Slice of Life June 18, 2013: Traveling with Students

This post is an introduction of myself and a few thoughts on traveling with middle school students.

Introduction: After nine years as a science teacher in a rural high school, I have taught the past six years as a middle school teacher in a K-8 independent school.  My school focuses on learning through independent projects and curriculum and experiential education.  Students and teachers work together on learning goals and how to take "the next step" as students and people.  I am privileged to take the twenty-three students in my class on two extended overnights a year, usually five-to-seven days in the fall and a ten-day trip in the spring.

Traveling with Students!
By now I know that look.  A mixture of surprise, annoyance, horror and exasperation crosses the faces of adults as they do a mental count of the number of middle-schoolers following in my wake.  Whether we’re walking down the sidewalk, entering a restaurant or boarding an airplane, adults show their bias and preconceived notions towards teenagers with as little subtlety as teens themselves show in their worst moments.  Eye rolls, whispered remarks that are easily overheard, or a gathering of their belonging as if they expect one of my students to suddenly accost them and take their laptops or purses.  Parents of the students I take on trips often tell me, “You’re a brave man,” like I was some sort of saint.  Going through security at the airport with twenty-plus middle schoolers, a woman asked what I had done to deserve this horrible fate?  I replied, “Obviously something good.  These are great kids.”  I’m no saint and the reality is, teenagers are wonderful and fun to travel with.

Yosemite National Park

While it is politically incorrect to judge a person by their race, gender, or religion, most adults have no issue blanketing all teens together by their worst stereotypical traits.  In fact, adults tend to treat teens as a subcategory of human.  Homo imbecilius perhaps.

Just as a good driver in a new city will cut people off or not signal as they navigate unfamiliar roads and highways, teenagers make inconsistent and seemingly thoughtless decisions as they plot a course through the foreign world of adults.  What is the equivalent of cutting across four lanes of traffic to reach an exit might be a teen’s rude comment, or socially unacceptable dress or demeanor.  How teens act towards adults who confront them is not dissimilar to how most of us interact with policemen who pull us over and tell us we’re not following the laws.  However, as experienced drivers, adults do know the laws and usually make a conscious choice to bend them. Teens are still trying to learn the rules of the road in the adult world so it is no wonder they sometimes run social red lights or drift into the proverbial, oncoming traffic.

Winter Camping/Snowshoe trip at Francie's Cabin

But despite their occasional ignorance, I have never seen a group of adults rally around each other, have as much non-inebriated fun, and be so flexible, as the teens I take on trips.  They find magic in impossible places and difficult circumstances and have the ability to enjoy each moment for what it is rather than be always planning ahead and worrying about being late.  They always give me so much to consider and help me not miss the everyday special moments of our trip.  I only hope that I'm as much fun to travel with as they are.