Any DVC teachers out there???

[disney ny]

Another teacher here from upstate NY. I teach Third Grade and we have only been DVC members for a few months. My first trip home will be next winter break. It will be so nice to leave snowy NY and head to Florida!!

 

[iwrbnd]

I'm a teacher, too, and am constantly surrounded by children. I go to WDW because I LOVE it and it's the only time I get to be the kid!!!

 

[LittleSeacow]

Rhode Island elementary teacher here! I keep it quiet that I am DVC...but everyone does know that I go all the time!

 

[kid-at-heart]

I have a question for all of you DVC middle/high school profs, due to the "adult" work schedules in our home we never have vacation days at the same time as our child (w/the exception of major holidays such as MLK "day", New Year's "day", etc). To take a vacation we have to take our child out of school. During pre-school through grade 5 she attended a private Montessori school thus it was no problem traveling but now... At what point during the school year can we travel with the least impact on her schedule? Summer is not an option for us as my elderly mother lives with us and it is difficult to find someone to stay with her in the summer.

 

[LoveKermit]

Do you have Veteran's Day off in early Nov? Sometimes you can pair that with a weekend.

Also look for parent/teacher conference days. Kids aren't in school and it's usually a Friday.

Our students now have the entire week of Thanksgiving off to avoid all the absences on that Wed. However, now kids have started leaving the Thurs or Friday before, so purpose somewhat defeated.

Aside from holidays, there is no real good time, but it doesn't bother me for a day or two. But the full weeks--WDW or anywhere--drive me crazy.

I teach high school math to seniors.

Hope that helps.

 

[RobPickles]

Another NYC Elementary School Teacher here.....

 

[Greyhound22]

My wife and I are both teachers in Illinois. I teach middle school PE and she is an elementary teacher. The students in her class LOVE that she talks about Disney all of the time. They use Google Earth and other sites on the ActiveBoard to do all kinds activities that feature WDW. I'm not sure how the parents of the kids in her class feel about it. I'm sure they get "when do we get to go" all of the time.

 

[ohana7]

Im another teacher. Without DVC I wouldnt be able to aford the extended holiday. At Disney I am a child again.

 

[Fellowship9798]

My wife is going bac kt o school to be a teacher. For those that have traditional school years (Christmas break, spring, break, summer holidays July/Aug) do you feel restricted in your holidays by only being able to travel during peak seasons? We're travelling to WDW from teh west coast so when we go it's for at least a week and usually a bit more so quick long weekends don't work.

We'll still go, and her being a teacher will be great for other reasons (summers off with the kids etc.) but I think I will regret losing the freedom to travel when we want to through the year.

Any thoughts or opinions?

 

[Bill K]

My wife is an elementary school teacher (music)in NJ. We love DVC and Disney!!!

 

[KateB]

They are jealous cause you get to spend your summer vacation in a Villa, while they are teaching summer school to make extra money to pay for their value resort!

Totally True! My kids are getting so geaked about summer and one of them said "Hey, I bet you are going to Disney this summer. Maybe I'll see you there, because I am going too." They all know how mych I love Disney and it really connects us. 4th grades get really excited when I talk about how much of a kid I am when we go. They always want to hear stories about my trips and I love sharing with them.

How do some of you bring the magic to your classrooms????

 

[skorpie]

I am a teacher at the school at the Military Academy at West Point. Luckily, there are other teachers that enjoy Disney as much as I do! I am the only DVC member though.

 

[RLevy29]

Kindergarten teacher from NJ here!

 

[TinkGirl]

Tx teacher here. Our last day is tomorrow, and we're off to WDW next Saturday. My students are very young and are amazed to see pictures of me with the characters. They think I really know them. I think some of my co-workers think I'm crazy.

 

[TinkGirl]

I've been playing Disney music all week during our small group/center time. Our clean up song is "Heigh-Ho."

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

In my school district, many of the schools are on a year round schedule and I am fortunate to have June, July, October and February off, thereby taking advantage of the lower point seasons. We LOVE it!!

Best of all, I think even my big 6th graders really love the Disney theme. As I was packing up my room, I decided to take down my plush dolls off the shelf a little early. One of my students sadly asked me where they had all gone. I feel like it brightens up the dreary classroom. They also love my collection of Disney magnets and my coffee mugs.

It would be fun to share some more DVC/WDW/DLR ideas that we use in our classroom!

Our district has year round for many, many years. It was the best schedule ever. 6 weeks off in June/July, all of November, the usual Christmas time, and 3 weeks at spring break. Awesome and made for many Disney trips!!! BUT recently the school board decided to go traditional year next school year. Of course AFTER I had booked a 2 week AKV/DCL/VB trip for November! Yikes. I'll be using up some sick time apparently!! Guess my future WDW trips will have to be at spring break since I HATE Florida summers! And it definitely stinks because we are used to booking 2 weeks in Florida, combining our cruises with WDW.

Classroom ideas- I use Figment! Our third grade Language Arts series has a unit called Imagination. I introduce my Figment puppet, and he "sits" with different kids throughout the day who need a little "inspiration". I also get all of them Figment postcards from WDW and give each student one to introduce our unit. Figment is a HUGE hit with the kids!

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

sorry- weird double post!

 

[ramkam]

DW is an elementary school principal and DH is a secondary school teacher from Southern California.

 

[stitch'sgirl]

Moved from teaching elementary to directing an early childhood program 17 years ago. (whew!)

My name is stitch'sgirl, and I have a tote bag addiction....

 

[jarrdisney]

My wife is going bac kt o school to be a teacher. For those that have traditional school years (Christmas break, spring, break, summer holidays July/Aug) do you feel restricted in your holidays by only being able to travel during peak seasons? We're travelling to WDW from teh west coast so when we go it's for at least a week and usually a bit more so quick long weekends don't work.

We'll still go, and her being a teacher will be great for other reasons (summers off with the kids etc.) but I think I will regret losing the freedom to travel when we want to through the year.

Any thoughts or opinions?

It can definitely be a drag, especially because our favorite time of year to go is early/mid Dec. The weather is amazing, the crowds are light, and the holiday atmosphere is ethereal. Unfortunately, we can only go for 5 days and that's using up all 3 personal days we have. It's not nearly long enough and every other "break" is peak time, which means the most expensive airfare (somtimes triple the cost) and the heaviest crowds. I can't complain too much though, because we'll be in FL from 6/23-7/26. It's ungodly hot, but it's something we've grown somewhat accustomed to. I would LOVE to be on a year round schedule, but they would never do that here. Too many dual income families here that would rather work insane hours and sit in traffic for the almighty dollar.