For the most part this week has been pretty uneventful, that is, until today. Today was our first field trip. It was a half day field trip. The entire 4th, 5th, and 6th grades walked from Ray to The Logan Center at University of Chicago, which is about 8 blocks away. Based on the students' typical behavior in the classroom, I was very nervous to see how this walking field trip was going to end. I am happy to say I was pleasantly surprised. The students walked quickly and safely down the street and when I asked them to hurry up to cross a street or wait to cross a street until the next walk signal they did without complaint. During the viewing of the movies of the International Children's Film Festival students behaved appropriately and were quiet and respectful. Walking back to the school was, unsurprisingly, not as smooth as walking there. Students had been sitting quietly in the dark for an hour, so they had built up energy that they were given a little bit of room to release, so they tried to run with it. With the help of my MT, the other 5th grade teachers, and the parent chaperones we were able to keep everyone on track and safe getting back to school.
Having the field trip in the morning made for a very interesting afternoon in terms of academic time, but overall things went pretty smoothly. I think I was able to use the little academic time I had wisely to ensure the day wasn't a complete academic waste. Today was a great exercise in classroom management outside of the classroom for me and now, looking back on the day, I think I did really well. I think I could have done a few things better, especially in terms of communication with the other teachers.
Again, it is always a vulnerable feeling to be in charge of the students in a context outside of the classroom, where there are not as many rehearsed routines...I think part of the key is again to justify to the students why it is important to walk safely, etc., as well as to justify what the instructional purpose / objective of the field trip is...Of course, you might not always have control over this, but if you can focus students on why they are doing what they are doing, it will most likely become more meaningful for them.
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