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• Destinations

Engaging Students On Tour

By Scott Hemker  | EF Group Leader In my previous post , I wrote about the nightmares I have leading up to my tours.  I stress a lot about being sure that the overall experience exceeds the expectations of my students and their parents.  To help combat that I offered tips to teachers on how to engage their students before a tour.  By being organized and getting students excited and prepared, I’ve been able to reduce my stress and increase the likelihood for a once in a lifetime opportunity for students.

Although I’m excited when the actual tour begins, I also know that there is a lot of work to do to ease my worries.  I’m also well aware that there are other possible nightmares to be concerned about. I’m not going to make a list of potential problems, but many of them stem from allowing too much down time for students. This can be a recipe for disaster!  Instead, I chose to use this time to engage them in various activities that will help them to better understand what they are seeing and experiencing on tour.

Keep a journal

The first thing I do is to require students to keep a journal.  They may use their laptops if they brought them or they can simply use a paper notebook.  I make sure students have them before we leave.  I had opportunities to travel as a college student and I kept journals myself.  I show students my journal and I share excerpts.  I explain that keeping a

journal helps me remember where I went and what I did.  At the time they were written, my reflections helped me put the entire experience into perspective.

Create a highlight video

Earn college credit

Although I haven’t yet tried this option, students can sign up to earn high school or college credit while on tour.  According to the Educational Resources link on the EF Study Abroad website, “Students can earn one elective credit for completing assignments before, during and after their EF tour.”  This option would further engage students throughout the tour thus providing an even richer learning experience.

On-Tour discussions

Finally, I’d like to share my number one secret for engaging students while on tour.  Each evening around 10 pm, depending on the daily schedule of events, we all gather for our daily evening meeting.   We meet in the largest hotel room occupied by the members of our group.  We first talk about rule reminders and a brief run through of the schedule for the upcoming day.  Next, we begin a discussion that often lasts up to an hour and a half long.  We all talk about what we saw, what we liked, what we didn’t like, what we learned, what we thought was different.  We talk about unique experiences we had individually or as a group and how we feel about them.  As the teacher, I moderate the discussion.  Everybody gets multiple chances to speak and share.

Our nightly meetings make a huge difference for my tours.  They help students begin to critically think and reflect upon their experience as well as their own lives.  The students learn from listening to others.   They get to know the other group members better and a tighter bond is created.  It keeps the students engaged at a time of the evening when most problems occur.  It settles them down and gets them thinking.  Immediately afterwards, students go back to their rooms and often write in their journals while their thoughts are fresh in their minds.   At this point, it is close to midnight and wake-up call is sometimes just six hours away.  The students are tired and are ready to get some rest.   My chaperones and I like to wear ‘em out and put ‘em to bed as opposed to wind ‘em up and let ‘em go.

These meetings are a way for me to informally assess what my students are learning throughout the trip.  I ask questions that allow me see if they are learning the educational content.  I check to see if they are growing personally through reflection and journal writing.  I answer any questions or concerns.   I also make sure that they are feeling well and enjoying themselves.  Sometimes the students from other groups on our tour make fun of my students because they have to attend these meetings.  But the feedback I receive from my students after the trip tells me that the meetings make a huge difference for them.

They actually look forward to them.  A student on my most recent trip wrote in his end of the trip letter to me, “I enjoyed the meetings every night with the group.  I felt it helped us become closer and it allowed us to express what we were feeling and thinking.  I really don’t think the trip would have been the same without them. ”  Like anything else I do, I make sure I sell this idea to them.  Most importantly, I make sure I engage my students by letting them talk and share.

Engaging your students on tour “after hours” by having them create highlight videos, write in their journals, do coursework to earn credit on tour, or participate in meetings helps keep students in a safe environment.  It creates a tighter bond within the group that also reduces problems.  It also fosters a better learning environment that ultimately leads to an overall better travel experience.  At the end of the trip, it’s my goal to hear my students say, “That was the best two weeks of my life. ”  And at that point, I can finally rest assured knowing that my nightmare didn’t come true.

Readers, what unique suggestions do you have for engaging students while on tour?

Find more “How To’s” and resources  here .

(Editor’s note: Scott Hemker’s posts appear once a month on Following the Equator. If you have a travel question for our expert group leader, or an idea for a blog post topic, you can   email Scott , and he will answer readers’ questions in future posts .)

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