I said before I would talk about our field trip...and I forgot to so here it is. This was a big learning experience for me. I should have better prepared the students for what to expect and how to behave while on the trip. Unfortunately I wasn't quite sure what to expect myself because I hadn't been there before. I was also on toss up that day on how to go about discussing it. I knew that if we did the students would be very chaotic afterwords being that they were excited to go and I haven't ever seen what a teacher does in order to prepare students. For our first trip to Brucemore my CT incorporated into her teaching about the mansion but since it was a last minute trip we didn't have a unit planned to teach them about plays. The production sent us a DVD and my CT and myself learned a valuable lesson... which was to preview before watching. We both assumed it would work, but there was no sound. It had a slide show and the slideshow was supposed to have had a narration.
Well we lined the students up and my CT took over for this. I told her previously I would like for her to since I didn't really know what the place wanted from us and she was the one that coordinated it. She had them partner up which took about 15 minutes for them to choose who they wanted and line up. Plus we had a minute of silence in order to calm them down before leaving the room.
Once we got there the students were all very loud and very excited (there were two classes from our school and two more groups from somewhere else). They started out by introducing the h.s. students and telling a bit about the play. I think only about half of them where listening because I saw heads turned around, looking up and talking to the person next to them. They had us grouped by class (about 20 students per group) and there were 4 stations - each station had 15 minutes. The rule they gave us was not to touch anything unless they said we could (keep in mind these are 3rd graders) The first room we went to was for lights. They had the whole group at once cram inside. If you've ever been in one of these areas in a h.s. you could only imagine our group w/ 4 other adults. The h.s. students had things layed out on the tables to show us and of course students were going to pick them up and all that...I guess I feel that this was a bad way to present the information. Our group got done early so they sent us to the hallway. School was in session so we were supposed to be very quiet. Well the kids were loud and pointing out all the cool stuff in the hallways and also dancing around. Again I don't really blame them, it was just hard to stop them and keep them under control. Our next stations was really fun but the students were disrespectful to the speaker. We had to stop her from talking and have the whole group give five. She had fun activity, but should have had a few more expectations for the students. They were to 'warm up' by 1 person jumping into the middle and making a funny sound and an action. Well the students though it would be fun to dive into the circle... then the next step was to have the whole group do the same thing, not very safe. Luckily we came out with no injuries.
Our 3rd stop was props. Here is where things got a little crazy. Remember our rule of no touching. Well the h.s. student pointed out all the fun things all the walls and talked about what they were for. One prop had to have been from "the one that can't be named that was a Shakespearean play because it would be bad luck.' Well for the rest of the time the students would give it up and continued to ask "whats the name of the play." Then we were crammed inside another small room. I think this was bad planning but the room was their tool room and everything was laid out on the bench. It was only a matter of seconds before we had to pull a student out for picking up (luckily just) a pair of pliers. I'm sure other students where also touching things but since I couldn't move or see anything below their heads they didn't get caught. Again students had to be reminded 3 times to listen to the presenter because they were very loud and talkative. Then we went around the corner where the actors would keep their stuff on a table... each person had their own spot. Again we had to remind them to NOT TOUCH ANYTHING. Then one kid just had to notice a forbidden word written on the wall...poop. Oh yes they can read and they read it with enthusiasm. (If only they would be that excited for their reading books at school). Hopefully this also taught the actors that what you write on the walls is read. Luckily it wasn't anything worse.
Our next and last stop - costumes. They had a few places for students to sit.. not quite 20 though and we had to stop a few kids from arguing and tell others where to sit. The presenter was very animated and they were able to sit kind of still and listen. Once it was time for questions the first one asked was... What is the play that can't be named? Oh why oh why did they have to bring that up. Questions where over then they were able to go into the costume racks. Imagine 20 students, small area, and enough space under and between the costumes to crawl. Again, bad planning on their part I think. After everyone was out we had to do a head count to make sure no one was hiding.
Back to the auditorium and students were loud and chaotic. I felt embarrassed because as the presenter was talking the students where also talking. The teacher from the other third grade class stood up and got their attention by asking for five. During the trip I had a checklist of names. After I had to remind a student to do what they were supposed to two times I would put a check by their name. Only 5 students didn't have checks and my CT had 5 students who are now on "probation" and if they still have problems by the time our next trip comes up we are asking their parents to attend the trip. (Which is this upcoming week).
Well I learned a lot. 1. PREPARE students for the experience. 2. REVIEW any material before showing it in class. 3. ASK the people in charge what to expect and if possible preview the trip before going. 4. PRACTICE manners on how to behave in public. And of course I learned a lot more but those where my major things.
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