1. Julie Bryan WVAM Conference 2018
Education Programs
Julie Bryan
WVAM Conference 2018

2. Educational Programs
Field Trips
Outreach Programs
Special Events

3. Field Trips
Guided Tour
Self-guided Tour
Free play and Program

4. Field Trips: Where do you start?
Your museum has a mission
All programs need to support your mission

5. Create a Program: Field Trips
Brainstorm-what facts do you want to tell your visitors
What facts support your mission
Look for themes that connect your facts
Construct your programs around themes that link these facts!

6. Facts and Themes Dining etiquette in 1800s Sugar bowl made here
Chippendale chair
Tall case clock made here
Fireplace
Portraits of iron furnace owners
Mission: Frederick County history
Theme:
Chippendale chair
Industry in Frederick County
Fireplace

7. Thematic Guided Tours Thematic Tour Point-and-Shoot Tour
Industry was important
to Frederick County’s
development. This sugar bowl was made in Frederick County where water and sand, the necessary raw materials for glass, were found in abundance. The tall case clock in the corner is an example of just one of the many clocks that were made in Frederick…
Point-and-Shoot Tour
This is a sugar bowl made in 1782 in Frederick. This dining table is big because social dining was important at the time it was made. Over here is a beautiful clock that was made in Frederick. Isn’t it charming? This Chippendale chair, which was made in New Hampshire, was given to us by Mrs. Smith, a prominent woman in Frederick.

8. Self-Guided Thematic Field Trips
Self-guided Tour
Exhibit labels tell a thematic story
Questions in self-guided program explain themes
Free play and Program
Exhibits are themed, program is themed: both reinforce Spark’s mission

9. Outreach Programs
Busses are expensive: schools may have money to pay for your program but not for their busses.
Reach more people
Libraries and afterschool programs that can’t do field trips
Allows for larger groups

10. Outreach Programs: Where do you start?
Your museum has a mission
All programs need to support your mission

11. Our Museums are Awesome!
What can you provide that a teacher/parent/library cannot?
Teaching collection, equipment, primary source documents, knowledge
Ex. Frederick County history/American history
Jacob Engelbrecht diary
Find your niche, create a thematic program around it!

12. Create a Program: Outreach
Brainstorm-what facts do you want to tell participants
What facts support your mission
Look for themes that connect your facts
Construct your programs around themes that link these facts!

13. Why thematic programs work
Themes help ensure visitors hear the most important information
Thematic programs are easier to follow and more enjoyable
Organized information is easier to learn and remember than disorganized information

14. I have my themes and key facts…
Thematic Tour
Industry was important to Frederick County’s development. This sugar bowl was made in Frederick County where water and sand, the necessary raw materials for glass, were found in abundance. The tall case clock in the corner is an example of just one of the many clocks that were made in Frederick…
now what?

15. From organized themes to great programs
Ask Questions/Encourage Discussion
Give participants something to do

16. Ask questions/Encourage Discussion
Use open-ended questions. Limit questions that have only one correct answer.
If you find yourself correcting a lot of answers, you are asking the wrong questions.
Be flexible! (You want to talk about a water pump at the sink, so you ask, “How did people get water in the past?” A child raises his hand and answers, “They took a bucket to a well.”)
Guide by asking questions and adding on information to their answers. “What do you see in this room that is different than what is in your kitchen?”
Leave enough time for people to respond (at least 5 seconds, more is better).

17. Give them something to do
Watch a Demonstration
Participate
Move their bodies (portaging)
Make something
Pass around an item from teaching collection-ensure enough of each item for group

18. Put it all together
Thematic programs that balance listening, answering questions, discussion and doing something
Ex. Intro to Nanoscience program
Ex. Frederick County history/Primary source

19. I-spy and Q & A with art (primary sources)
I-spy and Q & A with photos (primary sources)
Scherenschnitte-take home that reinforces lesson

20. General Tips
Give rules before you start program (this works for adults too)
Ask them to sit down in the museum (elementary students)
Move quickly, don’t keep people sitting/standing in one place for too long
Let them know they will see everything in the museum
If you have a difficult child in your school tour, it may be good to give them a job. It can be as simple as having them make sure that all the students stay together and follow you.
Relate what you are saying to what they know

21. Special Events When planning an event
In your head, go through what participants will encounter at each point.
Where is the bottleneck? Is there enough people and signage to explain how to do things?
Are they standing too long , going without something to do for too long?

22. Evaluate Were there areas where the audience got restless
Were there questions that caused confusion
Team Based Inquiry

23. Thank you!
Questions
Please fill out evaluations-is there a subject discussed in the talk that you would like to see in more detail at a future conference
Workshop for thematic tours?
Outreach programs?
Special Events?