The Teacher as Tour Guide

WorldStrides calls their tour guides/directors "course leaders." At first I thought that was a bit presumptuous, but after completing a number of tours for them I appreciate the moniker. The more I use my teaching skills as a tour director, the better the experience.

Lesson One: Children need recess. What senior, let alone 8th grader, wants to listen to commentary and walk through memorials and museums all day for three to six days? They need to run around and play. There is always a place to play -- Mount Vernon (peek-a-boo at the Ha Ha wall and rolling down the lawn), climbing on Einstein (even if the guards at the National Academy of Science wishes you didn't), taking pictures with Alice in Central Park. Bring a frisbee on the bus and let the kids play on the mall. The few minutes of recess, just like in school, will allow the kids to enjoy the tour and help them focus.

Lesson Two: Students learn more when they are involved. Touring is the ultimate experiential education, but when we get them on the coach we can't stop involving them in the learning process. What do they know? What do they want to know? I was anxious about the ride up Embassy Row. I know the main embassies -- Great Britain, Japan, and the glass house that Finland built -- but, unlike Tim, I cannot name them all. I tell the students I don't know them all, so we are going to make it a contest. When they recognize a flag or can read the plaque they should call out the name of the embassy. Now, everyone is looking! Of course, understanding what an embassy is and hearing stories or legends such as the one about the gold hidden in the side portal of the former Walsh residence, now home to the Indonesian Embassy, is more important than naming each and every building, however impressive that is!

Lesson Three: Good tour directors, like good teachers, share and steal. On my last tour I was working with another DC guide with a background in military history, something I know very little about. I was quite impressed watching him do a lesson on the Tuskegee airmen using his students as models of airmen to demonstrate how successful these flyers were. I also stole an idea: at the Supreme Court we chose four students to argue a case; I chose to have them argue for or against year-round schooling. (Be sure to chose something that interests students.) Three students served as Supreme Court Justices. For one minute, each student argued his or her case, and the court made a decision. Now these students could go home and say they argued in front of the Supreme Court! (Thank you, John McCaskill!)

Of course, we still have to make sure the coach driver knows where he or she is going. (I sure do appreciate the local drivers.) We have to wait on line for tickets, and we have to make phone calls to get extra tickets when we don't have enough for all of the students. We need to make sure we have the same number of students at the end of each visit as we did when we started. We have to make sure that the students leave room for others to pass, and we do want to share the essential knowledge of the sites. But, the most important lesson I have learned is that if I focus on the kids and making sure they are involved and having a good time the students will learn. The tour director becomes a "course leader."

Creating Tours: IB and Travel

When I decided to go back to teaching after eight years as the director of a residential summer camp, much had changed. Back at the school where I taught for 18 years, I realized there is some truth to the old cliche that "you can't go home again." After I was informed the interdisciplinary course I was teaching would be cut for the following school term, I called my good friend and colleague who was working with a new program to Fairfax County Public School: the International Baccalaureate program. Ron convinced me that teaching in the IB would be exciting and a great match for me. Although I slid off the road in the ice on the way to Robinson, slashing my tire and requiring a call for help to my recently separated spouse, my interview and offer of a position teaching IB English was the start to some of my most exciting years as a teacher.

The International Baccalaureate's mission includes lofty goals, but the two that resonate most with me are promoting a more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and creating life-long learners who understand that "others might be right." I started to read with a different perspective, and I often learned as much from my students as they learned from me. When I had the privilege of teaching Theory of Knowledge, I knew that I had found an education that was not only exciting, but one that can make a real difference to the students, and perhaps to the future.

From IB teacher to IB coordinator to Advanced Academic Programs Specialist, where I had the opportunity to supervise the IB and AP programs for the district's 25 high schools, I never lost site of my wanderlust and what I believe travel can offer students. A frustrating spring break trip to Italy which didn't fulfill my expectations and a very successful two-day New York experience that did, were always in the back of my mind as I made the transition to a career as a tour director. I talked about the possibility of IB trips to every student tour operator with whom I spoke; a few international student tour operators offered one or two IB trips, but none of the domestic operators did, at least to my knowledge. Finally, after I was called the "tour director from hell," I considered perhaps creating educational tours for IB students might be a better way to use my expertise, and I was thrilled that the same privately-owned company that suffered my inability to find the bus parking lot at Newark was not only willing for me to develop such tours, but was anxious to have me do so!

I can be a nerd. I love to learn, and once I started reading -- Monument Wars, Memorial Mania, and numerous other books and articles -- my interest and excitement just continued to grow. I started with an IB New York Experience, writing an introduction, itinerary, and teacher resource guide. The owner of the student tour company asked me to create an "answer guide," or at least a guide for teachers and tour escorts to help moderate student discussions. That work took me twice as long as creating the tour. Since I had already agreed upon an amount to be paid for developing the tours, I was torn between that agreement and what I thought would be appropriate financial remuneration for my work. After sharing what I had done, I was confident to ask for additional payment for future work, and that was accepted.

Creating the IB Washington, D.C. experience was even more fun than New York. I discovered a strong theme -- public monuments and memorials -- and created what, if I can be immodest, is quite a comprehensive and thoughtful educational tour for IB students that not only takes the students on an exploration of the public monument as a form of art, culture, and politics, but also makes connections to other areas of knowledge. I shared the tours with the IB coordinators from Fairfax, and they all agreed (including the one AP coordinator who hung around for the presentation) that the trips would be an excellent complement to an IB education.

The IB coordinators asked if I could develop a one-day program for local schools in DC; it was easy to take the concentration on memorials and monuments and turn it into a one-day tour. A presentation I attended given by Maya Lin on public memorials only heightened my interest. I understood how as a country we moved from the hero monument to the victim's memorial to the therapeutic memorial. I learned small details that all students would find fascinating -- Maya Lin, who had written her purpose in her design for the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial before she actually designed it, discovered it in her dinner of mashed potatoes one evening. Now I had another story to add to the one that student's love about her getting a "B" on the project as a junior in college. Lin believes that memorials should stay with the "bare-boned facts so that the viewer brings the self to the piece." This is a perspective that we can bring to any discussion of memorials and monuments. I highly recommend that you take a look at her fifth and final memorial, one to the 6th extinction -- What is Missing? Her last memorial is actually a website in addition to some strategically placed screens showing the videos -- http://www.whatismissing.net/.

In addition to the traditional sites on any student trip, although with a different slant on perspective and the addition of thoughtful discussion, I also added other sites off the traditional itineray, including a visit to Lincoln Park to see the Mary McLeod Bethune and Emancipation Proclamation statues, and the National Japanese-American Memorial, dedicated in 2000 with the contrasting purposes of apologizing for the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II and honoring those who were killed in action fighting for their adopted country.

I continue to learn and hope to be able to add and adapt the study guides with time and experience. When I woke up to the Post article on the lack of statues of women in DC you might have thought I had won the lottery; I had a similar reaction to the recent article considering whether the decline of the African-American population would mean the loss of the Black influence on culture in the district. To my tour guide friends out there -- read the articles! To my student tourists, I hope I don't overwhelm you with my excitment, having so much I want to share with you!
www.washingtonpost.com/local/pondering-the-meaning-of-changing-dc-demographics/2011.03/30/AF02nCDH_story

I look forward to the sale (and maybe leading) my first IB tour. Next step -- develop one for Chicago and Los Angeles.

Catching Up

I finally get it right...

The last time I posted was over four months ago, before the start of the busy spring student season. An e-mail from a fellow tour guide asking me about my blog inspired me to take another look and perhaps attempt to get this going again. Since it would be difficult and quite boring to try to catch up on the last four months, I am going to highlight my journey of self awareness that that time has given me.

My first tour of the season in February was an utter disaster; in fact, the lead teacher actually called me "the tour director from hell." Although at the end of the tour I was ready to agree with her, I understand now what faults lay with me and, to a great extent, with her. And, so I don't leave any doubt to how this story turns out, I also know now that I can be a great tour director doing what I do best -- research, teach, and make connections.

The tour was a large choir, and in addition to escorting the 87 individuals, with almost as many adults as students and a few additional children and parents I learned were called "ghosts," people on the trip who had not paid through the tour operator, but were "hangers-on," I also was supposed to be training a first-time escort. All of these in combination with a couple of errors in judgment on my part led to the calamity It started at the airport; when the coach driver told me that we should meet him in the coach parking lot rather than having him pick us up, I made my biggest error in judgment. First, I didn't know where it was. Second, the lead teacher was in a wheelchair. To make a long story short (okay, I know that is a cliche) I dragged 60 people with luggage and a teacher in a wheelchair up and down three floors inside and out, looking for the parking area. After that attempts to make everything right -- storing luggage so people could eat, handing out theater tickets so people could meet us at the theater -- did nothing to help the situation. My utter confusion over ticket numbers and people interested in "doing their own thing" only contributed to the chaos, and by the end of the first day there was nothing I could do to change the poor impression I had already made.

At the end of the trip I realized this type of tour was not my forte; I wanted to teach. I wanted to be able to share the cities and sites I loved and not to herd people who don't want to be herded. And that has made all the difference.

My next tour was DC to NY with a different tour operator, and it couldn't have gone better. The students were 8th graders. One of the greatest surprises (the whole touring experience has been one surprise after another) was that I loved the 8th graders. They still are basically innocent and, for the most part, are thrilled with each new experience. A highlight of the trip was a pre-arranged pick-up of cupcakes at Carlos's Bakery. My coach driver was the best, and, unlike on my fall foliage tours, we worked as a team; in fact, the teacher-chaperones were constantly remarking that they couldn't believe we had never worked together prior to this trip. I took care of the 30-something kids and the 10 adults, even walking from Central Park to Columbus Circle in the middle of New York's St. Patrick's Day parade surrounded by thousands, many of whom most have started drinking early that morning. The thanks and the tips and the great ratings finally made me think, "I can do this."

And then came my work as a "course leader," an accurate description of the job. I didn't have to make confirmation calls, ticket arrangements, or worry about the several students and one chaperone who were taken down by a horrible stomach virus. All I had to do was teach (and, of course, make sure we got from place to place). I loved it! And I was good. It was easier because the teachers had so well prepared their students for their experience; the students were eager to learn, and I felt that I was finally getting a good handle on what was important, what to share. In addition, I was on a two-bus move, and my cohort was wonderfully supportive and generous, always making sure that I had all the information and support materials that she used. Thank you, Karen!

When I received my evaluation scores a couple of weeks later, receiving all "10's," my change of perspective seemed justified.

In March I also had the wonderful opportunity to travel with the high school theater department where I taught for 19 years -- West Springfield H.S. We saw Wonderland on Broadway and after a performance of Phantom, where they had to stop the show after an on-stage accident, the students were greeted by 3 actors and the stage manager, including Phantom himself, Hugh Punaro. It was fun and educational, and noone entertained the idea that I was the "tour director from hell." (At least I assume noone did based on my evaluations.)

By now I was feeling more confident. I no longer had to look at my notes, and I had a better understanding of what I should and could do. A couple of four-hour city tours after these gave me more confidence, and now I was even having fun. I wasn't laying awake the night before, anxious over the trip, nor was I being kept awake going over everything I did wrong.

Now I had a big decision to make. Would I still go after those adult over-the-road tours that I thought was what I really wanted, why I went to ITMI in the first place. When I was asked if I might be interested in a position as a local rep, doing "meet and greets" at the airport and selling excursions and helping independent travelers in DC, I had the opportunity to give this serious thought. When I thought of those over-the-road tours I still would get anxious; this might be an excellent alternative. Yet, I still want to prove to myself that I am more than capable of taking the more demanding adults on the road. When I was told that it might be possible to do one or two short tours in between the "meet and greets" I knew it was the right choice.

It's fascinating to me how what I thought I really wanted is not what I want in the end. What I love is doing the research -- I will write more in my next blog about the work I am doing developing tours for students in the International Baccalaureate program. What I love is interacting with students. What I do well is teach, help the students make connections to their own lives, to their own knowledge and experiences, and to bring a sense of wonder to their experience.

Between next week and the middle of June I have one tour a week in DC and a one-day theater tour to New York. In May I start my work as a local rep, meeting UK passengers at the hotel and meeting guests in their DC hotel. That work continues until the end of October. And, with all that income, I can fulfill my wanderlust on my own!


With time comes different perspectives.