The Perils of Taking Students Outside

The thought of a peaceful autumn afternoon drawing outdoors seems exciting for new teachers and their students, but taking students on an outdoor field trip has many hidden challenges. Managing your students outside of the classroom can be challenging, especially when your assignment encourages students to explore. Our technique was to use the buddy system to keep students from getting separated. What we didn't' realize is that students were working individually and they lost track of their buddy. It became difficult to keep track of all students while we were working around a building because it was impossible to see all the students at once. Fortunately, most of our students followed the boundary we had set and there was no major incidents.

Our bigger concern was the weather of the morning we were teaching outside. It had rained earlier in the week which forced us to pick a new location due to the chance of rain or mud. Fortunately, it did not rain and temperatures were mild for fall. What we didn't plan on were strong wind gust capable of throwing a drawing board into the air along with all other materials we had to work with. We tried to use tape to secure the drawings but the wind continued to be a major distraction for the entire lesson. We were forced to end the outdoor lesson early and lead students back inside to continue working on their drawings with no distractions. In the end, most of our students still worked hard and produced successful drawings of nature. We learned that when planning lessons that involve taking our students out of the classroom, there are always unexpected variables and it is always necessary to have a back up plan. Most importantly be ready to think on your toes.