Today is a travel day for me and it makes me wonder, how much longer will I be able to take my students on field trips? Does your district allow for field trips or have they banned them due to budget cuts?
I love going on field trips because it helps bring lessons to life for my students. It's one thing to read about things in books or online and another TOTALLY DIFFERENT thing to allow your students to get out of the classroom and physically be somewhere. While I support the use of technology like Skype, Google Hang Outs, Google Cardboard and other VR environments, but there is something special about getting out and seeing and feeling the world.
I think that is one of the reasons why the Driven2Teach program was so amazing for me because I was able to go to historical landmarks and BE where the history books were written and where the story of our country actually happened. Taking kids somewhere has that same power and ability, while maybe on a smaller level, it's still of the same idea.
While roaming around New York and Philadelphia I was shocked at how many locals had never been out to see the Statue of Liberty or the Liberty Bell! What? You live a short subway ride away from these important artifacts and you've never seen them in the flesh? And yet. when I took my students a short drive away to see Zion National Park about half of them had never been! This is why we NEED to keep the funding for field trips because they help to teach our students in ways that can't be done through a textbook or even VR.
Now, with all that emotion out, please excuse me so I can get on the road before the freeway here in California becomes another parking lot. And to think, I used to want to live in a big city.
No comments:
Post a Comment