I'd give that field trip 5 stars out of 10. It was an awesome day for grades 4 to 6, but a less than awesome day for grades 1 to 3. Grades 4 to 6 hiked to a waterfall in the morning, and designed an imaginary town in the afternoon. The weather was perfect, the mountain scenery was impressive, and the guides assigned to the upper grades did a good job of introducing the place without turning the excursion into an extended lecture.
Unfortunately grades 1 to 3 didn't get the same deal. For whatever reason their guides were much older, much slower, and much longer-winded. The lower grades' morning involved an agonizingly slow crawl along the same section of trail that the upper grades had all left behind long before, and during this crawl the guides felt compelled to introduce every aspect of the Shuangliu Forest Recreation Area, right down to the smallest detail. At one point the older lady leading my group even went into the history of the gutter alongside the trail, a history which went right over the heads of the second graders gathered around her.
The afternoon class for the younger kids consisted of an art project in which they made pictures out of leaves and twigs. This art project was punctuated by long periods of waiting. By the end of that afternoon class many of the kids were beside themselves with boredom, and I couldn't blame them, having escaped into the older kids' class several times up to that point. To make matters worse the lower grades' classroom was really, really hot, so much so that I was visibly sweating in the back of the room.
Oh well, you can't win them all. Not every field trip is going to be fun. I just wish that those responsible had given a little more thought to how younger kids learn, and to how their shorter attention spans can be accommodated. More play time would have been good, less time being lectured at would have been even better.
As bad as half that field trip was, it was still nice to get outside for a while. Our kids aren't the outdoorsiest children in the world, and I think giving them more time out of doors is a good thing. Even in a rural area like Zhiben, many kids are shut up indoors a lot of the time, and giving them more opportunities to explore their natural environment can be very rewarding.
Shuangliu was my third field trip with my present school. Last school year we went to the National Museum of Prehistory and, during another outing, to a couple places in Taimali. The Prehistory Museum was fine - no one was managing it that hard - even if the wait outside the museum beforehand was very hot. The trip to Taimali was weird and somewhat interesting. We visited an archaeological site on the coast, and also had a volunteer from one of the indigenous villages read us a story. To be honest I felt a little sorry for that volunteer. Last year's sixth graders were not fun to deal with.
Back when I worked in downtown Taitung there were of course many other field trips. I believe the farthest we went during my tenure there was Farglory Amusement Park in Hualien. That excursion involved a long bus ride, made more difficult by students with access to the onboard KTV system. We also went to the aquarium in Chenggong, the East Coast National Scenic Area Visitor's Center, the Prehistory Museum (a popular local destination for field trips), Gaotai ("High Terrace") in Luye, the "Rice School" and the Water Park in Guanshan, Muye Ranch in Chrshang, an organic guava farm in Liji Village, Chulu Ranch, Yuansheng Botanical Gardens and what was then known as the Culture Park in Beinan Township. Oh, and we also went to RT Mart (now known as "Big PX Mart") once. That particular field trip was memorably stressful
Collectively these field trips represent a lot of memories for me, most of them good, and the passage of time has added a certain glow to even the bad parts. Now that I think about it, I have thirteen years' worth of Taitung field trips under my belt, spanning most of the county and including hundreds, if not thousands, of kids.
If you work in a public school I'd encourage you to attend whatever field trips they have planned. It's a good opportunity to both bond with your students and to learn more about this island where we all live. Yes, field trips can be hot, and yes, they can be tiring, but it's during the less comfortable moments that people get closer, that friendships are forged, and that relationships are established. No, places like the charcoal kilns in Dashu District are never going to be that interesting, but sometimes a group of kids can make even places like that memorable, boring though they might at first seem.
I would, however, recommend against the sixth grade graduation trips. Those, in my opinion, are to be avoided at all costs. Three days and two nights in Taipei with a bunch of restless 12 year olds? No thank you, I'll just catch up on some work in the office!
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