Building Community Through Field Trips in the Mups

Establishing a community within our classroom is not only a part of the first few weeks of school, it is the foundation for everything that we create and build on as a class.  In the Mups classroom, we believe that before children can truly focus on academic learning, they need to feel safe and seen by their classmates and their teachers.  To support this effort, we focus on team-building activities and the deliberate creation of routines and norms in the classroom. It is during these times that students take risks and share their vulnerability; learning from their failures and disappointments, all while being supported and loved by their classmates and teachers.  By solidifying the feelings of trust, compassion, and empathy with one another, students are all able to feel safe and supported to begin to move forward through new challenges and hard work. 

One example of how we create community is through our annual field trip to Morse Hill Outdoor Education Center in Shutesbury. This year, Jess, one of the teachers at Morse Hill, thanked me for sharing the Mups with her for the day. She applauded us for recognizing the importance of what they do at Morse Hill, team-building, at the beginning of a school year. She said that many schools use the adventure camp as an “end of the year treat” and miss out on the camaraderie and unity that can be built while doing this type of work.  For the Mups, and the rest of our school, building a classroom community at the beginning of the school year is an essential element of the curriculum. 

At the day's beginning, we worked in small groups at the camp. Some of us worked together to figure out a strategy to swing on a rope from one platform to another all while keeping a pattern. It took many tries and a lot of encouragement but, in the end, we were successful. Other groups discovered how to traverse a very wobbly rope attached to two trees, using different strategies to keep it still while adding more children. Jumping down from the rope after their successful accomplishment, kids cheered “We did it!!!”  

At the end of the day, all of the Mups tried out a high ropes element. Some Mups went on an element called “The Flying Squirrel”, which hoists the participant straight up in the air. Other Mups tried out the “Human Swing”, which hoists participants into the air, then allows them to safely free-fall through the air, all while wearing a harness attached to ropes. With lots of encouragement, each Mup pushed themselves a little bit farther than they initially thought they could,  All of these events helped to form a more solid and empathetic group that Olivia, Kim, Sarah, Matt, and, I are looking forward to being a part of this year.