Education

Teachers Earn Professional Development Points at Educator Escapes

WorldStrides trips are rewarding for teachers in so many ways. The trips themselves – that goes without saying; they’re a blast. I talk to teachers every day and they tell me time and time again how much fun it is to travel with their students and to see those ‘a-ha’ moments happen.

Besides the trips, there’s still a lot of fun to be had, like hosting teachers at our annual Educator Escapes events. Twice a year, we take hundreds of teachers on rewarding trips to either a tropical paradise (like Cancun) or a domestic gem (this year it was Denver, CO!). These events bring together teachers from across the country to network for a few days, and to have fun as they explore an amazing location.

One of the highlights of Educator Escapes is the opportunity for teachers to receive free professional development points. Teachers can receive PDPs for simply leading a trip, as well as by attending a session at one of our Educators Escape events.

Our Educators Escape trips for 2017 just wrapped up, and the WorldStrides Curriculum and Academics team knocked it out of the park this year with interesting and engaging (and free!) seminars that gave Program Leaders new insight to bring into their classrooms.

One popular PDP session was “Life Hacks for Surviving the Classroom.” PLs received great strategies and recommendations on how to turn their classrooms into “castles.” Some of the hacks they took away from the session included new storage ideas, thoughts on room layout to improve student behavior, and how to turn everyday items into innovative uses.

Another popular PDP session was “Multicultural Tech Resources to Improve your Teaching Effectiveness.” For nearly five years, Wendy Amato, our Vice President of Curriculum and Academics, has been working with teachers and graduate students at the University of Virginia to collect materials for a multicultural education teacher toolkit. During the session, she shared some of her finds and guidance on when and how to use these resources.

Interested in learning how you can earn the opportunity to attend an Educators Escape? Reach out to your Account Manager for details, or contact us for more information! You can learn more about our professional development offerings here.