Learning Trips: Worth the Price of Admission

Physical Education students traveling to a bowling alley.

Creative Writing students meeting a poet.

Career and Technical Education students visiting the NASCAR Institute.

Science students spending a day at Discovery Place.

The above are all examples of "field trips", which I prefer to call "learning trips."  Unfortunately, learning trips are routinely on the chopping block due to limited and/or decreased funding.

A recent learning trip called attention of how we cannot place a financial value on a genuine learning experience.  Evolving instructional technology has allowed more outside learning experiences to be brought into the classroom, utilizing Skype and Virtual Field Trips.


But, not all learning trips are equal; periodically there are opportunities for first-hand learning experiences outside of the brick-and-mortar classroom walls.  Learning trips can bring alive content to supplement the day-to-day instruction generated by the teacher.  These learning trips also reveal real-world content to students in a non-traditional environment, encouraging our students to become life-long learners.

Our students and teachers are fortunate Gaston County Schools provides autonomy for Principals to allocate funds for approved learning trips.  Many districts have completely cut these opportunities.

The best part of our recent learning trip to Discovery Place was observing students of ALL ages (elementary, middle, and high) so enthusiastic and eager to be engaged with their hands-on learning, not to mention they were having fun.

Isn't a learning environment with students eager to learn worth the price of admission?

Thanks for reading,

CS

The opinions shared in this blog belong to Craig Smith and do not represent the school or district in which he works.