Field Trip

Last Thursday we were told that this Thursday (today) would be our first field trip to the National Museum of Contemporary Art Korea and immediately we all looked at each other and though “oh no.” In preparation for the museum, I mentioned to my students yesterday (Wednesday) that tomorrow (Thursday) we were all going to go on a field trip to the museum, but of course they didn’t really understand. So today I reminded the students that we were going to the museum and they all needed to be well behaved. I went over the rules (no running, no pushing, no hitting, talk in soft voices and asked them to stay with their partner and the class) and got them ready for the bus. Stressed and unsure as to how our one hour at the museum was going to go I was shocked by how smooth everything went. We had a nice stroll through the museum taking in all the fabulous art pieces and ended with a nice stroll through the children’s museum. Trying to do my best to keep the students engaged I would ask them questions like, “what colors do you see?”, “what shapes can you find?”, and “what do you see?” (tree, flower, person etc…) Without even realizing it, the hour had passed and I was getting my students ready to get back on the bus. We headed back to school had lunch, treats the students drew a picture of what they saw at the museum and the day was over. This field trip experience has given me a new found respect for my students. I officially now know that they can be good students who follow direction like no talking. The no talking when I am talking is such a hassle with my homeroom class and all the other classes but after today I saw a new light. I trust that tomorrow and the weeks to come are going to be so much better. I cannot wait till our next field trip and I am most defiantly returning to the museum because it had a lot of great pieces.