Class Trips: Days to Remember With a Smile!

May 23, 2015

Finals are over!  The eighth grade Promotion Mass is just a few days away, and the end of another school year is in sight.  Time for those class trips!  Organization is key.
Teaching in a small school offers many advantages for a year end trip.  With small  student numbers, no bus is required, which reduces cost and allows flexibility. With small classes, one or two SUVs are needed for transportation, parking is convenient and accessable, dining out can reflect what the class desires, bathroom and stretch breaks (comfort breaks) are simple, and supervision is more than managable.

Our principal and I had the pleasure, and I do mean pleasure, of taking our eighth grade on their class trip yesterday,  Our principal did ALL the planning, and it was an outstanding day!  She did all the driving, and I was the navigator.  I learned a great deal throughout the day about preparing the perfect class trip for a small school:

1. Consult the students.  Let them "own" the trip. Guide them where needed to keep expectations affordable and realistic, but really listen to the students. During the planning conversations for our trip to St. Louis, one student mentioned he had never been to the top of the Arch! So, the Arch became a priority.

2. Build in "flexibility time".  Allow an extra 15 to 20 minutes within travel time between venues.  This allows for traffic issues, the navigator getting directions confused in unfamiliar locations, road construction, Arch museum being under construction, etc...

3. Pack a cooler of water and bag of healthy snacks.  If nothing interferes with travel times and you are ahead of schedule, a water break and snack while walking from parking to the next "event" is healthy and inexpensive.

4, Bring a completely stocked first aid kit.  If you are prepared, chances are you won't need it.

5. Arrive for the day with excitement and enthusiasm!  Not feeling that way? Fake it!  Fortunately, I was looking forward to spending the day with our five eighth graders and our principal. In the case that you would rather stay at school and not have to spend 15 hours with teen-agers, muster up the spirit of fun. If you are really having fun, the most reluctant student will try to enjoy the day.

6. Remember that this is a student trip, and students are kids!  They are going to laugh and giggle and be silly.  All of this, within reason, is great!  You are not in the classroom today!  Good manners and respect are a must, but guide the students in a respectful, teaching tone, and the student will make the adjustment.  (sometimes a firmer aproach is needed, but do NOT make a scene, remain calm and firm and QUIET)

6. Take pictures! Posed pictures of the class, groups within the class, and candids.  For all their groaning, the students want pictures.  These can be added to the yearbook and other publications.  With today's technology, pictures are so easy to take and share.

Like I said, we had an amazing time yesterday.  I will admit that I am a little tired and slept in this morning, but it was a day I hated to see end!  Our St. Peter Panthers are amazing.


                                               Day Trip to St. Louis, Missouri
*The St. Louis Bascillica, amazing architecture, beautiful mosaics, and a "hushed" atmosphere that adds to the "awe and wonder" of the building.
* The Arch, the museum is currently closed for renovations, and the grounds are a mess, but the inexpensive trip to the top is a memory maker. (allow a good ten minutes to walk from the Court House, where you buy the tickets, to the Arch)
* The City Museum, an amazing experience!  Many of the exploritory areas are not available to students under the age of 16 without adult supervision. The roof top is worth the extra expense!
* Sky Zone, a wonderful trampoline gym.  Very comfortable seating area for those adults who do not wish to "jump".

May 17, 2015

Welcome to Mrs. J's Journeys!  Four years ago, I returned to the classroom to teach full time, and it has truly been a journey.  With 19 years experience teaching junior high history, language arts, and religion already in my wheelhouse, I wanted to approach my return to teaching with a new enthusiastic approach.  A few years before, my dad completed a scale model of the Confederate ship The Alabama, and it is the centerpiece of my classroom decorations.  I needed more!

So, I decided to go with a nautical theme, with an emphasis on lighthouses, and the journey began.  My room was decorated, and the enthusiasm seeped into the hallway, leading to decorating competitions with my friend across the hall,  The fifth/sixth grade teacher added model airplanes to her decor, and the competition heated up! Luckily we had a very supportive principal!

Classroom decorations became Christmas presents from my students and my collection grew!  Lighthouse histories and naval histories started to be extras within my curriculum, and the students really seemed to enjoy it.

The last four years have seen a lot of change, and the future promises more.  I would like to share my experiences, successes, and even failures as my students and I journey into a very new educational world as technology becomes more than a fact of life and sitting silently in a classroom all day is a thing of the past.

I welcome constructive feedback and shared ideas and insights from all interested parties.  I am still exploring how to best use this blog, but hope to post pictures in the immediate future, as well as field trip journeys and project outlines.

Mrs. J.