ISD changed the rules for field trips this year. I say, “Hear! Hear!”.  For years, I have gone on field trips that looked about like this.

Step 1: Load bus, with students, lunches and teachers.  (20 minutes)

Step 2: Drive slowly through traffic to the site of the field trip.  Really, Really slowly. On a bus with about 130 kids and their parents. (an hour sometimes)

Step 3: Arrive and do cool field trip thing.  (an hour, maybe an hour and a half)

Step 4: Drive to lunch location.  (20 minutes)

Step 5: Eat lunch and play on the playground. (two hours)

Step 6: Load bus and drive home (an hour)

Total Hours: give or take 6…depending on traffic.  Ratio of hours on non-academics to academics:

3 hours, 40 minutes:: 1 hour (generously: 1 hour, 30 minutes)

This is more of a problem in the lower grades, but it does happen in the upper grades as well.  And while there have been shining examples to the contrary, this is the norm.

This year, the bulk of the time on the trip must be spent on academics. Which is great, I think.  Also, administration wants to know what you’ll do before, during and after the field trip in order to connect it to the approved curriculum.  This should be normal or expected.

The idea is to shine a light on the time spent and make certain that all time is efficient.  It also has to shine a light on the cobwebs and muddled thinking that happens at this time of the year

There are two drawbacks to this. The first, of course, is that it is a lot of work.  The second, surprisingly, is that the teachers are resistant. Partly, they are resistant because the parameters within which the district is working continuously change.  Partly, they are resistant because this is new and new is scary.

I am gleeful.  The only reason to go on field trip is for field experience, to get experience that you can’t get in the classroom.  The United States education system gives precious little time to educating children and demands a remarkable amount of learning in return.  Kids have time for picnic lunches and playgrounds on the weekends and in the afternoon.  During the school day, I need their brains for as much of the day as possible.

We submitted to take the first grade to the Ft Worth Nature Center to tour the river bottom forests that grow in the area. We’ll see if we jumped through all the hoops in the right order or not.