I really enjoyed our visit to the Two Rivers Art Gallery last Thursday. We went in our first year as well, although this time the lesson planning component was really neat! I liked going in our first year, but it was hard to imagine it being really useful because it was in our first couple weeks and we were all pretty oblivious I think... It is much more effective going later in the Education program because we have all had a chance to teach art and can get a better idea for what each grade level is capable of.
I worked at CNC during the summer with international students and took them to the Art Gallery for a field trip. It was really cool to see how the students reacted to the art. My students were Korean, so there was a big language barrier, but art has its own language that doesn't necessarily need to be verbal which is great! The lady that took us through the gallery for our tour mentioned this too, that the artwork can be displayed for any grade level. If the real meaning behind the artwork is a little vulgar or aggressive for a younger audience, you don't need to go into the nitty gritty detail.
I think field trips can be so beneficial if they are planned and organized well. There are many companies and organizations around Prince George who are more than willing to do tours with students.
I totally agree! I think getting out into the community with kids and getting to experience things in different environments gives kids a chance to learn in a way that they just can't always do in a school. When you ask kids about highlights from their year, field trips always come up as favourite memories for kids.
ReplyDeleteI agree - when I was teaching in Whitehorse, I thought it would be neat to write a fieldtrip handbook for the community, complete with a list of places to go, things to do there, and costs. It takes a bit of time to learn about the places available in a new town. But I also think that part of the careful planning required - much of it for safety - must include real learning goals. And of course, kids can be involved in planning for the trip and in writing/reporting about it afterward. We had a wonderful sliding afternoon for two grade seven classes one year and for a small group of students, it was an opportunity to prepare a video documentary, complete with interviews. Groups of students could be assigned to reporting on different activities throughout the year and there can be writing/representing assignments that everyone does, tied of course, to PLOs. But the neat thing is that reluctant writers will have more to say after a trip than they might if they are just assigned a topic or asked to choose one. A last note about field trips - be sure to send permission slips home in plenty of time so that you can hound every student until they are all returned. And a little teacher humour: one year when my friends class was going to the Sewer Pumping Station, a parent wrote on the permission slip - Please, no souvenirs!
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