Experiences

Day 20 of #BTBC14

If money were no object, what experiences would you give your students?

Experiences.

That's what I would give them.

     Every year, my second grade team and I would sit down and plan for field trips.  We all had our favorites, so by the end of the meeting, we would usually end up with 3 or 4 places to go.  We always went to Emerald City Theater to see a play, and we always ended the year with the dinosaurs at The Field Museum.  For many years, our middle trip was The Shedd Aquarium for our habitat unit, but they had construction a few years back so we ended up at the Brookfield Zoo.  Turns out, many of our students don't go there unless it is on a field trip.  That surprised me, since our school is very close in proximity to the zoo.  So, I suppose it money was no object, I would take students on more field trips and give them more real experiences outside of the classroom.  

Places I would love to take them?

• I would love to take them to the Little Red School House, but in all the seasons!  Wouldn't it be cool to see how the trees look different during fall, winter, and spring?  I suppose for summer we would need a special get together.  :)
• If we want to see trees, let's go see the redwoods in California!
• A hot air ballon ride would be very cool.  New perspective on our world is always great to have.
• The zoo, but why go to Brookfield when San Diego and Memphis have pandas?  
• I was always envious that Samantha Shuman could take her kids on a field trip to North Central College in Naperville.  If money were no object, Champaign Urbana, here we come!  The University of Illinois would be a great place to spend the day.
• Disney World.  OK, that one might be for me, too.  But, my own kids would get a huge kick out of traveling with my class to Disney.  Talk about the ultimate field trip!  :)