Wednesday, February 22, 2012 3:01 PM
First and foremost, we want to give a huge THANKS to all of our Group Leaders and Head Teachers for making it possible to provide exceptional educational travel programs for you and your students and travelers. Without your support we would not be able to offer such highly rated tours. Now for the results of our 2011 post-tour evaluations…
…Drumroll please…
Hear more from NETC Group Leaders
By Amy on Wednesday, February 22, 2012 3:01 PM
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Tuesday, February 21, 2012 10:09 AM
What nation has had a monarchy the longest?
Leave your guess below and check back next Educational Travel Tuesday for the answer!
By Neil E. Traveler on Tuesday, February 21, 2012 10:09 AM
Categories:Educational Travel Trivia
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Friday, February 17, 2012 2:20 PM
My latest obsession is Pinterest. What’s Pinterest you ask? It’s only one of the best things to hit the internet, in my humble opinion! When I’m not working, eating (well sometimes while I’m eating too) or sleeping, I’m pinning the latest home décor idea, delicious recipe, inspirational quote or destination I’d like to travel to next. If you haven’t heard about Pinterest, do yourself a favor and check it out. Right. Now.
Imagine my delight when I realized – wow Pinterest would be a great resource for teachers. So I’ve begun a Pinterest account for NETC. NETC’s Pinterest Boards already have some fun travel ideas, inspirational quotes, crafts for the classroom, educational videos and interesting lesson plans I’ve come across, but I’m constantly adding new things, so check back often, better yet, join for yourself and start following NETC’s Pinterest Boards! You'll thank me.
Want to know more about Pinterest?...
By Amy on Friday, February 17, 2012 2:20 PM
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Thursday, February 16, 2012 4:31 PM
A colorful mosaic decorates the benches of Gaudi's Parc Guell in Barcelona, Spain
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Classroom Activity
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This is just one example of the beautiful mosaics that can be found all around Antoni Gaudi's Parc Guell in Barcelona, Spain. Download a larger image of the mosaic and share the photo with your class. Then discuss the following:
- Creative writing (can be done in English or in the foreign language studied):
A family member passes away and leaves you this piece of pottery with a note saying that it contains hidden mysteries about your family. You investigate. What do you discover?
- Art activity:
Using a piece of graph paper, design a mosaic that looks like it is made of pieces of broken pottery.
Want more? See last week's Teach Through Educational Travel: Kings & Queens at the Palace of Versailles, France
We'd love to hear your ideas! If you've done a lesson on Barcelona, Spain, Antoni Guadi, mosaics or art around the world, tell us about it by leaving a comment below! You could be our next guest blogger!
By Neil E. Traveler on Thursday, February 16, 2012 4:31 PM
Categories:Teach Through Educational Travel, Spain, Art
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Wednesday, February 15, 2012 11:37 AM
I recently had the incredible opportunity to meet Dr. Tracey Severns on an NETC Teacher Convention in London. Her positive outlook and upbeat personality were infectious. Speak with her for five minutes and you'll see she is a Principal who is passionate about her students' education. So it's no wonder Tracey has been honored with not one, but three awards! She received the Katherine Goerss Leadership Award as the middle level Educator of the Year, New Jersey's Elementary Visionary Principal of the Year as well as NJ's National Distinguished Principal of the Year. Pretty impressive!
Tracey was kind enough to share with us the reasons she travels with her middle school students on educational tours. Take a moment to watch and learn about why active participation and hands on involvement are so important to her, both in school and on an educational tour:
Tracey is an enthusiastic traveler and believes in the importance of travel in creating well-rounded global citizens. She travels with her middle school students and enjoys traveling in her personal life as well. She told me a story about her husband giving her a map as a gift. She pinned all the places she'd been on the map and as they both looked at the completed map, her husband remarked, "Look at all the places you've been!" Tracey's response, "Look at all the places I haven't been!" As someone who loves the adventure and excitement that come along with discovering a new destination, I wholeheartedly agree with that statement!
By Neil E. Traveler on Wednesday, February 15, 2012 11:37 AM
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Tuesday, February 14, 2012 1:17 PM
Happy Valentine's Day!
Men & women across the US are swapping Hallmark cards, red roses, boxed chocolates and teddy bears today in celebration of Valentine’s Day. But how does the rest of the world celebrate this love-ly holiday? Here’s a look at a few countries around the world with their own interesting traditions:
France
The Valentine tradition most likely began during the Middle Ages in France and England. It was recognized that birds began mating in mid-February, so men and women exchanging love letters and romantic tokens around this time was particularly fitting. Couples celebrate Le Valentin by giving each other flowers and sharing romantic dinners. The exchange of Valentine cards is not a common practice in France.
Germany
If your German love calls you a schatz on Valentine's Day, don't worry, it's not an insult, you have just been called a treasure! For the increasingly popular Valentinstag, Germans have their own tradition of gifting gingerbread cookies in the shape of a heart to their sweethearts. Cookies typically have a ribbon attached so young men can drape the cookies on the shoulders of their Valentines.
Guatemala
In Guatemala, Dia del Cariños is a celebration of friendship as much as it is a celebration of love.So much so that Valentine's Day is commonly referred to as the day of amor y amistad, love and friendship. On this day, similarly to the US, Guatemalans exchange flowers, chocolates and cards.
Italy
In the city of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, couples can attend Verona in Love.Verona organizes events surrounding the star-crossed lovers' story. For example, tours retrace the tragic path of this love story, contests are held for the best love letter to Juliet or you can spend some time at the statue of Juliet to bring good fortune.
Phillippines
I thought this was interesting! There's a trend in the Phillipines of Mass Valentine's Day marriages where hundreds of couples exchange "I do's" at the same time. This practice is super popular in the Phillipines, making February 14th a very common wedding anniversary date.
Spain
In Catalonia, La Dia de Sant Jordi is celebrated on April 23rd. The legend goes that gentlemen in Spain honor St. George's romantic gesture of saving a princess from the grasp of an evil dragon. Roses were typically associated with this day, but recently books have been a more customary gift. This began in the 20th century when it was realized that Josep Pla, Miguel Cervantes and William Shakespeare all died on the same day, April 23rd!
Hope you've enjoyed learning about Valentine celebrations in other parts of the world! Have a happy Valentine's Day, wherever your travels may take you!
By Neil E. Traveler on Tuesday, February 14, 2012 1:17 PM
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Tuesday, February 14, 2012 8:43 AM
The oldest known valentine that is still in existence today was written by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife. Where was Charles when he wrote this valentine?
Leave your guess below and check back next Educational Travel Tuesday for the answer!
By Neil E. Traveler on Tuesday, February 14, 2012 8:43 AM
Categories:Educational Travel Trivia
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Monday, February 13, 2012 9:52 AM
Using Hand Gestures for Conversation in Spain
Written by Lisa Escolar
NETC Educational Travel Tour Director in Spain
Most people are familiar with the stereotype of passionate Spaniards having animated conversations at top volume, while punctuating their every word with a movement of the hands. It’s not uncommon to see groups of people gesticulating wildly while in conversation. And while some of it can be classified as general hand-waving used for emphasis, there is a whole array of particularly Spanish hand signals with very specific meanings.
Everyone has given a good job the thumbs-up before, or maybe had their coach assign them “time out” or even “I’ve got my eye on you.” Here are examples of some of the most common Spanish gestures to add to your repertoire:
Classroom Activity
Along with this brief guide to Spanish hand gestures, here are some ideas to incorporate in class:
- Which gestures could you teach a Spanish exchange student for use in your school?
- Split into teams, have one team sign a message and the other win points for knowing the verbal equivalent (in Spanish).
- Have each team pick three or more gestures, opposing teams are challenged to make up a narrative/skit (in Spanish), which is to include the gestures picked.
- Make up your own dictionary of gestures to go with other expressions.
I hope you learned something new about Spanish forms of communication and enjoy using these suggestions in your class!
-Lisa
By Lisa Escolar on Monday, February 13, 2012 9:52 AM
Categories:Spanish Language Learning, Spain
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Thursday, February 09, 2012 4:58 PM
The Gardens at the Palace of Versailles in France
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Classroom Activity
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We'd love to hear your ideas! If you've done a lesson on France, Versailles or the French Revolution, tell us about it by leaving a comment below! You could be our next guest blogger!
By Neil E. Traveler on Thursday, February 09, 2012 4:58 PM
Categories:Teach Through Educational Travel, France
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Wednesday, February 08, 2012 9:16 AM
Another awesome infographic! This one is about left vs. right brain, and the general skills each possess. Discover the differences in teaching methods and learning styles associated with each side. For example Left Brainers are more rational and logical, their skills lie in Math and Sciences. Right Brainers tend to be more emotional and creative. They're skilled at sports, art and music.
Check out the infographic below for great information to keep in mind when you're teaching your next lesson or traveling on your next educational tour.
By Neil E. Traveler on Wednesday, February 08, 2012 9:16 AM
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Tuesday, February 07, 2012 11:39 AM
What Peruvian city was the capital of the Spanish Empire in the New World until the 19th century?
Leave your guess below and check back next Travel Tuesday for the answer!
By Neil E. Traveler on Tuesday, February 07, 2012 11:39 AM
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Monday, February 06, 2012 4:51 PM
I'm all into infographics these days. They're a great way to convey information in a concise and easily understandable, fun-to-look-at format. I've borrowed this infographic from mint.com for today's Educational Travel Tip, aptly about tipping when traveling abroad.
The rules and social norms for tipping vary depending on where you are in the world, for example in the United States, it's customary to tip 15-20% for various services. However, China has a no tipping policy. To find out more about tipping customs in the country you're traveling to, click the infographic above for a larger view.
If you'd like to share your own educational travel tip, trick or secret, leave a comment below!
By Neil E. Traveler on Monday, February 06, 2012 4:51 PM
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Thursday, February 02, 2012 4:45 PM
A variety of shields in Spain
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Classroom Activity
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Download this image of shields in Spain. Show the image to your students in class and try the following activities to get your students involved in learning about symbolism in shields and the coat of arms.
- The symbols on a shield were the coat of arms of the family, identifying the person, especially in battle. Choose one of these shields and explain what the colors and symbols represent about your family.
- Research the coat of arms of Spain. Investigate the colors and shapes used, as well as their placement on the shield.
- Ask students to design their own coat of arms
Just for fun, here is a version we designed:
We'd love to hear your ideas! If you've done a lesson on the history of the shield and coat of arms around the world, let us know in the comments section! You could be our next guest blogger!
By Neil E. Traveler on Thursday, February 02, 2012 4:45 PM
Categories:Teach Through Educational Travel
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Thursday, February 02, 2012 9:24 AM
Get to know NETC Tour Director, Lisa Escolar who leads educational student tours in Europe, specifically Spain, France, UK, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. Lisa is soon to be a guest blogger at "The Educated Traveler", so stay tuned to hear more from her from Spain!
Where are you from originally?
As you may notice from my name, I am half English and half Spanish. I grew up in southeastern England, and I took annual month-long trips to see family in Murcia, a Spanish province. The contrasts between British suburbia and rural Spanish village life made their impression on me from an early age.
Where do you live now?
After graduating from college in England, I moved to Spain in an effort to get to know my Spanish roots.
How long have you been an NETC Tour Director?
I have been a Tour Director at NETC since 1999.
What’s your favorite thing about being a Tour Director?
The opportunity to witness and play a part in broadening horizons for young people is one of the many things I enjoy about being a Tour Director for NETC. I take pleasure in helping teachers and students have a stress-free, pleasurable trip, and I also enjoy using NETC’s LEAP! philosophy to create a passion for knowledge and travel. Cultural exploration and immersion lead us to examine countries through dance, music, food and conversation.
What languages do you speak?
English, Spanish, French and enough Italian to get by.
What’s your favorite place you have ever been and why?
This is an impossible question! I love India for its chaos, its humanity and its beauty in equal measure. The Salar de Uyuni in the Bolivian Andes is possibly the single most beautiful place I've been to. For miles around in 360 degrees, all you can see is nature. Salt flats after the rains are a perfect mirror of the sky and in the dry season form mile after mile of perfectly tessellating hexagonal "tiles."
What do you do for fun when you aren’t leading students around Europe?
Primarily I enjoy leading myself around the world, but I also like spending time doing up my home. After all the traveling for work and pleasure - there's no place like home.
Do you have a favorite travel quote?
Again, a very difficult question to answer. Partly because there are so many great travel quotes:
"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page." - St. Augustine
"Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things - air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky - all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it." - Cesare Pavese
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain
But mainly because I believe that travel is about the opportunity to throw off expectations and stereotypes and instead experience something new and unique to you.
Anything interesting you'd like to share about yourself?
I have been leading tours for over a decade and I still don't know my left and right!
Read Blog Posts by Lisa:
Insider's Guide to Understanding Spanish Hand Gestures
By Neil E. Traveler on Thursday, February 02, 2012 9:24 AM
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Wednesday, February 01, 2012 1:23 PM
Some favorite photos and moments captured during recent educational travel on International Teacher Conventions in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - London, England - Madrid, Spain - Nice, France and Rome, Italy (more photos on NETC's Facebook page)…
Looks like fun, right? That’s because it is! And these trips are also super informative, both for new traveling teachers as well as more experienced teacher travelers. An NETC Teacher Convention abroad is an incredible opportunity to discover a new destination; experience firsthand what NETC educational travel tours are all about; meet the NETC team members you work with to plan your trips and our energetic, fun and incredibly knowledgeable NETC Tour Directors; collaborate, share ideas and hear travel tips and experiences from other teacher travelers like yourself. If you’re planning an educational tour for the first time, what better way to learn about educational travel with your students than from teachers who have traveled before?
So join us next year; we’d love for you to be our guest! Find out how to earn, or win a complimentary NETC International Teacher Convention! You could tour one of next year's destinations: Barcelona, Spain - Budapest, Hungary - Edinburgh, Scotland - Florence, Italy - Paris, France or Quito, Ecuador & the Galapagos Islands!
Don't just take our word for it, read actual feedback from teachers who've just returned...
- "Words cannot describe the trip and Rome itself. I am swamped with work, yet I’d rather email you about the trip!! The entire experience was unforgettable and I honestly did learn a lot to help me prepare for the Spain trip."
-Janice M., Rome Convention
- "Incredible experience! I met so many wonderful teachers. Several of us are exchanging resources and lessons already. I feel as if I have made some friends for life in three short days. A couple of us have overlapping trips in Paris in March and are going to try to meet. I am so pumped, I am already thinking about next year's trip. I'm taking an NETC trip every year!"
-Michael H., Nice Convention
- "I want to thank you for including me in the latest teacher convention in London. NETC has always been the end-all-be-all travel company for me - simply because of the excellent business practice and emphasis on personal service and acknowledgement."
-Paula P., London Convention
By Neil E. Traveler on Wednesday, February 01, 2012 1:23 PM
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Monday, January 30, 2012 3:19 PM
What Australian geological wonder has an aboriginal name that means "great pebble"?
Leave your guess below and check back next Travel Tuesday for the answer!
By Neil E. Traveler on Monday, January 30, 2012 3:19 PM
Categories:Educational Travel Trivia
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Monday, January 30, 2012 10:36 AM
This weekend I posed a question to our Facebook friends & followers and I got some great responses from these educated teacher & student travelers that I wanted to share with you. I asked:
"What has been your biggest 'wow' moment when traveling abroad?" And they answered with...
- Visiting the Plaza Mayor in Salamanca, Spain
- Laying eyes on Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany
- Our wonderful tour guide Robert placed our group in the perfect place and time to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle!
- Walking up to Trocadero and seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time!
- Discovering the Coliseum in Rome, Italy
- In London, coming out of the tube station at Westminster just as Big Ben was tolling 11
- The beaches of Normandy in France with my mother and my daughter were a powerful experience!
- Walking up over a peak and seeing Machu Picchu in Peru
- Seeing the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican
- Walking the labyrinth in Chartres Cathedral in France. We were lucky enough to visit when it was uncovered. What an experience.
What has been your own personal "wow" moment on your travels?
By Neil E. Traveler on Monday, January 30, 2012 10:36 AM
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Thursday, January 26, 2012 5:04 PM
Cave painting depicted on the walls of Lascaux in southwestern France
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Classroom Activity
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- What is depicted in the photo?
- Where is this photo is from?
- What is the medium the image is drawn on?
- How old is the image?
Provide your students an overview of Lascaux:
In the Dordogne region of southwest France, lie the caves of Lascaux. The caves are famous for their numerous, complex, Paleolithic paintings, (like the one above) believed to be up to 20,000 years old. The paintings are primarily of large animals that were once native to the region, and also include human images and symbols as well. The caves were discovered by teenagers in 1940.
Take a virtual tour of Lascaux with your class and explore its various areas. Click "A visit to the cave" to begin.
• Ask students to draw their own interpretations of a cave painting and explain with it represents.
• If you were to leave a message about life today for future generations, what would you draw?
We'd love to hear your ideas! If you've done a lesson on cave paintings in Lascaux or elsewhere around the world, let us know in the comments section! You could be our next guest blogger!
By Neil E. Traveler on Thursday, January 26, 2012 5:04 PM
Categories:Teach Through Educational Travel, France
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012 11:42 AM
Me with children from Fafraha Foster Home in Ghana, West Africa
I recently took my first trip to Ghana! Since I relish any opportunity to meet new friends when I travel, I decided to prepare a special day for the children at the Fafraha Foster Home, located on the outskirts of Accra.
Gabrielle and me playing musical chairs with the children
NETC Tour Consultant, Gabrielle Ravioli and I organized a picnic, music and games for the kids to relax and have fun this past holiday season. The soccer match, musical chairs and three-legged race turned out to be the kids’ favorite activities; I had a blast as well.
Me posing with the kids
In fact, I had so much fun that I've decided to extend my trip and enjoy the sunny spirits of my new friends in Ghana!
Happy travels!
By Neil E. Traveler on Wednesday, January 25, 2012 11:42 AM
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Tuesday, January 24, 2012 3:52 PM
Which two Hungarian towns on either side of the Danube merged in 1872?
Leave your guess below and check back next Travel Tuesday for the answer!
By Neil E. Traveler on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 3:52 PM
Categories:Educational Travel Trivia
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The Educated Traveler is NETC’s official Educational Travel blog, written by Neil E. Traveler (with occasional guest posts). In this blog you'll find education and travel related articles, travel tips, travel trivia, NETC news, contests and more! Subscribe via RSS below.
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