Just wondering, as I am leaving on a year long trip soon and am purchasing American Express Traveler Cheques and am wondering if I owe money to the Department of Education for past student loans, if they can and are able to to take that money out of American Express to where I wont be able to use the cheques, just like if they were in a regular bank account?

How so?

Interesting that you are ducking Federal student loans yet have enough money for a year long trip.

How so?

I have an interview tomorrow for a substitute teaching job and I was planning on wearing tan khakis and a tucked in dress shirt with no tie. Is this appropriate or should I be more formal and go with the tie. I don’t want to over dress and I figure since teaching jobs are probably business casual I would be dressed just fine. What are your opinions?

As a Substitute for over 20 yrs, I can tell you that looking professional is key.

You want to present yourself as flexible to new situations (daily requirement as a sub), available (including same day requests), self-sufficient (the interview is not the place to ask about lunch breaks, knowledge of topics, school discipline,etc..) You also need to appear concerned for school security and safety procedures.

Being always available, open-minded and flexible is the key to getting to work. But beware – most school districts don’t value their subs and don’t manage their substitute pool as important resources. Take care of yourself – don’t expect anyone to "let you know", ask questions..

Good luck…

I was wondering if anybody knows how much money middle school and high school teachers make in Los Angeles? Can you please tell me how much they make per week, month, and year.

Pay varies depending on the district you work for, and if your school is private, charter or public. I work in LAUSD, the biggest district in california – it covers most of Los Angeles. Pay is the same for elementary or secondary. I teach middle school and this is my pay chart:

http://certificated.lausd.k12.ca.us/Research/documents/salarytables/ttableannual.pdf

So take the amount and divide by 12 – we get paid monthly.

good luck!

And what degrees do you need to get in order to make the most money when you actually teach.. because I heard that special education teachers don’t make much. What is the max. amount of money a special education teacher makes yearly?
What about school in Washington, like in Seattle?

some teachers can make over $110,000 a year it depends on what state you live in and what school you work at and how devoted you are.

My daughter just celebrated her 4th birthday. She has shown an apttitude for music and an interest in playing instruments, especially the piano. My wife took dance lessons as a child and I have sung with various musical groups all my life, but neither of us plays an instrument. When should we look to enroll her in piano lessons?

When a child begins piano lessons really depends individually. Some are not ready at 4, some are at 3, some aren’t until 6 or 7.
For sure if you choose to begin now, you have to make a commitment on your own part, since you will be helping and making sure she practices. She’ll need lessons year round, because if you stop for too long she’ll forget and have to start over.
I personally think piano is a great instrument to start learning on. Piano teaches you overall music so well, and it really develops pitch and skills that are very transferable in music later. Growing up my siblings and I were required to play piano until middle school, at which point we could choose to continue or we could learn a band instrument.
Know that your daughter can always learn something else if it isn’t working.
So, is she mature? Bright? Focused? Interested?
Are you ready?
Then yes.
Get a good piano (not a keyboard, please!) and look around for a good teacher.

I am going to be presenting a lesson plan based on music to three and four years old, any ideas?

Oh heck there used be one about an orchestra years ago. I was just a little girl back then.

Why not get a copy of Peter and the Wolf and show them how the instruments make the sounds for the characters. Peter, his grampa, the wolf, the hunter, the birds .

You can probably find Peter and the Wolf on record or cd somewhere.

You ‘ll want them to recognize that instruments can make sounds other than just play music.
You’ll want them to recognize and identify the instruments like oboe, trumpet, violin

Have them find other " music" that sounds like animal sounds etc and identify the instrument and animal. E.G. hitting on blocks can make the clip clop sound of a horse etc.

Then have them act out the animals in Peter and the Wolf or other animal stories, the Lion King , Pokey Little Puppy etc.

Next the children draw pictures of animals who when they make sounds sound like instruments. Chirping -the flute or piccalo etc.

Then in your picture file have them pick out pictures of animals in Peter and the Wolf

This can go onto units about zoo animals, animals in the wild, family pets . how to take care of pets and of course other songs about animals.

Old Yeller, who let the dogs out , alley cat etc.

Hope that helps.

I am exploring my college options, and I want to be a teacher in either music or social studies/history/etc. Two colleges which I have looked at so far have listed the two separate majors: Social Studies, and Social Science.

Just out of curiosity, what is the difference between the two?

Social Studies is about history, literature and the other stuffs about the community but Social Science is about how those people interact with their community like psychology and etc.

Our son is applying to private high schools in our city, which has a very high cost of living. The private school that he attends now has families who appear to be pretty well off who are receiving financial aid. Is there an income level above which you just shouldn’t bother applying? The whole process is mystifying, but with high school tuition here nearing $30k per year, we feel like we need help even with our relatively high income.

Each school will be different on their need-based financial aid guidelines. It goes beyond income, the clearing house, or school, takes into consideration other issues, like illness paid out of pocket, elderly care, home equity, college tuition being paid for siblings. Also, some people appear to have more money than they actually have.

If you’re up over about $200,000 – 250,000 you might not bother applying unless you have unusual expenses, very large family, plus no home equity, no vacations, etc. Some schools will give limited financial aid above about $150,000 but typically only under unusual circumstances. (FYI; for Harvard, at $180,000 is where the need-based financial aid drops off in most circumstances, so you can imagine it would be less for most elem and high schools.)

Financial aid isn’t usually supposed to affect admissions, but right now, I don’t know if that’s as true as they’d like it to be…… So if you’re really into the school, think you likely wouldn’t qualify for aid, you might think twice before applying for financial aid. But, if that’s the only way you can afford it, go for it. Call the financial-aid person and ask questions. They can’t give you a definite answer, but maybe you’ll learn something useful. Also, scour their website.

This is going to be a tough year from what I’ve been hearing, especially in NY, where there are families not returning for next year to schools that usually have far too many qualified applicants. Usually in tough times schools prefer first to give aid first to those families who have been in the school and paid tuition in the past and who have fallen on hard times. Lower donations and bad investments means aid might be tighter. (I’m in LA and it seems applications are just as high as usual and families are staying in their schools.)

Even the schools I’ve looked at with the biggest endowments make it very clear that they differentiate between necessary expenses and "lifestyle choices" and will not offer financial aid where they believe money could be spent for education and isn’t. They say things like they expect you to sacrifice and will help you decide where you can cut back on expenses.

I really wish there was more merit-based aid, it tends to be only at the Catholic schools in my area. After all, the kids with the top scores and grades and thus typically top college matriculation are often what makes the school desirable, yet many of those families don’t qualify for aid, but the difference in income isn’t that great when you really consider taxes, hours worked, and paying tuition!

Believe me, I feel your pain! We’re doing the high school applications now and tuition will likely be around $30,000 next year, which is more than K – 8. It’s surreal, isn’t it?

Hey I’m hopefully moving to NC as an elementary teacher this year. I just want to find out roughly when the schools start back after the Summer holidays? Is there a set date or does it vary by school? Any other related info would be great thanks!

It varies by county. (In North Carolina, the day-to-day operations of schools are run by county systems.) Check out the county school system that you’re looking to move to.
Generally, I’d say mid-August, except for year-round schools.

I would like information on creating lesson plans. I am a Social Studies Education student in Georgia. I know I’m going to have to create my own lesson plans. I would like information on websites or books that will give me the information I need to create my own effective lesson plans. Think "beginner." Thanks for your help.

Go to the Education Library on your campus. They’ll have lots of resources relating to lesson planning, and probably some workbooks with sample lesson plans you can copy and fill in yourself. However, this sort of thing should be covered in the part of your program that deals with curriculum and/or classroom management. I’m sure your profs will have lots of good info for you when the time comes. Keep the following things in mind when making your lesson plans:

WHAT are the learning objectives of the lesson?
HOW will the students meet the objectives?
WHO will complete the activities?
WHEN will they do the work?
WHY are they doing this activity / learning this information?

Example:

WHAT – write a letter to the editor about a current event
HOW – read an example letter, write a draft, submit the draft for peer editing, write a good copy
WHO – students will work independently and then peer-correct the drafts
WHEN – ten minutes to read the example, thirty minutes to write the draft, twenty minutes to peer edit, good copy for homework due tomorrow
WHY – learning the format of a personal letter and develop persuasive writing skills

It is also good to have a section of your lesson plan that deals with anticipated problems and how you will deal with them. At the end of your lesson plan you should have space to record whether the lesson was successful and what you would change next time. Then, file the lesson plan for future use.