instructours

Posted on 8/10/09

Thanks for your comment, Sunni.

However, you have only skimmed the surface by offering the
services of your tour company. A scavenger hunt is just one
of the many ways to engage a group.

While I am not a tour operator, I am a professional
educational travel program designer who creates custom,
curriculum-based programs both for schools and tour operators.

During the course of nearly 30 years, as both an educational
tour guide and educational program designer, I have been
appalled by the lack of preparation students have had. In
many cases, it has been a sorry reflection of the respective
teachers and schools. Incredibly, most of the 7th and 8th
graders I have conducted, for various student tour operators,
can't even find Washington, DC on a map of the United States!
I have learned, working with these national student tour
operators, that I need to start my commentary and lessons at
a basic level.

Let's face it, most teachers are simply not preparing their
students for the 'tour', and most of the companies out there
are simply gearing the trips to sightseeing. Both teachers
and tour operators suppose the tour will educate students
through osmosis!

I collaborate directly with administrators and teachers to
create educational travel programs that align with their
curricula, standards, teaching plans, and objectives.

In this way, I can work in their reading lists; art and music
curriculum; history; civics; geography; science projects;
utilizing their textbooks. (Yes! Many of my teachers do send
me a copy of their texts and curricula to follow.)

Each of my programs is unique and becomes a true curriculum
tool.

Interestingly enough, some of my schools are Title I so the
quest for something that doesn't cost anything to engage
them, is really important. The students of these schools are
recent immigrants or sons and daughters of immigrants and I
have found they are the most appreciative of these efforts.

If your class is studying the Civil War, why not add 'Red
Badge of Courage', 'Across Five Aprils', or 'Little Women' to
the school reading list? ('Red Badge of Courage' was made
into a film starring WWII's most highly decorated soldier,
Audie Murphy which is a wonderful tie to his grave at
Arlington Cemetery and the WWII Memorial.) Many groups also
watch, 'Gettysburg' or 'Glory'. (A plaster copy of the Shaw
memorial shown at the end of 'Glory' is at the National
Gallery of Art.) Why not add in coded Negro Spirituals that
provided the enslaved directions to freedom; teach your
students, 'Follow the Drinking Gourd' or 'Wade in the Water'.
Instead of going to a dinner theatre, hire a n historic
reenactor as a dinner guest and after dinner entertainment.

Now here is one of my best suggestions: Host monthly meetings
with the students who are going on the trip. One of my
schools calls theirs, 'The Travel Club'.

'The Travel Club' tackles one day of the itinerary per
meeting. At each meeting, they look up websites, may give
some reports, share trivia, view videos or a movie, learn a
speech, suggest reading material to one another. They also
explore art and music. (I was once overwhelmed when three 8th
grade boys started to sing, 'Brother Can You Spare a Dime',
at the FDR Memorial in front of the sculpture of 'The Bread
Line'. It was their job to find songs relating to the Great
Depression and they thought that song one was the most
appropriate for the site. It was riveting.)

At the first meeting I offer them choices of meal sites,
menus, and possible places to lay a wreath (i.e. statues,
monuments, memorials, graves, cemeteries). The students vote
on these and their choices are included in the itinerary.
You'd be pleasantly surprised at some of the choices!

The students, themselves, also help develop or add to, a
journal/workbook.

The key is to get the students proactively involved in the
planning process. By engaging them and giving them some
ownership, it gets them more involved. It is actually a
teaching tool. And here's a big bonus: It improves the
overall deportment during the trip!

The bus is a also a great opportunity for learning. During
the bus rides there are a couple of designated 'navigators'
who map the routing, and keep track of mileage, signs, and
timing during the trip. One uses maps, another GPS. (This has
significantly cut down on the, "Are we there yet?" questions.

The bus rides provide a time when reports can be read; songs
and poetry learned; issues and feelings explored. Much of the
true education is on the bus to and from the hotel.

During the monthly meetings, various committees are formed to
help in the field. For instance, there are
designated, 'paparazzi', they are responsible to take all the
official photos and to post them on a site able to be
downloaded by the students. There are also webmasters. There
are those who will help introduce each site. And finally,
there are those who will be writing thank-you notes to the
various people, during the travel program, that have made the
trip more meaningful and enjoyable.

I imagine on my next trips there will be a designated Twitter
person! (The folk back home can keep track of the trip this
way!)

Taking advantage of in-house tours or hands-on activities.
Most of the Smithsonians have demonstrations and post the
times on their respective web sites. The Smithsonian also
has teaching plans and student activities on their websites
one can download.

One can arrange a free themed tour in advance at the National
Gallery of Art.

The US Park Service also have programs; check out their
websites and try to arrange a talk or tour.

The Folger Shakespeare Library & Elizabethan Theatre have
tours and programs.

Many historic sites also have 'traveling trunks', materials
and artifacts that can be delivered to your school. Again,
this can be found either on the website or calling the
respective education departments.

None of these ideas really costs anything - and they're fun
activities!

But one of the most important components of a successful
educational trip is the 24-hour guide, NOT an escort and a
step-on city guide. There are wonderful guides out there
that can provide a cohesive educational experience and tie
together sites from Jamestown to Boston. Many are historians
that can stimulate young minds. Those that I suggest to tour
operators for my designs are usually licensed in both DC and
New York City in order to provide the best educational
experience and keep within the licensing laws.

I hope these ideas have helped you!

Good luck!

InstrucTours
http://www.instructours.com]

On 8/07/09, Sunnie Templeton wrote:
> Hi...My name is Sunnie Templeton and I have been a Personal
> Tour Coordinator for Class Act Tours, an Educational Tour
> Company, for the past 20 years! I understand all too well
> your disappointed experience on your last class trip to
> Washington DC, where the students were not as prepared as
> you had hoped. At Class Act Tours, we provide teachers
> prior to the trip, fun and engaging assignments to ensure
> the students understand the many opportunities and
> experiences Washington DC has to offer. We also provide
> each student with a Personal Scavenger Hunt which lasts the
> duration of the trip, along with many educational scavenger
> hunts to be used at individual museums,etc. And yes, we
> also provide a "National Treasure" scavenger hunt upon
> request!! The students are also provided a fun pocket "work
> book" and inspirational diary to provoke meaningful
> thoughts and questions. We work hard to make our Washington
> DC Trips interesting, interactive and fun, while at the
> same time incredibly educational!! We truly feel that when
> a child visits Washington DC for the first time, their
> lives are changed forever.......We feel privileged to be
> part of this process with YOU! Please do not hesitate to
> contact me if you are ready to coordinate your 2010 Spring
> Trip! I'll be happy to assist you with a no obgligation
> quote to demonstrate how reasonable our prices are. Class
> Act Tours maintains affordable trips so that every child
> who wants to attend, the cost will not put a financial
> burden on the parents!! Looking forward to hearing from you
> and any other teachers who may want to arrange an
> affordable and exciting Washington DC or Colonial
> Williamsburg Student Trip for 2010!
>
> Sunnie Templeton
> Class Act Tours
> 678 881-0855-Atlanta Office
> 202 772-4292-Washington DC Office
> www.classacttours.com
> Sunnie@ClassActTours.com
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> On 5/22/08, el-toro wrote:
>> Are there any books out there similar to a National
> Treasure
>> type story that covers historical information specific to
>> Washington DC?
>>
>> I just got back from our 8th grade class trip and I was
>> disappointed out how unprepared our 8th graders were for
>> understanding what they were seeing...the memorials,
> capitol
>> building, etc. I know 8th grade Social Studies only goes
> up
>> to the civil war, so I thought about doing a reading
> project
>> to help prepare them some next year.
>
>

Preparing Students for a Field Trip

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