Niamey, Niger, Update #7, 1-20-09
Dr. Kathy Koch on January 20th, 2009 | Filed under Field Trips, International Trip
Field trips. I’d love to know how you make them effective. Is it in the ways you prepare your students for what they’ll see? Is it what you do while you’re at the special place? Is it what you do when you’re back at school? Is it the integration of the disciplines? Let me know by submitting a comment.
Years ago, when I taught second graders, I think I judged a field trip to the Indianapolis Zoo as successful if we didn’t lose anyone and if no one got sick on the long bus trip. There’s got to be more to it!
I recently went on an amazing field trip. While I was in Niamey, Niger, to speak at a conference for missionary families and to teachers and students at a Christian school, we spent one day among the animals. It was a successful day because of what we were able to experience. We had freedom to enjoy what we saw and didn’t have to worry about passing a test the next day. (See Update #6 for the giraffe story and pictures.)
I’ll post two camel pictures here. Enjoy!
January 21st, 2009 at 12:02 am
I am smiling Kathy. It’s great to see you enjoying yourself. I am also smiling because much as you would think riding a camel is “riding a camel” … it seems we all have different camel riding techniques …
Different techniques yet the same pleasure and same end result! Hmmm …
I am also smiling because I spoke to my friends who are home from the mission field in Niger. They would have been at that conference and met you had health reasons not had them home. When I saw them last week, they already had great reports from the conference. Thanks for being willing to sow in a dry, dusty land.
January 21st, 2009 at 4:10 am
Love the camel pictures (and all of the other Africa pics — looks like it was an amazing trip)!
Aahh…field trips. With my first and second graders, I enthusiastically pre-teach three areas:
First, I pre-teach whatever CONTENT is appropriate to the field trip. I love to see the “light bulbs come on” when they connect some part of the field trip experience to prior knowledge (”We learned that last week!”).
I also prep them in regards to the physical place we’re going. If I’ve been there before, I tell them about interesting parts of the building that they should be looking for. If I haven’t been there before, we talk about what it might look like or what we might see there. In both cases, the students come with a readiness to be attentive to their surroundings.
Thirdly, we practice specific behaviors that are important to the field trip. I tell them about what we’ll be doing, and I say things like “When we’re on our tour, you might feel like running ahead, or touching things. Instead, here’s what I’d like you to do:” I find that I see much more cooperation, gratitude, and attention when I’ve clearly demonstrated what those attributes look like.
Our most recent field trip was last Friday. The ultimate stamp of success for me was the thank you notes my students wrote today which included things that they’d learned as well as thoughts like, “Thank you for being so kind to us.”
January 22nd, 2009 at 7:28 pm
I heard you as i was on the road, on 21st. and today as i see in your web site, i think i recognized the cover of your book, from the church book store. i am thrill to know more about the smarts of each person.
My question is, i have being praying for direction in my carrier, and calling, and this is what makes my heart bite deeply.
How can i get involved and be able to learn and get into this field?
Much appreciative.
January 24th, 2009 at 12:31 am
Dr. Kathy:
Thanks so much for coming to Irons Middle School on Thursday. Your speech was inspirational. It definetly made my day, and it was something that I really needed this week. Thanks again!!
January 24th, 2009 at 5:10 am
I recently heard you on Point of View. I was intrigued by the multiple intelligences topic… My almost 11 year old grandson has been categorized by his school as high functioning in the autistic spectrum of disorders. He had to repeat kindergarden and has since been fairly successful with a modified curriculum.
He has very limited reading/writing skills, but loves to talk, sometimes breaking into conversations,,, they say that he has difficulty interpreting non-verbal queues. He sincerely loves people (since he was a baby, he has consistently enjoyed cracking big, quadruple dimple toothy smiles to get others to respond). His empathy is profound, e.g. if I have the stomach flu he will worry and cry until I am better. He knows the names of everyone at his old school; for example, when the school secretary was out sick for several days, he would notice and bug his teachers asking when she would be back.
He has great difficulty dealing with change, worrying over any changes in furniture arrangement, where the cars are parked on the driveway, which direction the wheels are turned when the car is parked…
His little sister, 9, reads at a 5th grade level and often picks on him as being “stupid”, and can be very intolerant of his constant, repeated asking and reasking of questions. I always listen to him, answer him, and have been accused by his mom (my daughter) and his dad and now his step-dad of coddling him. I have noticed that he does not stutter nearly as much around me as around sister, mom and dads (who are critical of his pigeon-toed walk and incessant questions).
It is probably obvious, but I adore both grandkids, but am especially protective of my grandson, who I know has been blessed by our Lord with a gentle, loving spirit, observance of so many details that he distracted by them.
He can start my 1941 Ford tractor, lawn mowers, cars (we ride and drive them together). As an example, he never might have learned to pedal a tricyle or bicycle if “Papa” had not taken hours to place his feet on the pedals and talking him thru the motions of getting the top pedal foward of the top prior to pushing down. His little sister, by contrast, took to bike riding like a duckling to water, requiring little instruction.
In short ?!? I want to provide him with the maximum opportunity to succeed. I have ordered 2 copies of your book on multiple intelligences, one for me and one for my daughter. She and the grandkids lived with us following divorce (almost 7 years) but she has now remarried and moved 80 miles away. While I worry, he seems to have adjusted better than I expected. His step-dad insists that he not ask too many questions, and on visits I seldom see the big, huge grins which I loved (his step-dad is a former marine, and has joked that the big-grin charm won’t get him anywhere. My daughter apparently agrees. Step-dad is a Cub Scout leader, and I think my grandson enjoys that activity with his new step-brother and step-dad.
This is a long tale from a worried granddad(probably without reason). I know that I need to let go, but need assurance that my daughter and son-in-law fully understand gifts entrusted to us by God.