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24 Hour Teaching guides

by socaliforniamagistra

Sep 2, 2009

Thanks for the last posting and I hope that more teachers contribute the names of the smaller companies they travel with. The large ones are not offering quality service.

I've found a wonderful company called, LEAD (Lead Achieve Explore Discover)out of San Diego.

I have looked into Nations Classroom, and they seemed like a genuinely nice bunch of people, but there was a major requirement that I had, that most companies, including Nations Classroom, do not offer: the 24-hour teaching guide. (Perhaps they would, if asked.)

As per my extensive research and four year in-field experience, it seems that most tour companies have an hotel coordinator in charge of two to ten groups. These coordinators would go over my itinerary at the hotel in a teacher hospitality suite or at a concierge desk near the front desk. The next morning, we had to travel and pick up our guide on a street corner for a four to six hour city tour. Unfortunately, I had this person for only a ...See More

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Carrie Murphy On 9/02/09, socaliforniamagistra wrote: > Thanks for the last posting and I hope that more teachers > contribute the names of the smaller companies they travel > with. The large ones are not offering quality service. > > I've found a wonderful company called, LEAD (Lead Achieve > Explore Discover)out of San Diego. > > I have...See MoreOn 9/02/09, socaliforniamagistra wrote: > Thanks for the last posting and I hope that more teachers > contribute the names of the smaller companies they travel > with. The large ones are not offering quality service. > > I've found a wonderful company called, LEAD (Lead Achieve > Explore Discover)out of San Diego. > > I have looked into Nations Classroom, and they seemed like > a genuinely nice bunch of people, but there was a major > requirement that I had, that most companies, including > Nations Classroom, do not offer: the 24-hour teaching > guide. (Perhaps they would, if asked.) > > As per my extensive research and four year in-field > experience, it seems that most tour companies have an hotel > coordinator in charge of two to ten groups. These > coordinators would go over my itinerary at the hotel in a > teacher hospitality suite or at a concierge desk near the > front desk. The next morning, we had to travel and pick up > our guide on a street corner for a four to six hour city > tour. Unfortunately, I had this person for only a short > time and just as the students got involved, it was over! > > The rest of the time I was relying on my bus driver to get > us to places on time. Typically, bus drivers cannot tell a > group which door to enter or how to check a group into a > place, especially if it is inaccessible to the bus, like > the US Capitol. It was frustrating and annoying at times, > especially when I had 45 students 'breathing down my neck'. > Unfortunately, with two different companies, our drivers > were totally clueless, and we constantly got lost, even > with GPS! On one occasion, we missed our Capitol > appointment, and on another, we were 45 minutes late for an > embassy visit because we were driving around in circles! > You can imagine how embarrassed I was! > > Then there were the times that we were staying in hotels en > route that did not have a hotel coordinator and I had to > check in the entire group; that's OK until there are > problems with the rooms (we were given rooms on three > floors and they were all smoking rooms). With one company, > the escort traveling with us informed me that the hotel > check-in was our responsibility, and then disappeared until > we boarded the bus the next morning! Or the time we showed > up at a restaurant, and they had no room for us! If we had > had a good guide traveling with us, he or she could have > taken care of these problems, rather than have me > constantly telephoning the tour offices for advice. > > The reason I'm so fussy is that I was on a school trip to > DC about 15 years ago with a full-service company (EFS) > that no longer exists. (I heard it was bought and > subsequently dismantled by Worldstrides and now > Worldstrides no longer will offer 24-hour educational > guides to new groups). > > I remember our tour guide clearly. She was with us 24 > hours, did everything for us, and knew more than our > teacher! We loved her! From the moment we arrived at the > gate at the airport (you could meet people at the gate in > those days!) until we took off, she was there. She was with > us from Williamsburg to New York and connected all the > places we visited together. We didn't need any other > guides (except for Williamsburg). She played games with us > in the hotel and taught us historic songs and poems on the > bus. She even took an unplanned detour to a Civil War > memorial in Fredericksburg. She was also very funny! It's > all in my journal! > > I missed that service and individual attention with the > four class trips I have since taken with three other > companies. > > It wasn't until I found LEAD, leaddiscoveryusa dot com > which always provide the 24-hour teaching guide, that I > became truly happy. (I suspect that the owner was a 24-hour > guide, herself.) > > The guide LEAD has assigned us is superb! She knows how to > get around (we never stood in lines!), both stimulates and > entertains my 8th graders, knows her history, and can > handle situations gracefully and professionally. She is my > requested guide for our next trip this spring. The best > part is: I'm no longer 'stressed out' on tour. > > Obviously, I advocate that every tour should have a 24-hour > teaching guide dedicated to them. > > We don't follow the usual student tour since I have a 'wish > list' (I teach US history and Latin so classical culture > reflected in DC is extremely important) and then Marie > Martin adds in a lot of educational components including > hands-on activities and reenactments, that no one else > offers. She and her staff are teachers, so they understand. > > If you are looking for a new company, consider one that can > offer a full-time teaching tour guide - it makes all the > difference in the quality and educational content of your > trip. > > I've found one in LEAD, and I'm estactic

I was just looking something else up when I came across this post. I have to say that I disagree with you when it comes to wanting a 24-hour guide. I also wanted to let you know that this will be my fourth year working with NationsClassroom and it has been a complete blessing compared to the companies I have used in the past. I have been with the big companies and the small local ones. I will never use another company again. As for 24 hour guides-I found that having a tour coordinator (not tour guide)who is in charge of the hotel check-in and is continuously working behind the scenes while we are on tour (i.e. showing up an hour before us to make sure reservations are correct at sit down meals, or going and grabbing a camera a student forgot at the museum, etc). Also, I find that guides like having their "down" time at night, away from the group. They come back rejuvenated to lead a full day of touring. I do mean a full day or touring. Our guide is with us from 8am to at least 9pm everyday. I'm sure LEAD is a great company but I have to say that I think your tour would be better improved if you didn't have a 24-hour guide but had a guide for touring and a coordinator for everything else. Let the people who are good at guiding guide and let those who are good at coordinating coordinate. FYI-another thing I love about NationsClassroom-they will tailor your tour to your specifics. That means anything goes, so yes, they would have done a 24 hour guide if you had requested it. Again, I still think you're missing out by having your guide do everything 24 hours a day.

Jan 29, 2012

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