Lesson 11: Making the Most of Community Resources and Field Trips

PrePlanning with Others Joining the Field Trip

Other people accompanying the group need to be oriented one the objectives, route, behavior standards required of everyone so they can help enforce these standards.

Taking the Field Trip

Distribute route map of places to be observed. Upon arriving at the destination, teacher should check the group and introduce the guide. Special effort should be made to ensure that:

• The trips keeps to time schedule.
• The students have the opportunity to obtain answers to questions.
• The group participants courteously in the trip.
•  The guide sticks closely to the list of questions.

Permission Slip

• Refers to a document that a given school or organization sends home through the use of a student to a parent or guardian to obtain for the student to travel under the care of the school or the respective organization for a specific event of field trip.

Waiver

• A document recording the waiving of a right or claim.

Itinerary

• An itinerary is your travel plan – where you will go and when you will be there.

   Evaluating Field Trip

• There are questions we can ask ourselves after the field trip to evaluate the field trip we just had.
  

Disadvantages of Field Trip

These educational benefits can compensate for the drawbacks of field trips, some of which are:

• It is costly

• It involves logistics.

• It is extravagant with time.

• Contains an element of uncertainty.

Community Resources

• A field trip may be a visit to scenic spot or to a historical place.

These can be persons and places in the community. Many of them can be resource speakers in their fields of expertise.

• A dentist may be invited to talk to the children on how to take care for their teeth.

• A journalist may serve as resource speaker on the parts of a newspaper and how to write an editorial.

• A dynamic teacher will find a way to have a record of parent’s names, contact number, occupation, and other pertinent data she needs.

• There are other people in the community who can be excellent resource speakers.

• A senior citizens and a war veteran in the community may be invited to class for an interview on a topic of which he is expert, for example, his memories of World War II.

• A barangay captain may be asked on what the barangay intends to do to curb the rampart alcoholism among the youth in the community.

Field Trip

• As to places to visit, popular destinations are museums, zoos, botanical gardens, historical places, places of exhibits, scenic spot. Performances like a play, a concert, and a dance presentation also form part of the community resources.
• Field trips are expensive. They require much time for preparation and planning.
• Preparation and planning for the field trips includes discussions and decision on what to do to before the field trip, during the trip and after the field trip.

A Field Trip: A bridge of the school and the community

• Field trips abolish the “walls” that divide the classroom and the outside world.
• Field trips also connect people. All people involved in the field trip – students, teachers, parents, and school head – come together for joint planning.