Lehman College Arts Committee School of Arts & Humanities

HOW TO EFFECTIVELY ORGANIZE A CLASS FIELD TRIP: A WORKSHOP FOR FACULTY

1. Plan your trip before the semester begins: Even before you know how many students you will have, make tentative arrangements with the venue and put the trip on your syllabus. Talk about the trip on the first day of class, show your enthusiasm, and make it clear that this will be a highlight of the course. You can expect a high turnout if students know about the trip at the beginning of the semester and know that it is important.

2. Structure an assignment around the field trip: Linking an assignment to the field trip makes students active participants instead of passive tourists. It also helps you to organize a trip so that it matches your objectives for the course. You can plan assignments before, during, and/or after the trip. For example, assign a related reading before the trip or give students topics for classroom presentations; have a worksheet for students to complete during the trip; assign a formal or informal response paper that is due after the trip.

3. In the classroom, talk about what you are going to be seeing or doing on the field trip: Teach the content that you want students to master before you go on the field trip—it can be difficult to lecture in public spaces, and you want to spend most of your time outside of the classroom experiencing what you have gone to see. Make sure that students have the critical vocabulary that they need to know in advance. The more students know about what they are seeing or hearing on the field trip, the more confident and engaged they will be.

4. Make all arrangements for tickets and transportation in advance. If you need to collect money from students for tickets, start doing this several weeks ahead of time. Prepare a handout for students with all of the information that they will need (address, directions, train/parking information, and your cell phone number). Decide in advance how you will get there and designate a specific meeting place. Make a plan for students who arrive late, and put these instructions on the handout. Find out the rules for backpacks, photography, pens, etc., and tell your students in advance.

5. Be flexible. Some students won’t be able to make it because of other classes or commitments, so be sure to offer an alternative to the group trip. Some students will be uncomfortable traveling into Manhattan on their own and might ask to bring a friend or family member—if you’re accommodating and welcoming, then it can be an enriching experience for everyone to have a few extra people joining the class and is unlikely to detract from your academic goals.

6. Have a structured plan for the trip. Decide in advance how you want to organize your class time during the field trip. If someone else is leading the class (such as a museum guide), then discuss ahead of time exactly what you want to cover and give the guide a sense of your students’ level of preparedness. If you are leading the class yourself, then decide exactly what you want to see and how much time you will need. If you’re visiting a museum, you should go before the start of class and make sure that the galleries you plan to visit are all open and that you know the most direct route from one gallery to the next.

7. On the day of the trip: Bring a list of students who signed up for the trip with you, and keep track of them as they arrive. Before entering the venue, check to see if students are waiting in places other than the designated meeting site (such as outside the front door). It can be nerve-wracking if some students aren’t on time, which is why it is important to have a plan for the latecomers. Since you’ll be busy keeping track of everyone and leading the group, you might want to ask a student to take pictures of the class and encourage students to take selfies and email them to you to show in a PowerPoint at your next class.

8. Wrap up with a classroom discussion about the field trip. Dedicate some time at the beginning of your next classroom meeting to talking about the field trip, asking students what they got out of it (and/or post a discussion thread on BlackBoard). This is a great opportunity for students to learn from each other’s observations and for you to find out what the field trip was like from their perspective, which will help you to plan your next expedition.

RESOURCES: Here are some of the most popular destinations for Lehman class field trips. Locations are in Manhattan unless otherwise indicated: BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), 30 Lafayette Ave., Brooklyn (bam.org). There are generally tickets under $20 in the balcony, and they offer student discounts. Tel. 718-636-4100. Hispanic Society of America, 613 W. 155th St., off of Broadway (hispanicsociety.org). Museum and library devoted to Spanish and Spanish American arts and culture. Free class visits with free tour guide. For group visits, call 212-926-2234, ext. 209. The Joyce Theater (dance), 175 8th Ave. (joyce.org). There are $10 and $19 tickets available if students buy them early. There are also opportunities to usher for free. Tel. 212-691-9740. Lehman College Art Gallery (http://www.lehman.edu/vpadvance/artgallery/gallery/). Rotating contemporary art exhibitions right on campus with related talks and educational events; see the website for the current exhibition. Tel. 718-960-8731. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Ave. at 82nd St. (metmuseum.org). Pay as you wish admission for individuals; groups of 10+ must register in advance and cost $4/student (free for instructor). To schedule a visit, send the date and number of students to [email protected]. Museo del Barrio, 1230 Fifth Ave. (elmuseo.org). Art Museum and music/theatre productions with a focus on Latin American, Caribbean and New York Puerto Rican/Latino themes. Educational programs. Group visits: call 212-660-7113 or email [email protected]. Museum of Modern Art, 11 W 53rd. St. (moma.org). $32/hour for a class visit (student admission is free). Contact [email protected]. Pregones Theater, 572-575 Walton Ave., Bronx (pregonesprtt.org). Theatre, music and dance performances with a focus on Latin American and Caribbean works in Spanish and English. Special Q/A sessions with performers also available. Discounts for student groups. Contact: Priscilla Aguilar, [email protected]. Tel. 718-585-1202. Repertorio Español, 138 E. 27th St. between Lexington and Third Ave. (www.repertorio.org). Plays in Spanish with simultaneous translation in English. Free teacher previews and discounted student tickets. Tel. 212-225-9999.

CONTACTS: Arts Committee faculty members will be happy to answer questions and share their experiences: Alexandra Coller, Italian ([email protected]) Susan Hoeltzel, Lehman College Art Gallery ([email protected]) Sharon Jordan, Art History ([email protected]) Amy Larimer, Dance ([email protected]) Molly Morkoski, Music ([email protected]) Mary Phillips, African and African American Studies ([email protected]) Dannielle Tegeder, Studio Art ([email protected]) Andres Torres, Latin American, Latino, Puerto Rican Studies ([email protected]) Susan Watson-Turner, Theater ([email protected]) Amanda Wunder, History & Art History ([email protected])