How many of you educators have hosted a beginning of the school year open house and received the question, What field-trips will the kids take this year? As a beginning teacher, I received this question and did not know how to delicately answer that I was not sure what I was going to teach the first week let alone what field-trips I was supposedly planning.  I started on my journey of planning the perfect field-trip; composing permission slips, enlisting volunteers, and figuring out how to keep track of what lunches and booster seats belong to which child. Fortunately, there are some easier methods of these nightmare "fun" events. Maybe you will even enjoy your well-thought through outing.

1. Enlist a parent to take over each field trip.

If you are lucky enough to have parents who will take on this challenge (which I am surprised to have found many) let them take charge. Many working mothers like this task because they cannot be present to volunteer during the day, but can still feel like they are helping with their child's classroom. It's a win-win situation!

2. Plan the same field trips each year

I know this sounds boring, but having key places to go to even if the events are not the same can be a stress-busting habit. A local theater may not have the same play each year, but at least you can slightly alter the permission slip and know the basic routine. Picking a great cidermill can be a great fall go-to that illeviates some of the start of the year stress of planning.

3. Rotate with other teachers in your grade level

Many other teachers would be happy to be in charge of just one field trip each year, so take advantage of team work and splitting the task!

4. Take advantage of the many in-school field trips that are out there.

For example, this year I had a naturalist expert come to the school and talk to the students about their animals and how to have fun in nature. He even brought live animals to the school and went to each classroom individually. This is a great idea for the winter when you do not want to worry about parents driving students in bad weather or trying to bundle all of the children up to leave for the outing.

5. Have enough parent volunteers for the ratio 1 parent: 4 children. If you have roughly 6 parent chaperones per field trip, then you can supervise and not be responsible for any children at the event. This way you can attend to any issues that come up without having to monitor children. Also, don't be afraid to request that a student who has behavior issues have a parent present in order to attend. This will ensure safety for that student and the others in the class. Safety is the number one responsibility of the educator.

Hopefully some of these tips will help you relax and possible enjoy some of the outings that create wonderful memories for our students!

Holly Litton