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AIAI in Education

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Fieldtrips Chatboard

Spanish Emersion Summer Programs?

by April

Sep 14, 2009

Don Quijote or goAbbyRoad? Any experience or feedback on these 2 schools or recommend a different school? Looking for a 4 week program in Spain for juniors/seniors that have completed at least Spanish 4.

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Hiking Club

by Jenny :)

Sep 22, 2009

Hi everyone! I'm not sure this is the best board for my questions, but it seemed the closest fit.

I'm starting up a hiking club with my school, for 4th-5th graders. We will have one planning mtg. and one club hike per month. We will hike closeby after school, or, on a special occasion, we will travel 45ish minutes on a Saturday to hike on...See More

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instructours I conduct student tours (normally 4th-9th grade) professionally and often 'hike' through places like Arlington National Cemetery (usually a three hour experience) and national parks.

Here are the 'duhs': Dress: Proper shoes and socks - very important! Insect repellant and sunscreen. Bottle of water. Hat.

Here are some personal 'ti...See More

Sep 22, 2009

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field trips

by candy molina

Sep 27, 2009

lease send me any information on field trips suitable for middle and high school homeschoolers. Thank you

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Socaliforniamagistra On 10/27/09, You get what you pay for wrote:you

The reason I'm on this chatboard is because I had traveled with other companies under the auspices of a colleague and was truly upset with the price commensurate with the service.

I also had meetings with the parents of students who had traveled in the past and asked them about thei...See MoreOn 10/27/09, You get what you pay for wrote:you

The reason I'm on this chatboard is because I had traveled with other companies under the auspices of a colleague and was truly upset with the price commensurate with the service.

I also had meetings with the parents of students who had traveled in the past and asked them about their payment and service experiences. Most teachres don't want to get involved with that. I found that there was great disatisfaction with all the additional fees and unrealistic cut-off dates. Some never received promised refunds.

When I offered to take charge of my school's trip, I did a lot of research, As I have posted before, I'm new to teaching, but not to business.

I did get quotes from many other companies and compared their services. I know that my students this year are paying $ 68. over what one of the companies you mentioed quoted.

I also had meetings with the parents of students who had traveled in the past and asked them about their payment and service experiences. (Most teachres don't want to get involved with that.) I found that there was great disatisfaction with all the additional fees and unrealistic cut-off dates. Some never received promised refunds.

The difference is that more money is going into the program than into pockets.

And as for plugging a company...if teachers on this chatboard request the names of companies, why should we not share our experiences?

After all, you have.

That's what this is for. > ...someone plugging their own company, or that of a friend. Can't > be! You know the motto in life, "you get what you pay for," > well...its TRUE. DUH!!! If you want guides that should be working > as history professors, due to their incredible knowledge and get > paid $400 per day, then get ready to pay for their services. Ain't > no such thing as a free lunch and Socaliforniamagistra seems to > want to let everyone know that you can have your cake and eat it > too. Contact the company he or she is plugging and get a quote. > Then, when you realize that not every kid can afford such > lavishness, contact EF or Explorica and get good value for > money...and perfectly fine tours. Bit of a diva??? Me thinks so. > Needs to get a life...definitely. The motto of the day is low > maintenance, happy trails and CHILL. > > > On 9/28/09, socaliforniamagistra wrote: >> >> After traveling with the other large tour companies, we are now >> using a person who designs our trip especially for us according >> to our curriculum, standards, and my personal 'wish list'. She >> pointed us to a very good tour operator,which is owned and run >> by a teacher. They work very well together. >> >> Their service is professional and efficient. But it is their >> dedication to educational content which really attracted me. >> >> They are creative and put lots of hands-on discoveries, >> reenactors, and other, 'goodies' into our trip. I can also >> recommend their hotels and restaurants - especially the food. >> >> We get a 24 hour tour guide that meets us at the airport and >> stays with us throughout the trip. Our tour guide is a >> kid-friendly, fun, walking encyclopedia. She not only gives us >> background, but also plays educational games, as well as >> teaches us songs and poems that relate to the trip. >> >> Their travel insurance is the best I've seen. >> >> They advertise all-inclusive prices, without nickle and diming >> you or raising the prices at the last minute. (Boy! Was I >> burnt by two companies charging last minute fees.) As they >> say, the only money your students need to bring is for >> souvenirs! And there are no marketing plays; they're upfront >> and easy to work with. >> >> Here are the websites: instructours dot com >> leaddiscoveryusa dot com >> >> Good luck! >> >> Socaliforniamagistra >> On 9/27/09, candy molina wrote: >> >> They are creative and put lots of hands-on discoveries, >> reenactors, and other, 'goodies' into our trip. I can also >> recommend their hotels and restaurants - especially the food. >> >> We get a 24 hour tour guide that meets us at the airport and >> stays with us throughout the trip. Our tour guide is a >> kid-friendly encyclopedia. She not only gives us background, >> but plays educational games, as well as teaches us songs and >> poems that relate to the trip. >> >> Also their insurance is the best I've seen. >> >> They advertise all-inclusive prices, without nickle and diming >> you or raising the prices at the last minute. (Buy! Was I >> burnt by two companies with all the last minute fees.) And >> there are no marketing plays. They're very honest and easy to >> work with. >> >> Here are the websites: instructours dot com >> leaddiscoveryusa dot com >> >> Good luck! >> >> Socaliforniamagistra >> >> These are the websites >>> Please send me any information on field trips suitable for >>> middle and high school homeschoolers. Thank you

Oct 28, 2009

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Maria Quesada On 9/27/09, candy molina wrote: > Please send me any information on field trips suitable for > middle and high school homeschoolers. Thank you

Hispanic Flamenco Ballet. without doubt

Sep 7, 2012

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test

by test

Sep 29, 2009

test

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How I Became A Pirate

by Charlotte James

Oct 10, 2009

My class absolutely love this one!!! 5 stars. And a 7th grader from Bridgewater Middle plays the lead boy. Very inspiring for the boys in my class. Plan to bring my kids too!

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Washington D.C.

by Philip Read

Oct 18, 2009

I hworked with New Century from their inception in 1990 until mey retirement in 1998. There was never a problem that was not immediately taken care of. On one trip we had a student cut his head at the capitol builoding. New Century provided an ambulance and had us takedn to the hospital where he had staples used to close it up. On numerous occasion...See More

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socaliforniamagistra Why was New Century disallowed by your committee? That was a very provocative statement.

While I am now happily traveling with LEAD Discovery USA out of San Diego, my district has a number of student tour companies that are acceptable to them. These companies may not offer the stipends etc. to teachers or administrators (neither can we sol...See MoreWhy was New Century disallowed by your committee? That was a very provocative statement.

While I am now happily traveling with LEAD Discovery USA out of San Diego, my district has a number of student tour companies that are acceptable to them. These companies may not offer the stipends etc. to teachers or administrators (neither can we solicit or accept these perks beyond a free trip and reimbursement of expenses given directly through our school board.) and I think the respective companies have to add us to their liability insurance. For a district to 'disallow' a company rather than to have simply chosen one company over another, is interesting.

I traveled with New Century once, and while they were nice people, they did not provide the 24-hour teaching tour guide or had as much educational content or activities as I wanted, We had a lot of fast food (I have since banned food vouchers at food courts from all my trips!). They seemed to follow the same itineraries and overall style as Worldstrides, although the hotels were better and closer to DC. (I wondered if the two companies were ever related.)

On 10/18/09, Philip Read wrote: > I hworked with New Century from their inception in 1990 > until mey retirement in 1998. There was never a problem > that was not immediately taken care of. On one trip we had > a student cut his head at the capitol builoding. New > Century provided an ambulance and had us takedn to the > hospital where he had staples used to close it up. On > numerous occasions we have hd sick students and these were > provided transportation to the hotel with one of the > chaperones. If you choose good chaperones then you will > not have many problems thatg can not be taken care of. My > wife and I worked with the owners of tghe companyfor about > 27 years, leaving another company when they started up and > were never disappointed. You could not find more caring > people than those who founded the company. I find it > difficult to hear of these incidents and find much validity > to them. The only reason my former school system left is > because the school committee disallowed them.

Oct 19, 2009

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Share Behavioural Guidelines for students

by Sarah Sadie

Oct 30, 2009

Could some of you share the behavioural guidelines you have for your middle school aged students when taking them to another district for academic competitions? Do you have students sign contracts, or just give them the expectations orally? Would you give an example of your contracts for student behaviour? I am concerned about how to address the at...See More

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Has anyone traveled with Teach by Travel?

by Mary Bacon

Nov 1, 2009

lanning on using Teach by Travel for France and Switzeland summer of 2010 and looking for any feedback out there.

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Socaliforniamagistra On 11/01/09, Mary Bacon wrote: I've just studied their website and they have several of my personal requirements: 'No surprise' pricing, a separate insurance policy (TravelGuard), centrally located hotels, a tour manager (native to the area) in charge of logistics and educational content. These all are in stark contrast to the other large internati...See More

Nov 3, 2009

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Anonymous On 11/03/09, Socaliforniamagistra wrote: > On 11/01/09, Mary Bacon wrote: > I've just studied their website and they have several of my > personal requirements: 'No surprise' pricing, a separate > insurance policy (TravelGuard), centrally located hotels, a > tour manager (native to the area) in charge of logistics and > educationa...See More

Nov 4, 2009

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NETC Travel

by Mary Bacon

Nov 7, 2009

Looked into Teach by Travel and they were way too expensive. I am in search of anyone of can give me NETC feedback. I am new to this board. How does one search old postings. I did see read much about Explorica, EF and CHA. Was also consider looking into Passports. Thanks for the tip about Prometour! Am awating their prices but fear they will be too...See More

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Rhoda Lott EF is great when budget is a priority. They have low prices for the services given but you cannot expect central hotel locations (although it may happen) or incredible meals as a standard. EF is one of the oldest and the largest company for student travel and their volume allow them to negotiate unbelievable prices with hotels, restaurants, guides,...See More

May 9, 2010

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veronica murphy On 11/16/09, Justin from NETC wrote: > Dear Mary; > > NETC provides higher quality and costs more than other > organizations. We spend the extra money on making sure that > the educational side of things is the best it can be. It is > true that students don't need fancy food or de luxe hotels. > We feel that if you are in Italy...See More

Oct 20, 2010

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Contact me Anytime

by Dave G

Nov 11, 2009

Hello Everyone:

My name is Dave and I teach at a high school in Ontario, Canada. I have traveled with EF for the last 8 years and I have had wonderful experiences. If anyone would like to contact me, I'd be more than happy to share my experiences and/or recipes for a successful tour. Happy Trails everyone.

Dave

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Dave G Hello Anonymous:

So quick to judge aren't we? You don't know anything about me, yet you are so quick to summarize my intentions. I was just looking to help out any interested organizers, those were my motives. For your information, not that I feel I have to defend myself to anonymous people, I teach at a small, rural school and I only ever...See More

Nov 23, 2009

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socaliforniamagistra I agree with anonymous!

I am constantly contacted by teachers to travel with several companies that pay teachers above, and well beyond, the so- called 'free trip'. I recently found out (by reading the website carefully) that when a veteran teacher refers a new teacher/group, and they travel, the teacher that referred the group gets $1000 ...See More

Dec 21, 2009

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