Planning Field Trips By: Tosha Atchley

Before the Trip 1.Be sure your trip has been approved by your school. 2.Be sure to confirm dates and times for the trip with the site contact. 3.Create a rules sheet and go over with students. 4.Create a map and directions page for each volunteer. 5.Create an itinerary for the trip.

Before Continued 6.Request volunteers to chaperone the trip. 7.Be sure to send out the trip information to parents early enough to receive a response. 8.Create a list of all who will participate in the trip. 9.Create individual packets for each adult chaperone. 10.If possible order shirts for each participant students, teachers, and volunteers.

The day of trip 1.Be sure to take a count of all students who are attending the trip before leaving the classroom. 2.Make sure to mark any student who did not make it that morning on the list that will be taken on the trip. 3.Make a copy of this list for the school office. 4.Brief each chaperone on which students they are responsible for. 5.Be sure each chaperone has a packet for the trip. 6.Remind students about the rules.

During the trip 1.All students should be kept in their groups at all times. 2.Each time students leave a site there should be a head count. 3.Be sure students are listening and following directions given by personnel at the site being visited. 4.If stopping for food on the trip be careful to be sure each child has been fed and do another head count before leaving. 5.Have Fun!

After the trip Be sure to send thank you notes to the people who made the trip possible. Think over what happened on the trip. Was there any problems that need to be addressed. Did the trip go as planned. Is this trip something that you may want to repeat with future classes?

…continued Talk to other adults that went on the trip. Did they see any problems or good points? Ask for any suggestions for the future. Discuss the trip with your students. Did they enjoy the trip? Was it something for learning? If it was did the students learn what you intended.

Types of Field Trips Fun trips Informational or learning trips Virtual Field Trips

For Fun Trips Some trips may be just for fun or as a reward. o For achievement on a benchmark. o End of the year trip for a group. o Gifted and talented program. o Science Club o Honor Society o Competition between classes like a penny drive. Maybe this could be a trip to a show or to a special restaurant. Be extra careful to get this approved as many schools do not allow such trips.

Learning or Informational Trips In our area many schools travel to the local nature centers to learn about local land forms. Maybe a trip to the zoo to learn about animals. Students learning about economics might travel to a local business to learn about finances. To learn about farming students might go to a farm or local cotton gin.

Virtual Trips There are many trips that are not possible therefore we now have the internet and website to help us when all else fails. These are for the things that are not possible to take a group to see. Maybe it is too far away. Maybe it would be too expensive. Could even be too dangerous.

Physical Trip General Safety Tips Clothing If possible all of the group should have the same color shirt. (maybe a shirt with the name of the school on it) Volunteers Any parents that would like to volunteer should be properly educated on the trip. How the students are traveling. How many students they are responsible for. The itinerary of the trip. What to do if they get separated from the group.

Tips Continued Head Count A head count should be done at each point where students are leaving a new area or place. The count should be done each time students enter or exit the bus. Signing out Be sure to advise parents how to sign out children before the trip begins. Teachers should have list of children on the trip with the group. Each child signed out should be marked as they leave with their parent.

Student Behavior Students must understand that appropriate behavior on the trip is a must. It might even be helpful to have students and parents to each sign a copy of the rules they are being asked to follow. It is very important to go through the rules with a group before a field trip. o Things such as attention to the presenter and not acting out should be addressed. o All consequences for misbehaving should be outlined in advance. o If a student gets out of control there should be a plan made in advanced on how this will be handled. – For instance if in a business and a student breaks the law by shoplifting.

References checklist checklist tips.html tips.html ndout ndout