As we conclude this publication, I’d like to go back a bit to the beginning. Our first issue appeared in the autumn of 1991, and, on the front page of the “little-bit-smaller-than-now” magazine was this statement: Every issue of The Docent Educator will present valuable information and practical techniques applicable …
A fidgety third grader; a bored teenager; a young husband who has been dragged into our tour as part of a previously arranged marital agreement (“I went to the boat show with you, so . . .”)• We’ve all had them, or some variation of them. Visitors who just didn’t …
A number of years ago, one of my sixth grade students asked me, “Mrs. Littleton, don’t you get tired of being in the sixth grade forever?” I was able to answer, quite truthfully, “No, I love being in the sixth grade because it’s different every year.” Some of the ways …
My decision to resign my decent position lit the Camp Tyler nature trail was dictated by the development of chronic allergies. Simply put, the woods and I no longer enjoyed each other’s company. Not all decisions to leave a cherished and rewarding place within the museum community are as clear-cut, …
Oral history projects, senior citizens, and history museums, historical societies, historic sites, and history centers have a long symbiotic association. Seniors have the memories that these institutions treasure, and oral history projects put the two together. Sometimes the impetus is a centennial or other anniversary of a community, museum, or …
AARP has been after me for years, but the U.S. government has finally made it official. I’m a senior citizen, and I have a card to prove it. I’ve reached that stage in life that owes me some privileges. At last, I can tell everyone exactly what I want and …
Most of you history docents know that, in the not-too-distant past, horses were often fitted with blinders, a pair of leather flaps attached to the bridle to limit their side vision and, hence, their distractions. Blinders made it easier to keep them on the path. Binders worked so well, in …
Once upon a time, my husband and I and three friends visited Sunnyside, Washington Irving’s home on the banks of the Hudson River in Tarrytown, New York. Like many historic homes, Sunnyside offers particular challenges to a docent that wants to allow visitors to “participate” in the experience. The home’s …
What am I hoping to accomplish by asking a question? I sometimes begin my “Minds in Motion” workshop about developing interaction skills by asking this question. If you will, take a moment or two to answer it yourself before you read any further. I’ll wait, (la, la, la . . …
Objects such as turtles, squirrels, and woodpeckers are among the best part of our nature trail tours at Camp Tyler, an outdoor learning center that is located in the East Texas piney woods. Unfortunately, we just don’t know from one time to the next which objects will be available. Most …
The “three R’s” of old have been replaced in the modern middle school. Reading has become literacy; writing is now called composition, and ‘rithmetic is, more often than not, pre-algebra. Nevertheless, four “R’s” are still available to help museum and classroom teachers make learning real and relevant for these “tweenagers.” …
A number of years ago, I happened to be on the grounds of Fort Knox, Kentucky, at the Patton Museum of Calvary and Armor, on the Fourth of July. Visitors that day had been promised a “parade” of some of the armored vehicles in the museum’s collection. I wasn’t expecting …
The museum was small, and the budget even smaller, when I undertook to write my first docent manual almost twenty years ago. The docents I had recruited all volunteered to “help” in our small town’s first and only museum. Many of the volunteers, and most of the town, had never …
Games are more than child’s play. They are one way in which children learn about their culture and what is expected of them within that culture. Games also are an excellent way for museums and other such institutions to make learning fun. In many cases, games already exist that can …
One of public television’s most entertaining shows painlessly educates the American viewing public about antiques. “Antiques Roadshow” offers some tricks for combining education and entertainment that museum educators might do well to consider. During its first year, “Antiques Roadshow” traveled to 13 cities in 17 weeks and managed, by the …
I do a lot of traveling, both for business and pleasure. Wherever I go, museums and similar institutions are always on my list of “must visit” places. Consequently, I am frequently a “walk-in” visitor. I’ve enjoyed docent-led tours, demonstrations and mini-programs on specific aspects of a museum’s collection, and individual …
We’ve composed them. We’ve received them. We’ve probably even coerced our children into writing them. However, many of us in the museum field may have overlooked the educational possibilities of thank you notes. For docents, they can be a reality check. For classroom teachers, student-written thank you letters can reinforce …
At one point in the movie “Life is Beautiful,” I began to believe I could speak Italian. I became unaware that I was reading subtitles. In fact, the action on the screen was so visually expressive, my dependence on the spoken and written text was negligible. This experience is often …
One of the definitions of demonstration is “clear proof,” as in “clear proof of ability.” For docents seeking to improve their teaching technique, clear proofs of ability abound. Some are intentional —demonstrations offered by institutions to help staff and volunteers provide better tours and educational programs for the public. Other …
For at least three decades, those of us who work in non-profit agencies dependent on volunteer labor have faced an uncomfortable decline. Organizations run by volunteers, from Rotary Clubs to the League of Women Voters, have watched their membership and contribution base grow smaller and smaller. Museums, zoos, nature centers, …
Every beginning reporter knows that asking the “5 W’s and an H” is the way to gather the facts. Who, what, where, when, why, and how are basic. With careful embellishment, however, docents can adapt these questions to go beyond mere facts, encouraging their audiences to observe, analyze, and evaluate. …
The first grade teacher stands in a classroom filled with busy children. It is time for them to stop their individual activities and rejoin her for a group story. She claps her hands three times as she sings, “One, two, three. Look at me.” The children immediately look in her …
Ask most teachers why they chose their profession and they won’t mention the palatial work environment or the exorbitant salary. They won’t even talk about the long, languid summer vacation. Most teachers teach because they love children . . . and that’s no joke. So, if you want to connect …
They’re everywhere! Pre-schoolers who can barely write their names bring home worksheets with bears, bunnies, and baseball bats circled to show they know the /b/ sound. A worksheet with blanks to fill in appears in my church bulletin each Sunday to help me stay “on task” during the sermon. Even …
Like a giant magnet, the iron rails and massive steam engines of the North Carolina Transportation Museum attract visitors and volunteers from miles surrounding its location in the small southern town of Spencer, North Carolina. Fifty miles from the nearest metropolitan center, this museum-in-the-making draws in volunteers with an ease …
One of the reasons many docents continue to volunteer at museums, historic sites, zoos, gardens, and nature centers is the opportunity such activities offer for personal growth. (And, I’m not talking here about all those “goodies” in the volunteer room!) Many institutions offer continuing college-level classes about their collections and …
… a goody given unconditionally is not really a reward at all. A reward, by definition, is a desired object or event made conditional on having fulfilled some criterion: only if you do this will you get that. If I promise to give you a banana tomorrow, that is not …
Conventional wisdom in 16th century Europe declared that gravity acted differently on different objects. Galileo Galilei climbed the steps of a tower in his hometown of Pisa, dropped two metal spheres of different sizes, and concluded that all objects are accelerated by gravity in the same way. Not content with …
Okay, so we weren’t exactly a typical tour group. Most of us on the tour of the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) and the Prado in Madrid were teachers. Some were high school art teachers, others taught history, and all had some facility with the Spanish language. We had done our …
Any good realtor will tell you, “The key to success is location, location, location.” A good teacher understands that the key to success in the classroom is “flexibility, flexibility, flexibility.” Flexibility, however, is only possible with a good written plan undergirding the lesson. If you don’t have a plan, you …
Birthday cakes with candles for wishes. A freshly baked loaf of bread to welcome a new neighbor. Thanksgiving feasts and celebratory spreads for bar mitzvahs, christenings, graduations, and weddings. Food is more than nutrition in most cultures, and it is another tool teachers use to motivate and educate their students. …
Try this little test: If your slip were showing, would you want someone to tell you? It you had a run in your hose, would you thank the person who pointed it out? It you had spinach between your teeth, would you die if a friend suggested a visit to …
How do you know you’ve given a successful tour? Do you wait to take stock until the class has rolled away in a cloud of diesel? No one bumped into the Henry Moore and sent it crashing into pieces? Little fingers didn’t stray and leave prints on the family portraits? …
Though some of you actually do work in zoos and nature centers, the rest of us occasionally encounter some real animals, too. While most teachers, group leaders, and classroom chaperones are delightful people eager to help share the wonders of your institution with their charges, from time to time a …
Teachers understand that the school-museum field trip connection is a real “no-brainer.” You teach science? You take your class to science museums, aquaria, zoos, and nature centers. You teach social studies? You visit historic houses, sites, and history museums. You go to the art museum if you teach art, or …
There’s a scene in the movie Mr. Mom where Michael Keaton’s character has to drive his kids to school. He does it wrong. The kids in the back seat tell him so: “Dad, you’re doing it wrong!” The school’s yellow-slickered crossing guard tells him so: “Mr. Stevens, you’re doing it …
Ask teenagers what they want, and you’ll get a variety of answers — a new Lamborghini, an “A” on the chemistry exam, no zits, or world peace. Look closely at what they need, however, and the answer is unequivocal. Most adolescents need a large dose of self-confidence. Adolescents are probably …
There’s an old adage in education that you shouldn’t smile until Christmas. I’ve never been able to make it work. I couldn’t stand to go that long without a laugh! Every now and then, however, my class and I visit a museum where this rule is alive and well. We’re greeted …
Last summer was so “unreal” it caused me to look at one of the fastest growing trends in public and private education with new eyes. First, my husband and I spent a week at Disney World where unreality has been raised to a science. As if having breakfast with a …
I don’t teach kindergarten, but my sixth graders are “buddies” with our school’s kindergarten children. We are their “‘computer tutors,” we give them a Halloween party and an Easter egg hunt, and, once a year, we accompany them on a trip to the zoo or science museum. This year, when …
Your new class is before you, notebooks and sharpened pencils at the ready. Attendance has been recorded, and you are poised to begin. Some of the faces turn toward you with enthusiasm; some appear to have skipped breakfast and a good night’s sleep. You open your mouth to begin. A …
“Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; AH mimsy were the borogroves, And the mome raths outgrabe.” If this selection from Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky” seems gibberish to you, imagine how confusing it must be to someone who doesn’t read English. For, as nonsensical as …
At first glance, these three article titles—Making the Multicultural Connection: Multicultural Education: Development, Dimensions, and Challenges: American Pie, A Multicultural Snapshot – – all taken from recent educational journals, might indicate that multicultural education is simply the latest buzzword in a field well-known for leaping from trend to trend with …
Can we talk? Some of my teaching colleagues have only two requirements for a successful field trip — their kids don’t embarrass them and nothing (animal, vegetable, or mineral) gets broken. Some of the docents in your museum also have only two requirements for a successful tour— the class gets …
When I was a very little girl, the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus came to my town. I went with my family to the railroad station at the break of dawn to watch the circus train disgorge its menagerie of exotic animals. We stood with throngs of awestruck citizens …
“Pay attention: there’ll be a test later!” “Did you study for your biology exam?” “I can’t believe I failed the driver’s test … again!” Educators have tried to soften the blow by re-naming them — evaluations, assessments, portfolio reviews — but, a test by any other name is still a …
He was quite interested in his child’s welfare. As a matter of fact, the young father of one of our kindergarten children had taken a day off from his job in order to come to school to discuss a trip he was planning. As he explained his desire to take his daughter …
In one of my favorite “Peanuts” cartoons, Charlie Brown explains his reaction to a class field trip, I’ve seen one field, you’ve seen them all.” Teachers often encounter museum tours that leave us with the same reaction! On the brighter side, however, are an increasing number of museums, zoos, historic …
Travel can be entertaining, educational, and … when you don’t speak the language … frustrating. During a recent vacation in Germany and Austria, I encountered a variety of ways museums communicate information about their collections to non-German speaking visitors. I became curious. Do European museums do a better job serving …
Twenty years ago, Title IX of the Education Amendments made sex discrimination in education illegal. Although Title IX has improved educational equity for women and girls, recent studies report that gender bias still exists and still limits choices for half of the school population. While not the primary educational institution …
Ask most first graders what they’ll find in a museum and they’ll say with assurance, “Dinosaurs!” I used to wonder why “museum” equaled “dinosaur” for our youngest visitors until I chanced upon a small, very bright, and infinitely mischievous monkey named George. “Curious George” is the principal character in a …
It’s September. Teachers throughout North America stand in the midst of an assortment of strangers. During the ensuing nine months, good teachers will uncover the unique needs of each of these strangers in order to facilitate learning. They will rely on experience and training as well as fat file folders …
It’s hard to imagine, and easy to forget, but for hundreds of those who enter your museum this year, the visit they make to your museum will be their FIRST museum visit. I vividly remember a little girl I met at the New Orleans Museum of Art many years ago. …
“I know! I know!” Little voices shrill with excitement and little hands wave frantically. Kindergartners, eager to impress me clamor for my attention. They are ready to answer my question, “What is history?” The winner’s response tells me a lot about the perspective of my audience. “History,” he announces with …
Phillip stands on a chair, ready to drop his paper-and-paperclip helicopter from the two-meter mark on the door frame. His partner, stop-watch in hand, counts off a “ready, set, go!” Vanessa and Melanie are rummaging through a scrap box looking for heavier paper to construct their second helicopter, while Jeremy and …
I sometimes begin my “Minds in Motion” workshop about developing interaction skills by asking this question. If you will, take a moment or two to answer it yourself before you read any further. I’ll wait. (la, la, la … la, la, la) Sometimes the question makes audiences a little uncomfortable. …
Freddie had such a wonderful time today,” she gushes, her arms entwining her squirming son. “I know you teachers must love field trips as much as the children do. I think it’s so nice that you all can get a day off from school like this every now and then.” …