When I was a kid, I could NOT wait for any field trip! Field trip days mean that I did not have to be sitting in the classroom being bored out of my mind! We got to be outside at least part of the day, depending on where the field trip was. Even if it was to a museum we got to eat lunch at a park somewhere and go play when we were done! It also meant that we probably did not have homework that night! Not sitting in class, and no homework?? It couldn't get any better! The thing about it, I was learning the whole day, but I didn't even realize it! That's the way that education needs to be! So many students learn valuable lessons throughout the course of a field trip that they don't even realize it, because they are having fun! The problem with field trips is they cost money! With everyone from government down to principals cutting budgets for extra-curricular activities it is hard to find money for a field trip. Sometimes you can get parents to pay for them, but in low-income areas that gets more difficult.
"When I was a kid, I could NOT wait for any field trip!"
That's where Virtual Field Trips come in! I know it is not the same as being at the actual place, but that does not mean students will not learn from them. If the teacher or even grade level builds up the whole event to get the students excited, it can be a great event! You can take your students on a Virtual Tour of the Smithsonian Museum, the White House, Even the Great Wall of China! I have several virtual field trips listed on my Web Quest page that would be a great learning experience for any classroom! Depending on where you live, these may be sites your students will never have a chance to see in their life! With the technology that is available to teachers everywhere, these types of field trips are made possible! When you do a virtual field trip in your class, make sure to do the same things that you would on a normal field trip! Give the students things to look for, have the students bring their sack lunch, even have them wear what they would for a field trip to that particular place. You can even decorate your classroom to look like the place that you are going. The more excited you get about it, the more excited the students will be!
After the field trip you can incorporate the place that you went to in your lessons and keep the students interested. Instead of just giving the students a word problem like they see every day, write one that incorporates your field trip. Even have the students write problems for each other to work out that involve the field trip. The more you do to make the learning a real world situation, the more the students are going to retain.
After the field trip you can incorporate the place that you went to in your lessons and keep the students interested. Instead of just giving the students a word problem like they see every day, write one that incorporates your field trip. Even have the students write problems for each other to work out that involve the field trip. The more you do to make the learning a real world situation, the more the students are going to retain.
The more excited you get about the learning, the more excited the students will be!
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