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Story posted October 30, 2008.  Results updated October 25, 2011.

Results:
• In 2011, over 95% of 3rd, 4th and 5th graders met state standards in reading
• In 2011, over 95% of 3rd, 4th and 5th graders met state standards in math
• Named a 2008 Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education

"There's not a minute to be lost." That's the mantra in many high-needs schools today, where the pressures of high-stakes accountability have reduced the time spent on "untested" subjects and activities like art, music, drama and physical education. And perhaps no brand of school fun has taken the drubbing given to the venerable Field Trip in recent years. Trips away from school often take most or all of the day, and a day lost from intensive instruction (and test preparation) is no small matter to the principals of high-needs schools, where children often have a lot of catching up to do.

So it may be somewhat surprising to learn that teachers and administrators at George Hall Elementary School, located along a narrow street in one of Mobile's most hard-pressed neighborhoods, stage dozens of field trips each year for their PK-5 students, 99% of whom are African-American and 98% of whom receive free or reduced price lunch.

How dare they? Well, for one thing, they're very smart about it. What's more, as media specialist Patti Westbrook reasonably asks, "Who decided we have to educate children inside four walls?"

Many of the school's 2007-2008 field trips are described on George Hall's WetPaint website, where a visitor will find podcasts, blogs, and photo stories created by students to document their journeys (and advance their higher order thinking skills).

"We go into so much detail and present the field trips in so many ways on our website that it may look like more than it is," says Terri Tomlinson, principal of the Title I school - one of five struggling schools designated by the Mobile school system for "transformation" in 2004.

Whatever the exact number of field trips, Tomlinson makes no apologies for the time invested in exposing her students to the larger world. These are carefully constructed adventures that tie directly into the curriculum, she says, and provide the children - many of whom have rarely traveled beyond the confines of their own neighborhood - important contexts for learning. For example, when kindergarten and pre-K students study "community helpers," they travel to a nearby fire station and the city's fire rescue school. In March, first graders appeared before the federal court in Mobile where they interviewed a judge, talked with a federal marshal and staged their own mock trial. Third graders are on hand for the Alabama Frontier Days festival, held each November in Wetumpka, where they learn more about the words "blacksmith," "artifact," "encampment," and "amputation."

Bringing vocabulary words to life
"Probably the lowest area in our school academically is vocabulary," Terri Tomlinson says. "Frankly, it's the pits. And most (reading) programs are teaching vocabulary in isolation, perhaps with a short reading passage. You can teach it and teach it, but how do you make it real to students who often have little context for the words they are being asked to learn?"

That question became a constant topic of conversation in faculty meetings during the first year of George Hall's reconstitution. As they read, many of George Hall's students have trouble closing their eyes and visualizing an image or a scene, says Tomlinson. Children who regularly go places with their families "collect concepts and context and learn new vocabulary. But our children here in this school have many fewer opportunities to be exposed to the variety of activities and conversations that give us the stuff we need to create concepts."

While the Internet can provide many resources to help children experience some of what they've missed, Tomlinson says she and her faculty saw a need to expand beyond the Internet and include physical experiences.

And field trips don't end when students return to the classroom. The teachers help them document field trips through digital photography. Then, when they return to school, students write narratives of their experiences based on the photographic images and publish their "photo stories" on the Web.

George Hall developed the photo story project after participating in the Alabama Best Practices Center's 21^st Century Learning Project. According to school achievement specialist Liz Reints, teachers initially planned to use web tools in a very teacher-centered way-students would use what the teachers put on the web. But the 21^st Century Learning Project pushed teachers to give students the chance to create content for a worldwide audience. And teachers have been very pleased with the results.

"I've been so impressed by their ability to use the vocabulary we had emphasized to explain the pictures," says fifth grade teacher Amy Lowe. "They could identify each image, they remembered what they had learned about it, and that's what they narrated. I think documenting what they learned really helped them own that learning, and they watch it over and over, and that helps too."

"And now when we have discussions in class," Lowe adds, "they can often connect something from their field trip experiences to whatever we are talking about. They've seen it in the textbooks, they've seen it on the Internet, they've really been there, and they've reported on it on our website. They have lots of ways to make connections."

A focus for learning
"Children are actually using 21st Century learning tools to talk about where they've been and what they've learned, using new vocabulary in authentic contexts," Tomlinson adds. "And the fact that they are doing this for various audiences on the Web makes it even more meaningful and purposeful to them. They want to get it right because they understand that people they don't even know are listening and learning from them." In addition to increasing student engagement, these projects require students to analyze and synthesize information from different sources. These activities help them develop not only the technical but also the critical thinking skills that will be essential in the 21^st century.

George Hall's students have experienced phenomenal success the past few years. In 2008, 100% of third graders passed the reading portion of the Alabama state assessment, and 99% passed the math section. 99% of fourth graders passed both sections of the test. That year, the U.S Department of Education named George Hall a Blue Ribbon School.

Field trips themselves are not the only reason for school and student success-teachers work extremely hard every day to help their children learn. Yet these trips are an indispensable part of school culture. Patti Westbrook says there is an important subtext running through all of George Hall's field experiences. It's a message being sent by every teacher to every student: "We want you to have the knowledge to help run the world when we are older. There's a lot going on outside your house and outside this school building. It's out there waiting for you, and you need to go out there and get it."

MAY 2010 UPDATE: George Hall continued strong academic performance in 2009, as evidenced by data found on their school website. The school, where 88% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (compared to 51% of students in the state as a whole), outperformed the state on the tests that determine adequate yearly progress. 100% of third and fourth grade George Hall students met or exceeded proficiency standards in reading. 100% of fourth and fifth grade students met or exceeded proficiency standards in math.

For more information on what is currently happening at George Hall Elementary, see their new website: http://www.my.schooljournalism.org/al/mobile/ghs/

For additional information, please contact:
Terri Tomlinson
Principal, George Hall Elementary
(251) 221-1345

Adapted with permission from the Alabama Best Practices Center

Click here to access the original article as contained in the Alabama Best Practice's Center website.

Copyright © 2007 by the Alabama Best Practices Center.

Photos courtesy of George Hall Elementary