Would a cardboard belt be a waist of paper?

I only went to my school on Friday, and we had a field trip! I got to experience everything that comes with a field trip. I was in charge of carrying the bag of medicines the whole time. I helped get the school lunched together for the students who did not bring a lunch. I had to sit with a problem student on the bus, and make sure he behaved and he did really well! We went to the Catawba Science Center. We were combined with another second grade class, and the teacher in the other group struggles with keeping her students in line, so that was kind of rough. At the end of the field trip, the people over the science center let our class do fun science experiments. Mainly, during this field trip, my job was to make sure the students did not wander off past where they were suppose to be. The students loved the field trip so much! When we got back to school, we made it just in time for their PBIS reward, which was to watch a play in the auditorium. My CE left to take the medicine bag back where it was suppose to go, so I was in charge of walking my students back to the classroom and getting them packed up. My CE never came back, so I was also threw into walking the bus riders to their designated spot and the same for the car riders. I had another teacher show me where to go, so that was stressful but it was a great learning experience. Turns out my CE had car duty she had forgot about, so thats where she was. All in all, it was a wonderful day!

The management strategies on this field trip were flawless, and just seemed like everything worked like clock work. I know that keeping the students managed on the field trip is no easy task, but I did not know all the behind scene stuff that went on during field trips. I researched how to help a field trip run perfectly as the teacher. This article comes from Education World, and is talking about the things that go on in the background to make field trips run smoothly. Some of the tips this article gives are to, visit the site prior to the trip. The preview of the place your field trip will be at, will help you identify potential problems and plan for them. Set ground rules. Let students know they are representing their school and you expect them to be on their best behavior. Inform them that the usual school rules are in effect, and add any other rules specific to the field trip (No talking while a tour guide is speaking, for example). Consider having each student sign a list of the rules signifying their agreement to comply with them. Go over bus rules. Keep in mind that some students do not take a bus to school and, therefore, might not be familiar with bus rules. Talk with students about the field trip. Let them know about the day's activities and inform them of any events that might be upsetting (loud noises, for example). Provide activities for students to complete while on the trip. You might, for example, give them a list of items to find, or a list questions that will be discussed when they return. Talk with troublesome students before the trip. If you have students who are likely to present behavioral difficulties, take them aside individually and ask for their cooperation. Establish a signal to get students' attention. If you need to quiet students, you might raise your hand and form a V with your finger. Consider your student groupings. Assign problem-prone students to chaperones with good management skills, but avoid grouping together students who tend to have problems when together. Bring a cell phone, if possible. Besides providing you with immediate access to the school in an emergency, a cell phone also allows you to contact the parents of a student who presents a problem. I saw a lot of these strategies while on my field trip, and plan on using them while I plan my own field trips in the future. 

This blog correlates with the NCPTS number one. Teachers demonstrate great leadership when they plan great field trips, and care for their students enough to visit the place ahead of time and set ground rules. By making sure everything runs smoothly, the teachers helps to ensure a safe enviroment for their students. The rest of this article goes into a little more detail about each of the things that we need to be aware of to make our future field trips run smoothly.