Here in San Francisco the rains have just started. That’s how I know that summer is officially over. The days are getting shorter, the tourists have gone home, the children have started school, and the rest of us have unpacked our rain gear. In the museum business this also means that field trip season is about to begin. Classroom cultures are established now, teachers are beginning to consider taking on the chaos and excitement of mobilizing their units for a big adventure, and here at The Exploratorium we’ve been getting ready for them. The summer high school Explainers are back at school and the new cohort of field trip Explainers recently completed their two week training. For those of us who are alumni Explainers it’s a nostalgic month, for the new Explainers it’s time to learn, reflect and prepare. On the very first day they made a list of their hopes and aspirations for our visitors, and it was such a fantastic list I thought it was worth sharing here. This list is reposted from the Explainer website. To see it in situ, click here.
I hope the school field trip kids…
-get empowered to ask why.
-have an amazing time at the museum and that they discover new things and share their discoveries with others.
-get a moment of beautiful confusion.
-get the knowledge that science is all around them in the world, and they have the ability to learn something at any given moment.
-find something in the museum that they think is marvelous and that energizes and inspires them and leaves them with more questions.
-have fun and learn something new.
-feel welcome into our community.
-learn that learning is not always boring.
-get excited about learning new things, feel empowered to ask questions and connect their experience to their everyday lives.
-realize that learning can happen anywhere, not just in a classroom.
-for them to have an amazing unforgettable experience at the Exploratorium and to make it friendly for them to explore without fear.
-leave not only with answers but with more questions. These questions will lead to more learning.
-get confused and simultaneously excited enough to purse an answer.
-will have an experience that they will excitedly share with others.
-will find at least one interesting thing or phenomenon that would stay in their mind and keep them thinking.
-don’t just learn something at the Exploratorium, but get excited to go learn more about something they saw.
It is going to be a great year!
