While perusing The Maine Campus, the University of Maine’s student newspaper, dated Feb. 21, 2008, I noticed an article that reported recent actions of the General Student Senate. Funding was allotted to various student organizations: The Wilde Stein Club received $3,062.50 for Gay Pride Week, the Men’s Rugby Club got $3,000 to attend a tournament in Georgia, $500 was awarded to the International Students Association, $340.20 went to the Alpine Ski Club, and $816.60 went to the Nordic Ski Club for a tournament. The source of these funds is the Student Activity Fee.

However, the Maine Masque was denied its request for $1,300 to fund the transportation costs of its trip to New York City. The senators questioned the educational value of the trip because of the options to go shopping and clubbing while in the city. (I guess the student senators figure that the students who will go on the other adventures will be studying when not attending their scholarly or athletic events.)

This reminded me of conversations I have had with parents and colleagues about families that take their children out of school for a trip. Some of these trips are vacations, some are due to family situations, some are due to parental work responsibilities and others are the result of opportunities that are just too good to pass up. In each case parents make the decision about taking their children out of school based on their own unique perspective of the situation.

When parents speak with me about a trip their child will participate in, they are usually anxious to get work for their children to do while they are gone. For some subjects or teaching styles, this is relatively easy. Copying math practice sheets, spelling lists and providing a reading book or two is not all that difficult for a teacher. What is difficult, if not impossible, to provide are the class discussions, the planned experiences, the teachable moments and the direct instruction of a professional educator. Parents need to realize this when they make the decision to have their children miss school.

Educators are often reluctant to support families that take their child out of school for trips. And it is easy to be critical, judgmental and uncooperative with these families, because after all, these families seem to be implying that something else is more important than classroom learning. It’s hard, but teachers need to realize that just as there are many learning activities that can’t be replicated outside classrooms, there are many educational experiences that can’t be created in the classroom.

Trips present amazing opportunities for learning. Sometimes experiencing a different culture – even if it’s only in a different part of the state – or learning about grieving, or meeting new people – even if they’re relatives you’ve never met before – can provide a lasting positive educational experience for the student rather than forcing her to sit in the hotel and complete another worksheet.

Students can observe the differences and the similarities between their home community and the community they visit. These observations include, but are not limited to, the geography, the topography, the flora and fauna, the population density, the style of architecture and the food. (We try to eat “local” wherever we travel.)

Math lessons can be “taught” by having students calculate distances and travel times and time zones as well as the costs for gas, food and entertainment. Attending museums, concerts, dramatic productions, zoos, aquariums and other cultural events broaden and enrich an individual. A trip can also be an opportunity to tackle a new book either as a family reading aloud, an audio book or an individual read.

Visiting an amusement park is also educational. Students can answer questions like: “How much does the entertainment cost?” “What are the physics of the rides?” “What is the history of the amusement park?” Effective learning benefits from reflection through discussions and writings. Students can reflect on their trip experiences through family discussions, journals, reports, e-mails to the teacher, postcards to the class, blogs and presentations to classmates when they return from the trip.

I’ve had students take trips during the school year to a variety of places – Sugarloaf, Rangeley, Machias, Pleasant Point, Boston, Avon, Conn., New York City, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Palm Beach, Fla., Phoenix, Seattle and Saudi Arabia. Each child has come back to the classroom with new experiences that not only positively affected the individual but also helped the group as they learned of the world beyond the classroom.

When put in perspective all of life’s experiences are educational. Parents need to balance the importance of their child’s school attendance with the opportunities a trip offers. Teachers need to understand that it is a parental decision. Working together, parents and teachers can enhance the educational value of a trip and make the joy of education and the value of it apparent to students.

Let us continue this conversation. Write me with your story of an educational trip your family took. Tell me about the student in your classroom who shared their family trip with your students in an effective and creative manner. E-mail me at: conversationswithateacher@gmail.com