d enough time to play. We had our lunch and headed into the museum. There was lots to see and my group kept grasping onto key words that they had heard before: Chandra Gupta, Vishnu, Pure Land Buddhism. Maybe I wasn't an awful teacher after all. I loved this place because it had all the swords, daggers, and samurai soldiers for the boys and beautiful kimonos and gilded statues for the girls. We gathered together to head back to school with no one missing. Success! The kids were a little more alert on the bus this time around. There were lots of guessing games being played - I'm thinking of a number between 1.4 and 2.4, kids who were fascinated by waving at other drivers just to see if they would wave back and tons of interesting conversations to overhear. I only snatched one cell phone. We arrived back at school for the entire 6th period of PE. So we all headed out with our balls and frisbees and decompressed. I only had to remind them once that there was NO DODGE BALL. Actually, in my heart of hearts, I would give almost anything to give in on that one before the year is over. So, yes this final field trip was a great success. There is just nothing like putting kids out into the real world and watching them figure it all out. So despite all the hurdles in putting this one together, we all came out of it a little wiser.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Final Field Trip
Our final field trip is now history. Our team of students went to the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco to make some much needed connections to ancient Indian and Chinese history. Neither of these units were a shiny star in my teaching achievements. I knew very little about either country and it showed. This field trip was not an easy one to accomplish on many levels but now that it is all part of the past, I can look back on it and think happy thoughts. The students present had a wonderful time. It is always the little things that take me by surprise on trips like this. The thrill they have in boarding a big yellow school bus, the joy that is apparent in just leaving school while everyone else toils away, the excitement of riding through Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto and to keep going. I love the little comments that are overheard "I've never been to San Francisco on a field trip", "Is that the beach?" Sixth graders are just still so cute. Our gallery time was set for 11:00-1:00. That meant a very early lunch. We headed across the street to the Civic Center park for a little play time. I noticed the very young equipment and thought, "Oh well, we can just sit around and chat." Was I ever surprised when they lined up behind the baby swings to take their turns swinging and pushing one another. They went down the tiny little slides and clamored together to jump up and down on the bridge. I guess these kids just have not ha
d enough time to play. We had our lunch and headed into the museum. There was lots to see and my group kept grasping onto key words that they had heard before: Chandra Gupta, Vishnu, Pure Land Buddhism. Maybe I wasn't an awful teacher after all. I loved this place because it had all the swords, daggers, and samurai soldiers for the boys and beautiful kimonos and gilded statues for the girls. We gathered together to head back to school with no one missing. Success! The kids were a little more alert on the bus this time around. There were lots of guessing games being played - I'm thinking of a number between 1.4 and 2.4, kids who were fascinated by waving at other drivers just to see if they would wave back and tons of interesting conversations to overhear. I only snatched one cell phone. We arrived back at school for the entire 6th period of PE. So we all headed out with our balls and frisbees and decompressed. I only had to remind them once that there was NO DODGE BALL. Actually, in my heart of hearts, I would give almost anything to give in on that one before the year is over. So, yes this final field trip was a great success. There is just nothing like putting kids out into the real world and watching them figure it all out. So despite all the hurdles in putting this one together, we all came out of it a little wiser.
d enough time to play. We had our lunch and headed into the museum. There was lots to see and my group kept grasping onto key words that they had heard before: Chandra Gupta, Vishnu, Pure Land Buddhism. Maybe I wasn't an awful teacher after all. I loved this place because it had all the swords, daggers, and samurai soldiers for the boys and beautiful kimonos and gilded statues for the girls. We gathered together to head back to school with no one missing. Success! The kids were a little more alert on the bus this time around. There were lots of guessing games being played - I'm thinking of a number between 1.4 and 2.4, kids who were fascinated by waving at other drivers just to see if they would wave back and tons of interesting conversations to overhear. I only snatched one cell phone. We arrived back at school for the entire 6th period of PE. So we all headed out with our balls and frisbees and decompressed. I only had to remind them once that there was NO DODGE BALL. Actually, in my heart of hearts, I would give almost anything to give in on that one before the year is over. So, yes this final field trip was a great success. There is just nothing like putting kids out into the real world and watching them figure it all out. So despite all the hurdles in putting this one together, we all came out of it a little wiser.
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