Problem: Article: When people think to themselves, "I want to take a trip," usually they have a place in mind. Where's yours? Try to make it as specific as possible. "London" is a lot easier to plan than "England." Research it online and discuss it with your fellow travelers. Websites are a great place to browse travel photos, journals and videos posted by real people sharing their experiences. For example, before going on a trip to Japan, do a quick search -- you'll get all kinds of stories and advice from people who recently visited Japan. Each trip offers you connected experiences from real people so that you can get a better picture of the place you want to go. Keep in mind weather and climatic conditions, merits and demerits of the place, types of recreation (beaches, culture, shopping), and facilities (transport, eating out, etc). What clothes are suitable? How removed from civilization will you be? What does your destination require? This will be determined by a number of things, but mostly your schedule. How much time can you feasibly take off work? In addition to your constraints, consider more global factors: Do you want to go during the off-season or while tourism is booming? The off-season will offer discounts, but it will also mean closed doors and reduced availability. When it comes to weather, do you want to deal with winter or the rainy season? How about when it's hot and muggy? And then there's ticket prices if you're flying, when is it the cheapest to fly? Planning too far ahead may backfire, because vacations hardly ever go as planned. Plan for spontaneity, but keep hints from travel guides in mind. Mark places to visit and things to do. How many days do you have? You should keep the overall schedule in mind you do not want to end up too tired (or alternatively, bored). Make a list. Write down the places you want to visit, including restaurants, museums, malls, and other places of interest. This will help give you ideas and prevent being completely lost when you arrive and do not know what to do. Include how you're going to get around. Does your itinerary involve cab rides? Using the subway? Trekking on foot? If you are taking public transportation, make sure you know how that's done wherever you're going. The largest immediate savings in planning your trip would be to use an online travel website to research, plan and book your travel adventures vs. going to a local travel agent where you live. Travel Agents simply must charge booking fees, or they could not stay in business. Not only does a travel website pass savings to you in low overhead, they are able to rapidly check hundreds of options within a few seconds. Companies that help you in the actual "planning" phase of your trip, would be like Gap Travel Adventures, Get A Trip.com, the Automobile Club of Southern California Travels Division (and their counterparts in each of the 50 States), and the American Express Corporation, whereas the giant travel conglomerates, such as Expedia, Travelocity ,Orbitz.com and Priceline (the 4 largest travel vendors in "gross profits" within the United States), aim at the end booking process. The five things you can do to help yourself and your budget (that you don't need a travel agent for) are the following: 1) Book your flight and hotels at the same time, not separately 2) Be willing to fly mid-week and off-hours 3) Be willing to fly or land at a neighboring airport within 30 miles (48km) of each other 4) Pay an all-inclusive price when possible, so that meals and gratuities are included, and 5) The actual season you travel i will differ the rates by 30-40%.
Summary: Choose your location. Choose when you want to go. Plan a loose itinerary. Be wary of going through a travel agent.

Problem: Article: Learning objectives help students understand why they are learning the material they are. As the teacher, you already know what you want students to achieve by the end of a lesson or the end of the term. Share that information with your students so you can all be on the same page. For elementary school kids, you might say, "Multiplication is a way for us to add faster. Won't that be great to be able to do math super fast?" Learning objectives for a college course might include, "Students should be able to articulate all of the long-term effects of World War II on the United States by the end of the term." Help your students succeed by giving them clear guidelines. Don't just say, "Write a paper on World War II." Instead, state what the paper should analyze, how long it should be, and what types of sources should be used. You can use examples to help explain assignments, especially to students who aren't yet proficient in reading. For example, say, "We are going to make a poster of the solar system. You can cut out circles to represent the different planets. See how I've done that here?" When a student asks a question, it's important to give them a clear and thoughtful answer. Don't brush them off, take a moment to answer them then and there. If a student raises their hand to ask a question during class, take a moment to pause and help them out. Chances are, if someone is confused, other students might be, too. For younger kids, you might say, "Sue, that's an interesting question! Thanks for asking. Let's all take a minute to think about that." Set aside time each day to answer emails from your students. Sometimes they might not have realized they have a question until after class is over. Be honest if you don't know the answer. Just say, "That's a great question. I'm not sure of the answer, but I'll look into it and get back to you." The syllabus is a great way for you to lay out the course themes, objectives, schedule, and expectations. Before the semester begins, make sure that you put some effort into making your syllabus clear and thorough. Remember to include key components such as: Your contact information. Required books or resources. Graded components. Course schedule. Any school policies and procedures.
Summary:
Explain learning objectives. Provide detailed information on assignments. Respond promptly to questions. Write a thorough syllabus for high school and college students.