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How to Have a Great Field Trip

Do you remember when you were a kid, excitedly stepping onto a great big bus early in the morning, headed off to a field trip? Field trips mean new and exciting experiences for students, so they can leave long lasting impressions. It is the perfect time to make the subjects they are learning about come alive, and to show them just how fun learning about the world around them can really be. Here are a few tips on how to make your next field trip great.

Be Prepared

Well before the exciting day arrives, do your research and write up a list of everything your students will need to do and know in order to arrive prepared. This list may include suggestions for proper attire, including weather appropriate clothing and footwear that will fit the planned activities, suggestions for lunches to pack, and what is OK to bring and what must be left at home. For example, some trips might be a good time for cameras, but for others, like museums that do not allow photography, cameras should be left at home. Depending on your destination, you may want to give a special talk about the right kind of behavior for the trip as well. Making it very clear what is expected of your students before you are out and about will help to ensure that the day goes smoothly.

Make It Memorable

The best way to ensure that your field trip will really stick with your students is to have them truly engaged in the place that you are visiting. There are some destinations that will create this engagement naturally. For others, however, like a walk through a forest or other natural setting or a trip to an art museum, you may need to help them keep their focus. You know your students best, so plan for what you know will hold their interest. If they are mature and already interested in their destination, a simple worksheet might be enough. For a rowdier or more easily distracted crowd, consider something a bit more exciting, like a scavenger hunt.

Transportation

One last critical step that you need to remember is to secure a good source of transportation. When you are choosing a bus service, be sure to take the time to seek out a reliable company that you can trust to get you and your students where you need to be, comfortably. It can be difficult to feel quite as excited about a trip after you have just made a long, uncomfortable journey. By choosing a bus service that offers climate controlled buses, you can deliver your students to their educational destination feeling fresh and ready to learn.

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Facebook Tips and Tricks

If you are trying to grow your business, Facebook is a great way to do so quickly. Here are ten Facebook tips and tricks to help you get started.

Facebook Tip #1: Fill out all of your personal information, such as your profile picture and your favorite books and movies. It’s important to update your Facebook profile so that people can find you if they are searching for someone with a similar interest as you. People can also get to know you as a person. When you write your biography, make sure you use your personal “story”. Include things that your customer would care about. Don’t go into too much detail unless it is important to the story. You aren’t writing your story just to share your own life dramas. Write it for the purpose of attracting customers. Get specific, because “like attracts like”.

Facebook Tip #2: Add a few friends every day. Be consistent with this. Try to add around 10 per day, and you will gradually grow your customer base. Make sure you are inviting people who would be interested in the product or service you are selling.

Facebook Tip #3: Be sociable. Show people that you are interested in them and they will become interested in you. If you simply send a friend request to someone who doesn’t know you, without somehow showing them that you are interested in them, they may not want to add you as a friend.

Facebook Tip #4: Say something about a potential customer on their wall. Don’t mention your business, but instead show your interest in them and what they are doing. They will be more likely to pay attention to you that way.

Facebook Tip #5: Send a message with your friend requests. Look into the info page of your potential customers and find something that you share in common with them. Then, when you friend request them, you can mention that or ask a question about it. They will be more likely to add you as a friend if they see you are interested in them or share something in common with them.

Facebook Tip #6: Find people in your business niche. An easy way to do this is to enter your business or your product or service into the search bar in Facebook. Then you can click the “People” tab at the left to find your potential customers.

Facebook Tip #7: Find groups and pages in your business niche. Do the same thing as in tip #6, but this time click on “Groups” or “Pages”. Once you find a group or page that fits your business, then go into that page and look at the people who “like” that page or are a part of that group. You can then friend request them using the same techniques as mentioned in tip #5.

Facebook Tip #8: Be a “go to” person. You want to become the only logical choice for people to come to for your product or service. So talk to people about your business in an information giving type of way, rather than in a selling type of way. For example, you could give people tips on how to use your product. Then, when they are ready to buy that product, they will naturally want to come to you to purchase it.

Facebook Tip #9: Find something in common with people and talk to them about it, either on their wall or in a personal message or in “chat.” People love to talk about themselves. Building a trusting relationship with your potential customers is key to attracting them to want to purchase from you.

Facebook Tip #10: Don’t “promote” your business. Let people ask you about it instead of pushing them away with constant “advertisements.” Don’t use your wall as a bulletin board to say “Buy this product!” or “Purchase this service!” Instead, write things on your wall that would be helpful to your customers.

Start using these tips today and your business will grow exponentially. By building relationships with people, you can touch more lives, because when people see your leadership and the value you bring to their lives, they will naturally want to share you with their friends, too.

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Family Adventure Travel – Sailing the Turquoise Coast

Sailing the Turquoise Coast, Turkey’s jagged azure blue southwest coastline was a family-friendly adventure that was like no other and surpassed all our expectations.

Our gulet, a traditional wooden Turkish yacht, was the most beautiful on the high seas with its mahogany wood grain hull and blue masts. We had chartered the six-cabin yacht for our extended family vacation. For 10 days, this was to be our home – a luxurious, relaxing and adventurous way to see Turkey where there was plenty to do, both on-board and off.

Our yacht docked at small marinas, sheltered lagoons and hidden coves. We hiked the countryside and enjoyed the turquoise sea from secluded anchorage by swimming, kayaking, wind surfing and fishing. The mix of hikes, ancient ruins, legendary swims and water activities, and time to relax lazily on deck created an intimate family-friendly pace for adults, seniors and children alike. Discovering the regions coastal villages, some accessible only by boat, hiking in the pine forests and exploring Hellenic ruins, we gained an expansive vision of the land.

En route, at Olu Deniz, the stunning Blue Lagoon, a sheathe of calm blue waters captivated us. Off the beaten path, we hiked to ancient Lydae, with its tombs, Corinthian columns and basilica from Roman and Byzantine periods. We stopped at Dalyan, a sleepy fishing village whose beach is a breeding ground for Loggerhead Turtles, and took a side trip, kayaking on the Calbis River, where spectacular scenery and rock-cave tombs greeted us. At the secluded Orhaniye Bay, an ancient acropolis and the ruins of a medieval castle set the backdrop to the small eponymous village. Bencik Bay, a miniature fjord-like inlet, provided breathaking vists of limestone mountains dropping precipitously into the sea. Elsewhere pine forests stretched out hiding a wealth of golden beaches, deep gulfs and tiny offshore islands. Further on, we visited at the ancient city of Knidos, a sensational site of maritime trade. We moored at the city’s ancient harbor just as Hellenic merchants would have done over two millennia ago, only to gaze in wonder at its monuments – rows of houses, a small theater and miles upon miles of fortifications. We looped through Gorkova Bay and visited the English Harbor, where Britain hid submarines during World War II, then Cleopatra’s Island and the quiet seaside village of Oren, with its appealing market.

On occasion, we slept outside on the gulet’s cushioned deck, dozing to the panorama of stars in the jet-black sky. Waking to the soft swish of gentle waves hitting the bow, we enjoyed a sumptuous breakfast of freshly prepared Turkish delights before greeting another wonder-filled day.

Off the magical coast of Turkey, we drank in the landscape to rediscover that every day is a journey of discovery. Having sailed the exquisite waters of the Turquoise coast, our family adventure had only begun.