field trips chaperones

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One thing that would be helpful is if they picked places that were lower-key/easier to get to.

I just was a chaperone on a pumpkin patch field trip. We're in Bowie. Field trip was in freaking Lothian. We literally passed four other pumpkin patches on the way to...the pumpkin patch. We were on the bus for 40 minutes each way.

The place was great, but massive. There were multiple stations of things to do, but no way everyone was getting to all the stations. So kids were disappointed. There was no direction; everything was like, "Do whatever," but then when you went to get in line, a teacher would say, "No, go eat your lunch now; we want to make sure everyone gets lunch out of the way."

If they'd keep it simple, that would be better.

Good field trips are hard to get. We used to have to call during planning week to ensure we got the months we wanted, and even then, we sometimes got shut out. For example, every second grade class in FCPS used to want to go to Huntley Meadows. Furthermore, teachers don’t know if it’s a “good” field trip until they go for the first time. I imagine the closer pumpkin fields were already booked when your school called.

[Anonymous]

What exactly are you worried about, OP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here.
We cancel if there aren't enough. This is especially true when we have a high number of students who need more "support" than others (runners for example).

I'm in a class full of runners, their parents never come. I invite tons of extra staff, librarians, speech therapist, office staff. I usually get at least one extra set of hands that way.

[Anonymous]

Doesn’t happen. There’s always too many volunteers if anything.

[Anonymous]

Kids went to Camp High Road for several days. Not enough moms signed up. The trip was NOT cancelled. Somehow, they made it work. I have boys, so I don't know how they worked things out in the girls cabins.