Hi William: Good perspective about field trips and guest speakers. I think most students get a lot out of field trips. It's different from the daily class routine. Most importantly, sometimes what a student views or learns from a well planned field trip can be tremendously motivational, enough to even get them to work harder in school.Of course, they may also realize "this is not for me". As a gust speaker, it's a bit more personal, but the benefit of being able to ask just about any questions is a novel learning activity and I've found students usually like these events. Sometimes, I'll prompt the guest to make sure they touch on this or that, but the open discussion portion is what can really inspire someone. Regards, Barry