kentucky intensive museums seminar
TRANSCRIPT
THE KENTUCKY INTENSIVE MUSEUM
MANAGEMENT SEMINAR:EXHIBITS
Fighting for the field trip dollar: Effective Exhibit Planning and Educational Programming for the School Audience
Christy SpurlockMarch, 2010
What Teachers want . . .
SO TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT, WHAT YOU REALLY REALLY
WANT,
I'LL TELL YOU WHAT I WANT, WHAT I REALLY REALLY
WANT . . .
SPICE GIRLS SONG “WANNABE”
Exhibits and programming that reflect and enhance what is
being Taught and Tested in class
If your build it, they will come . . .
NO!!!!! Educational Reform
State Specific Curriculum
Ever Shrinking Field Trip Dollar
School audiences
will not be sold on visiting exhibits not reflective of their curriculum
If you build it FOR them, they will come . . .
One can stretch/twist to make an exhibit “sort of” match
STEP ONE
I have an idea for an exhibit subject.
How do I figure out who (if any) my target school demographic is?
Where do I start first?
STEP TWO
What subjects are taught in which grades?
Let’s just go with one content area- Social Studies.
What is taught in 1st grade? 2nd? 3rd? 4th? 5th? 6th? 7th? 8th?
KDE WEBSITECurriculum Maps and Core Content* We will come back to this
STEP THREEOK, so now I know the following . . .
K-3rd Government grade Historical Perspective
Cultures & SocietiesEconomicsGeography
4th grade KY History
5th grade US History
6th grade Geography-The World and its people
7th grade World History
8thgrade US History *Through Reconstruction
WHAT ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL?
What is taught in Social Studies during 9th? 10th? 11th? 12th?
What are the Social Studies requirements to graduate in KY?
Three credits for social studies are required for high school graduation. These credits must incorporate the five social studies disciplines of U.S. history, economics, government, world geography, and world civilization.
Districts and schools can arrange the essential content within the three-credit requirement to best meet their need.
9th or 10th World History
9th or 10th Political Science/ Economics
11th grade US History *Since
Reconstruction
STEP FOUR
How do I find out specifically what 4th graders are studying in KY
history?
Pop Quiz Time
Can an exhibit have more than one authentic grade level audience?
Yes!The key is authenticity!
Exhibit must have natural, legitimate worthwhile connection to that grade’s curriculum
REMEMBER THIS GUY?TWIST & STRETCH . . .
IS SHE GOING TO BRING HER CLASS?
STEP FIVE
Tested? how is it being tested?
Testing drives the curriculum!
Sample questions from the test.
* We will come back to this
STEP SIX
Now I am ready to start planning my exhibit!
Pick up the phone and call . . .
“What would you like to see in an exhibit about ________?”
State Department of ED Website
Audience?
Current Textbooks
Let’s do lunch!
NO Bubble-IN Surveys!!!
Take a page from Conner Prairie and come up with your own . . .
Anonymous survey mailed to every teacher with a return self addressed envelope
1. What did you like best about your field trip?
2. What would you like to see changed/gotten rid of or done differently?
3. What exhibits or resources would you suggest for the future?
Gifts! Teachers Love Gifts!
New exhibit that has a school audience
Title of exhibit?
Target audience(Grade/s)?
Specifically, what in their curriculum?
How are you going to appeal to multiple intelligences??? Linguistic, Logical-mathematical, Musical,Bodily-kinesthetic, Spatial, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal ?
How are you going “to own it and rock it?”
Why should I bring my class?
SHARE OUT
Suggestions?
Hands-On Activities?
Things you have seen elsewhere that you can adapt
to your exhibit?
Final ThoughtsSchool field trips, future exhibits have to be
designed for them . . . from the beginning
Get target demographic’s curriculum, textbooks, teachers on the phone during design
What do they need, want . . . What will appeal to your target grade/s ?
In the words of those great modern day philosophers . . . . With exhibit planning are you . . . .
“Someone who knows how to own it, and rock it . . .”
CHANGES TO KY TESTING & THEREFORE CURRICULUM
AKA Senate Bill 1 (SB1)
2009 SB1 passed and it changes KY’s assessment
2009-2011 Transition period
2012 New State Test Debuts
Things we can talk about if we
have time . . .
Can do programming not connected to exhibits
Special field trip days
Example such as “KY Historic Native American Days”
By finding out what your educator audience truly wants, can come up with programming that will be “sold out!”
Bait!
Traveling Trunks School project such as 4th and 5th grade KY
themed Christmas Ornaments Dramatic Performances such as International
Holiday Web site Promotional items Items from your gift shop Educational Program Guide Visually appealing emails- used sparingly! Ad on Education page of area paper
Textbooks
Different schools in the same district use different textbooks.
Email a 4th grade teacher at each school in your area and ask for the name and publisher of their KY Social Studies textbook. Email 5th grade for US textbook.
Purchase the most commonly used ones.
When your exhibits team designs/plans an exhibit have a copy of the curriculum in hand/ along with the textbook. Sometimes it is just a matter of semantics – saying it this way instead of that way
Developing our Civil War in KY exhibit, we had the current 4th grade and 5th grade texts, along with the Core Content and suggestions from teachers
Design your ED webpage for teachers
ED page should be designed for teachers and easy to navigate
May also include additional educational resources
Regularly updated
Education Advisory Council
Target 4-6 outstanding teachers of your target grade level/s. How? Ask around- email principals and tell them what you want
Invite to lunch/discussion session with a specific agenda
Schedule for one hour at most convenient time for teachers- at end or beginning of school year
If you have to pay them or offer some type of incentive, well worth the effort!
Education Programs & Tours booklet Booklet describing your programs and
tours with Core Content numbers
Available online
Mail a copy to every teacher of target grade/s in area
See example
Traveling TrunksAsk the target audience teachers what trunks they would like developed
Travel Trunk statistics – number of studentsTotal 2005 143Total 2006 1025Total 2007 1609Total 2008 4785
Total 2009 3884
Ad on weekly Education Page of Daily News