We recently returned from our first trip to Philadelphia. YES, we ran up the Rocky Steps! OK, my husband did, but someone had to photograph him… What an amazing, beautiful, historical city.
As it was almost summer, the city was crawling with kids on end-of-year field trips.
The kids were all having fun, and hopefully learning too. But, I recalled a point that my principal and I made in One School’s Journey – Further Down the Path by Eleanor K. Smith and Margaret Pastor…shameless self-promotion of our book here. Peggy and I felt that you would get more bang for the buck if your field trip started a unit instead of ending it.
Field trips are often waved as the carrot at the end of an academic unit. Do a good job, and we can go to Philadelphia at the end of this unit. But for authentic learning, how about starting in Philadelphia. Have that authentic experience at the beginning. Then let the kids decide what they want to follow up on. The context is authentic. The experience is authentic. The learning will be authentic.
And the photo below is of my Rocky Steps experience – taken by my husband from the top!
The Educational Journey 