Reflect

Strategies

Here are a few ideas to help bring teachers’ experiences and knowledge gained from the trip into the classroom:

• Set up online groups or blogs to share follow-up information with teachers.
• Use materials provided by content providers for follow-up. Many institutions provide lesson plans, videos, reproduction kits, reading lists, and online resources.
• Coordinate post-visit follow-up through Skype or other internet-based technology when available.
• Set up a time for teachers to share teaching activities for feedback before trying it in the classroom. Ask teachers to report back to the group after they teach the activity. Include content providers in the discussion.
• Ask teachers to "pay it forward" and teach a lesson to colleagues who could not attend.
• Develop a website to share successful activities and content developed as a result of the professional development.
• Encourage teachers to develop activities that relate to their own local history.
• Design a survey for participants to evaluate each aspect of the trip, as well as the pre- and post-visit activities. Evaluation should include both logistical concerns (accommodations, meals, transportation) but also programmatic concerns (content, presenters, activities). This will help inform the next trip.