Tag Archives: Traveling Teachers

For learning about history, travel to the scene of President Lincoln’s assassination

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Washington DC

The author’s husband, Hal Marzell, in Ford’s Theatre, standing before the balcony where President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865

I’m sure that many teachers would agree that one of the best methods of experiential learning is travel. And one of the most rewarding destinations for travel is Washington, DC, our nation’s capital city. There are many worthwhile museums and historical sites to visit in the city, and one of the most interesting is Ford’s Theatre.

Students of history will recall that Ford’s Theatre is the scene of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865. Lincoln was there watching a performance of the play Our American Cousin, when the actor John Wilkes Booth slipped into the president’s box, aimed his gun, and fired. Booth was a Confederate sympathizer, and was incensed at the surrender of the Confederacy just a few days before. The assassin then leaped from the box down to the stage and escaped through a rear door. The mortally wounded president was carried across the street to the Petersen House, where he died the following morning.

Today, both the Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site and the Petersen House are part of the National Park Service. More than 650,000 visitors visit the site each year. Located within, students can view the Presidential Box where the assassination occurred, restored to the way it was on that fateful night. Visitors can also explore museum exhibits that depict Lincoln’s presidency, Civil War milestones, the events that led up to the assassination, and the aftermath. Students can also take at look at significant historic artifacts, including the pistol used to kill the president, the clothes he was wearing on the night he was assassinated, and Lincoln’s life masks.

Students and teachers who are unable to travel to Washington, DC, could learn more about this important historical site by examining the Ford’s Theatre website. You could also examine the Ford’s Theatre virtual tour. There are also some terrific resources for teachers available on the website.

Whether you visit Ford’s Theatre in person or online, I bid you happy learning!

White House tour the ultimate in experiential learning

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Most educators agree that travel is one of the best methods of experiential learning. And one of the most rewarding destinations for travel for both American students and international travelers is our nation’s capital city, Washington, DC. There are many worthwhile museums and historical sites to visit in the city, but the most famous is undoubtedly the White House. This historic structure serves as both the residence and the office of the President of the United States.

On our recent trip to Washington, Dc, my husband and I were fortunate enough to take a tour of the White House. While there, we were able to view many of the beautiful rooms of this historic museum house. On the bottom floor, we toured the Garden Room, the East Colonnade, and the Family Theater. We also saw the Vermeil room, the China Room, and the Library. One floor up, we were allowed to stroll through the appropriately named Green Room, Blue Room, and Red Room. In addition, we got a look at the State Dining Room. Then we viewed the stately Entrance Hall, and finally we exited the house through the famous North Portico.

I would definitely recommend the effort required for educators and students to visit this historic mansion. As you might guess, a visit to the White House requires a good deal of advance planning. A request for a public tour must be submitted through your Congressman. Make the request up to three months ahead, but no less than three weeks prior, to your visit to Washington, DC. Tours are self-guided, and are usually available Tuesday through Saturday, except on Federal holidays. Public tours are scheduled on a first come, first served basis. A limited number of spaces are available, so don’t wait too long! Be prepared for security checks prior to your admission to the building. Like most museums in the capital city, admission is free.

If you and your students are unable to travel to Washington, DC, you can take an unofficial virtual tour of the White House by clicking on the You Tube video below. Either way, happy touring!

Top-notch tour guides and exceptional teachers: the traits they share

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With summer vacation finally here for most educators, many of us begin to think about how to spend our much-longed for and richly-deserved free time. For many of us, summer offers a great opportunity for travel. I have had the good fortune to make several tours overseas. Each time it was my good fortune to meet very knowledgeable and capable tour guides. It occurred to me that many traits that make a top-notch tour guide are the same traits that make an exceptional teacher.

First, and probably most importantly, the tour guide must be likable. It’s imperative to be warm and friendly, because it’s just human nature to respond more positively to someone you like. Both the tour guide and the teacher are more successful if they set a relaxed tone right away. They let it be known they are approachable, they are glad to see you, and they are excited to share a part of their day with you. I think sometimes we educators forget how important this quality is to success in the classroom. Tourists will generally attempt to find something of value in the tour guide’s speech, whether the speaker is likable or not, but students won’t always make the effort to bridge that gap.

Secondly, it’s imperative that the tour guide be well-versed in their subject matter. Like the classroom teacher, the tour guide must do their homework! Know your stuff! Furthermore, it’s important to be able to communicate the information in language that’s easy to comprehend. Deliver the material clearly and distinctly, at a suitable volume, using appropriate vocabulary levels, and creating a logical sequence and progression of ideas. If your group can’t hear you or can’t get past your heavy Italian accent, or they don’t believe what you’re saying to them, before long they will meander away to take photos of what appeals to their eye. Sadly, when this happens, they often having no idea what it is they’re taking pictures of.

Thirdly, it’s crucial for both the tour guide and the teacher to be flexible. Things happen! When you find the Vatican has closed the Sistine Chapel without any notice, when laborers stage an unexpected shut-down of the metro services, or when you arrive at the funicular only to find it out of order, the tour guide can find their lesson plan for the day derailed. When that happens, the tour guide must extemporaneously construct a workable Plan B. After all, promises have been made that must be kept. Sometimes, like when you’re surprised by a political protest at Piccadilly Circus which blocks your path to your tour bus, you just have to wait it out. You may be half an hour behind schedule, but eventually you’ll be back on track. Excellent teachers and first-rate tour guides are especially adept at reorganizing on the spot.

I have to say, during my travels I have had the good fortune to have really terrific tour guides everywhere that I have gone. I hope that your summer vacation, wherever you travel, is as fabulous as mine have been.

Field trip to Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum generates mind-shift

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Vincent Van Gpgh

Author Terry Lee Marzell on her recent field trip to the Vincent Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Just about every educator would agree that field trips are an excellent example of experiential learning, and a terrific learning tool for teachers. But, let’s be realistic, very few teachers can afford to escort a group of students to Europe. Most of the time the best the teacher can do is take a tour personally, and then share the experience with the class upon return home. One field trip I would definitely recommend to any art teacher is a tour of the Vincent Van Gogh Museum located in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

I have to say, visiting this museum, coupled with my reading of Irving Stone’s landmark biographical novel Lust for Life, truly expanded my knowledge and appreciation of this iconic 19th-century Dutch painter. Here’s what I learned. In Van Gogh’s day, most painters studied how to realistically reproduce pictures of the human body, because they relied on painting portraits of wealthy patrons in order to earn a living. Many of these portraits depicted prominent citizens and their families or servants seated in the affluent surroundings of their homes or businesses. Usually, these portraits were pragmatic representations using dark and somber colors, steady brush strokes, and clear outlines for the objects in their works.

Van Gogh

“View of Arles with Irises in the Foreground” by Vincent Van Gogh in 1888. Hanging in the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

But Van Gogh was an innovator. He preferred to paint pictures depicting breathtaking landscapes of expansive fields full of blooming flowers. If he chose to paint portraits, his subjects were the common working man and his family, such as farmers or coal miners. These were portraits Van Gogh did not get paid for. He didn’t worry about earning a living because most of his life he was supported by his younger brother. Van Gogh’s paintings are characterized by brilliant colors and swirly, dramatic brush strokes which convey energy and movement. And as forerunner of the impressionist movement, he used indistinct outlines for the objects in his works.

Once inside the museum, standing before these stunning paintings, I fell in love with Van Gogh’s art.

What I learned about Van Gogh through my reading and my field trip to the Amsterdam museum is probably nothing new to the art teacher. But because of these experiences I achieved a monumental mind-shift in my understanding and appreciation of art in general, particularly 19th-century art, and specifically Van Gogh’s art. This mind-shift would not likely have occurred otherwise. This is what the educator hopes to achieve through field trips.

Van Gogh

In a tour to the Vincent Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the visitor encounters this image of the famous Dutch painter, surrounded by a comprehensive exhibit of his self-portraits.

Taking a field trip to Hitler’s famous Eagle’s Nest

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Hitler's Eagle's Nest

Author Terry Lee Marzell recently took a field trip to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest, shown here. The site is located near the town of Berchtesgaden in the Bavaria region of Germany.

When teaching students about historical figures, it always helps to take a field trip to places associated with the figure in question. Visiting places connected to former Nazi leader Adolf Hitler is difficult, though, because so many of them have been destroyed since WWII. One site that still exists, and is open to the public, is Hitler’s famous Eagle’s Nest.

The Eagle’s Nest, known in German as the Kehlsteinhaus, was built in 1939. It is located near the town of Berchtesgaden in the Bavaria region of Germany. An impressive feet of engineering, it was built on the 6,000-foot summit of Kehlstein Mountain. The incline is so steep that the vehicles which transport visitors to the entrance must be specially equipped to handle the slant.

To access the house, Hitler was driven through an entry tunnel. Today’s visitor passes through the tunnel on foot. Next, Hitler used an elaborately-decorated elevator to ascend the 400-foot shaft that leads to the house. The elevator’s ornate design was intended to impress visitors, and it certainly impressed us, until we remembered that our feet were standing on the very same ground that former Nazis stood on. The elevator seemed spacious—large enough for about 20 people—but not large enough for Hitler, who was reportedly claustrophobic. He never fully trusted the device, and riding in it made him exceedingly nervous.

At right, the reception hall of Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest as it was during WWII.  Notice the grand red Italian marble fireplace gifted to Hitler by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. At left, Hitler (far right) and his guests admire the stunning views.

Once you have reached the top, we toured the rooms used by the Nazis for government meetings, receptions, and social events. In the main hall, the showpiece architectural element is the grand fireplace of red Italian marble, a gift from Italian dictator and Nazi ally Benito Mussolini. The unfurnished stone rooms were stark and cold, and seemed harsh in comparison to the spectacular views that could be seen through the windows. Even photographs from Hitler’s day showing the rooms in use, outfitted with thick carpets, overstuffed furniture pieces, and a blazing fire in the fireplace, do not make the room appear soft and warm. It’s almost as if the bleak interiors of the rooms mirror the interiors of the stony hearts of those who used them.

Hitler's Eagle's Nest

Author Terry Lee Marzell admires the spectacular views from Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest in Germany.

Ahh, but the views were breathtaking. The natural beauty of the vast landscape was wasted on Hitler, though, who was afraid of heights. For this reason, he visited the Nazi showcase only 14 times. But in my opinion, the views alone are worth the trek to the summit.

Of course, the best way for a teacher to share the experience this historical place with students is through a field trip, but since travelling to Germany with your class is unlikely, you and your students can learn more about Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest from a visit to the site’s official website at Kehlsteinhaus.