During the last week of FE2, I had the opportunity to accompany the grade 9 students on a day trip to Quebec City with their social studies teachers. Due to the short length of FE1 and FE2 as well as when then fall in the year, there are very few opportunities to get involved in extracurricular activities so I jumped at the chance to do something outside of the classroom.
I always enjoyed field trips as a student and was even on a 3-day field trip to Quebec City when I was in grade 8. Being a student teacher this time around, I thought about what I had done and how I reacted to certain events when I was a student and compared it with what I did as someone in a teaching position on this trip. It was truly wonderful to experience a field trip from a teacher’s perspective because there is no better way to learn about the procedures and protocols than to experience the situation first hand.
During the more than 6 hours on the bus that day, I also took the opportunity to ask the teachers (two were recent McGill graduates) about their thoughts on transitioning from student teaching to teaching and about the school they now work at. They also told us about a change in the history program and how there will now be ministerial exams in grades 9 and 10. In short, this trip was a great way for me to develop professionally and learn about many different things, from field trip protocols to changes in curriculum.
Shown below are pictures that I took at the various locations we visited during the trip. The first was taken at the Citadel and is a memorial for the Canadian soldiers lost at Vimy Ridge in 1917. The second, third and fourth pictures were taken during a walking tour of Old Quebec; the second looks onto Rue du Petit Champlain, the third is the Château Frontenac, and the fourth is inside the Chapelle des Ursulines.
Kevin Paquette 