How do you feel about going on field trips? I can not be the ONLY one who really does not like them. I just feel like going on a field trip just for the sake of going is the worst torture ever. The responsibility of having to watch over my 24 kids anywhere other than my school grounds is enough to give me a MAJOR anxiety attack. There is always the issue of the bathroom, or strangers, or parents who can not come, or parents who are not asked to come that follow the bus, or the kid who gets sick on the bus, or the kids who wanders off.. They just really stress me out. I mean, to go on one to supplement the curriculum, for example if you study butterflies, then by all means so to a place to see real butterflies. Or if your curriculum includes Space, then go to a planeterium.. But just to go for the sake of saying - yeah we went on a trip?? Our lunch meeting was about field trips today, and this year i am out-numbered because one of the teachers is out on Maternity leave so I think we are going to go to see a play at the local college. just to say that we went. and just to give me an ulcer!
This may sound whiny, but be happy. We were just told that we will no longer be going anywhere on any field trips, due to budget. Unless we can walk there, nope. And if you know my town, there's no where to walk. We have a population of 500.
Oh- that is no good. I cannot imagine going on a field trip just for the sake of going- especially now. We are going on some field trips, but they relate to our units of study and occur at the same time- well the end of the units- perfect timing! Enough to get them excited and eager. I am wicked excited about field trips and a touch nervous because it is my first year and this will be my first one as the teacher- I did one as a student teacher, but now- I am excited!
kc, our kids have to pay for the field trip, and we are also a small town so there is no where to walk and we have to rent buses, so a trip usually costs the kids 15- 18 dollars.
OK, yikes, then I wouldn't like them either, both as a teacher and a parent. But I will miss my annual trip to the closest planetarium, which is 2 hours away. We really did learn a lot there.
I am not overly fond of field trips because most of the time we have to rely on parent drivers and that is always a MESS. If we have to take a bus, it ususally cost around 2 or 3 dollars and that is often hard to collect. We can do one walking one to a grocery store and that is the easiest. We go to the pumpkin patch in October and our local children's hospital puts on a play, but that is by bus. I like them once I am there, but the getting it all organized is a pain.
I'm fine on the field trip. I hate organizing the trip. I leave that to someone else. I almost always have enough chaperones who are responsible for the kids. Just get me on the bus. The trips are almost always educational. Although, I did work at 1 school that we would go on a trip just to give the kids experiences that they wouldn't have had otherwise.
I hate them. I am a nervous wreck the whole time. We have 3 or 4. Our first one this year happened to fall on the date that I was going to go to my Daily 5/CAFE workshop. I picked a really great sub, and LOVED that I missed the trip! (does that make me sound terrible...?)
I like being on fieldtrips BUT I hate having ones that don't relate to the curriculum. I feel this way both as a parent and as a teacher.
I agree! I went on one as a teacher to the Rainforest Cafe. Rainforest animals weren't what we were studying, I think we were doing farm animals! It caused major problems, with my team, I didn't want to go on the trip & I refused to eat there! Before anyone asks, I didn't eat there for a couple of reasons: 1.) It's expensive. If I'm going to spend that kind of money, especially on a LUNCH, I don't want to be surrounded by a bunch of students. I want family or close friends around me. Eating out is a treat for me. 2.) I'm not a fan of their food. What I do like on their menu is outragerously overpriced!
Kcjo, in that small town, you don't have a store close by, or a post office or police station? Those are the best field trips! The ones where you can see the "behind the scenes" in places the kids visit every day. I live in an Alaskan village 200 miles from any other sign of civilization. Yet we don't suffer from lack of field trips
I don't like them. Last year I only had 1 parent volunteer and she was NOT that reliable. One of my co-workers was nice enough to give me one of her volunteer (a college student) but not much of a help. My students seemed to enjoying "going" to the bathroom and drinking water more than the trip itself.
No, we don't have a police station, the only store is a convenience store that is 2 miles down the highway, and the post office is open only during certain hours a day. There are businesses downtown, but they aren't really the field trip type.
I have never been a fan of Field Trips either. I do like to bring interesting events to the school. 1. The local museum has some educational packets to use at school. 2. The historical society comes to show items used by pioneers. 3. Reptile visits by the local zoo, or a local citizen. 4. A librarian to read some stories. 5. We had a pizza place that came every year to demo how to make pizza, and bring pizza for lunch--FREE. 6. I live in Oregon, so the Univsersity of Oregon football team came and read stories. 7. Very simple things make for great "field trips." When I taught on campus, we would take a few children to the elevator, just to ride up and down. If you look around there is something to do. Even if you are in the middle of nowhere, you can invite people to come to you. If you want to get them out--pick up litter, have a bus visit and learn about safety.
I like them, but only do one or two per year-- they are exhausting, but the kids love them and it creates a shared memory of fun together. I would NOT do them without several parents along to help, and each is SPECIFICALLY assigned a few kids to watch and be responsible for: I cannot watch all the kids myself. And I try to find a parent to take charge of food (I wouldn't buy it and I wouldn't go anywhere near a gift shop, either!!).
in-house trips what about having the school nurse visit your class? we also had a pediatric dentist stop by, also fire department, police department. you could have a pediatrician/vet come by. What about a trip to the grocery store? lots of behind the scenes there. The coolest thing for my kids is learning about the things they use everyday. Watching the custodian change the soap in the dispenser in our bathroom was cooler for them than any trip we've gone on!!! He was like the pied piper. Also, riding the school bus, they thought that was the best. We probably didn't even need a destination. They would have been happy going around the block. What about having someone from the pet store bring in some animals? I had the kids bring in their pets. They loved that, and actually the parents did too.
Maybe it's just to "say that we went"...but for some students, these are the only times they will ever see a play. We take for granted certain things - such as movie theaters, museums, etc. But, based on my experience in certain schools, it was a unique experience for the students. And, if it meant stress from keeping all my kids togheter, then I was all for it. On a kind-of related note, I would much rather do a public school field trip than a private school field trip!!! I would rather be solely in charge of 30 kids by myself or with an aid, than to have 10 parents on the trip with me in the guise of "helping". I felt like I was babysitting them AND their kids. It was the WORST field trip. The kids were 10xs worse than they would have been if it had only been myself and the aid...AND the parents couldn't even follow the rules. A couple for help would have been nice, but not as many as I had to let go. Whew. The trips would have been great except for the parents. Sad, but true.
We are allowed to take one all-day field trip each year (the entire grade-level has to agree on the location). Also, the trip must correlate with CA State Standards (either Language Arts or Math).
if we never had shows in our school I would say that they were lucky, but the PTA brings in some really good shows to our school, ones that are really better than these children's shows where they only have 4 actors, and not a lot of scenery. I am just bitter I suppose, because I REALLY hate them.
How long are these field trips you're taking the kids on, that you have so much trouble with? I'm just curious, because I've never had issues with kids during them, if they're well planned. We've walked to the store and fire station after studying those topics this year. We got about a 10 minute tour, got to be hands-on with all the equipment (go inside the fire truck, press buttons on the cash register) and at the fire station we sat the kids down in the staff room with juice, cookies, and a fire station coloring book while they talked about safety. The whole thing took 20 minutes tops both times, minus the walk. I only had one kid wander off once, problem solved by me holding his hand the whole time. Sounds like you have big classes though. I had 13 this year, and went with my aide. Last year I had 20 with 2 aides. They are so worth it when they are related to what you are studying- they really renew interest and motivate kids to think deeper, plus they do create great memories.
kcjoe, what shops do you have near you? Laundromats make great field trips, so do bakeries (especially if they can see the kitchen).
We took a school wide field trip about 2 months after school started.... I quickly realized why my teachers never took me on more! I was exhausted! We took another one to the zoo that's about 3 hours away last week. We had to charter a bus. With the bus, snacks, lunch, zoo admission and small souvenir from the zoo gift shop, it cost the students $35. Yes, I know it's pricey, but we let the parents know about 4 months in advance. We ended up having a great time but it was a long day and we were all exhausted (students included) the next day! Where our school is located, we're really 20 miles from anywhere so I think we're kind of limited.... I think they're great learning opportunities, but to go just to go is ridiculous.
Puff, I think I misrepresented myself (I teach middle school-I only happened on this thread because it was on the new posts list-I don't often pay attention to what subforum threads are in). So really, field trips to outside locations are ideal in my situation. But no, to answer your question, we don't have a laundromat (well, we have a building that has 2 washing machines in it), and no bakery. No gas station (within walking distance), no police dept. (the firemen do come to school once a year). We do have a bank, and a beauty shop, and a flower store. But all the kids have already been to those.
We were just having this conversation today. There's a 1st-year teacher at our school who is just dying to go on one-she thinks it will be so exciting! We were all inwardly rolling our eyes. Even just taking them to a play where you are sitting the whole time is exhausting. As others have said, worrying the whole time-counting bodies. Parents drive me crazy. We can't limit how many (because they will show up anyway and say it's a public place) so we end up with enough parents that they end up just taking their own kids around the museum-um, doesn't that defeat the purpose of making it a learning experience, different than a weekend family trip. I like to point out things as we go along, you know make connections to what we are learning. Or you get a bunch of parents standing around talking to each other letting their own kids go hogwild. No, not my favorite part of teaching.
