FulbrightHays Curriculum Project Ecuador Galapagos Islands

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Fulbright-Hays Curriculum ProjectEcuador/
Galapagos Islands

• Gary Klotzkin

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Project Summary

• Suggestions on how to teach about other nations
  and cultures, with specific emphasis on Ecuador
  and the Galapagos Islands
• How to teach about other nations and cultures to
  students with ADHD
• How educators can earn scholarships to travel
  overseas

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Questions to Ponder..

• Which country will I teach about next year
  (choose one as an example)?
• How will I teach about this country in an
  interdisciplinary fashion?
• How can I make this lesson most memorable for the
  students?
• How can I modify this lesson for students with
  ADHD?

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Land Iguana
It has such a strong tongue that it eats Cactus
plants with the prickly spines still attached to
the plant.
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The Frigate Bird

• These scoundrels don't like to do much fishing,
  and so you can see them trying to distract
  boobies and other birds to snatch the prey caught
  by others. They are most spectacular during
  courtship when the male bird inflates the flap of
  bright-red skin found under his beak. It looks
  like a great red balloon and is stunningly
  colorful.

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Tortoise

• The Galapagos Tortoise
• You can't go to these islands without falling in
  love with these funny, pre-historic creatures.
  All turtles found on the islands belong to the
  group Geochelone elephantopus. They are divided
  into 14 sub-species (three of which are extinct),
  differentiated by the form and size of their
  shell as well as neck and extremities.
  Unfortunately, if they don't find a mate for
  Lonesome George soon, there might be 4 extinct
  species.

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Life in the Ocean
Under the sea is a world rich with sea lions,
fur seals, tropical fish, corals, sharks, eels,
rays, dolphins and more.
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Ecuadorian Rainforest Hunter
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Ecuadorian Giant Anaconda Squeezing a Cayman for
Dinner
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Wild Macaws Flying Through Ecuador
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Ecuadorian Rainforest
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Interdisciplinary Project Ideas

• Geography Andes, Galapagos, cities, Amazon
  River, volcanoes
• Music Contemporary, indigenous, Spanish
  Influence
• ScienceEcosystems, sustainable development,
  medicine, oil, fish, reptiles, mammals,
  vaccinations, Darwin
• BusinessBusiness ethics, industrialization
  versus environmental preservation, profit motive,
  exporting flowers, oil, bananas, shrimp
• Economics Dollarization, impact on global trade
• Food Science Ecuadorian diet
• Character Education Global citizenship,
  multiculturalism,
• environmental awareness, social inequality
• Government Ecuadorian government
• Linguistics Spanish, Quechua

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Teaching Tips

• Be very audio-visual when teaching about other
  nations.
• Have students peer teach their topics (Harvard
  Researcher Glasser found that 90of information
  is retained through peer teaching).
• Use the Internet, United Streaming, VCR, DVD,
  guest speakers, field trips, video-teleconferencin
  g, assemblies, and personal experiences to teach
  about other cultures.

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Teaching Students with ADHD

• Students with ADHD present various challenges in
  the mainstream classroom. Typically, they are
  easily bored and frustrated with paper and pencil
  tasks. Consequently, a hands-on, multisensory
  approach is key to engaging their interest,
  maintaining their focus, and facilitating both
  task persistence and task completion. When
  learning about foreign countries, it helps to
  engage the students senses, and also to spark
  their imaginations.

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Tips for Avoiding Typical Problems

• Students with ADHD often present difficulty with
  the approach to a research task.
• Frequently, students with ADHD are disorganized,
  leading to LOST papers.
• Some students have graphomotor delays, resulting
  in frustration and sloppy handwriting for paper
  and pencil tasks. This can make note-taking a
  painful experience.
• Many students with ADHD have difficulty
  pinpointing relevant information during the
  research process.
• ADHD is frequently associated with being a
  PERFECTIONIST! This can get a student stuck. On
  the bright side, students with ADHD are often
  extremely creative. They naturally think
  outside the box.
• Summary Students with ADHD often have
  difficulty with following directions, maintaining
  focus, task persistence, task completion, and
  selective motivation.

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Simple Solutions

• Assist with narrowing down the aspect of the
  foreign country to be studied.
• Provide a cooperative learning setting in a small
  group.
• Carefully select cooperative learning partners,
  and monitor the role of the student with ADHD.
  Encourage this student to choose hands-on,
  multi-sensory modalities of expression, using a
  computer, music, art, or cooking to develop
  his/her contribution to the group project.
• Provide folders to keep project papers together.
  Encourage all students to staple loose papers
  into the folder. In this way, everybody stays
  organized, and the student with ADHD doesnt
  appear different from his/her peers.

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Simple Solutions

• Accompany written directions with oral
  directions, and visual cues whenever possible.
  Repeat directions, as needed. Casually check
  progress in small increments, to ensure that the
  target student is on task and on the right track.
• Provide encouragement and praise as often as
  possible to build confidence and to keep the
  student motivated.

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Web sites on ADHD

• Children and Adults with Attention Deficit
  Disorders www.chadd.org
• Attention Deficit Disorder Made Easy
• http//members.aol.com/bmavin/stein.htm

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Creative Ways to Teach about Other Countries and
Cultures

• Provide the target student with a list of Web
  sites to visit. His/her mission is to select
  pictures and information to support the group
  effort.
• This student can serve as a narrator in a program
  to be shared with other classes.
• If the target student is adept at using a
  computer, he/she can help to prepare a PowerPoint
  presentation using the information gathered by
  the group.

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• This student can dictate a sample letter to a
  prospective pen pal to a scribe in the group.
  He/she can also pretend to be Darwin and write a
  letter to a friend or relative describing the
  various species being studied to develop Darwins
  theory. A group member can serve as a scribe
  and/or co-author.
• This student can dress up as Darwin and talk
  about Darwins theories. The entire group
  contributes to the script.
• Art projects, such as the creation of a volcano,
  or wildlife scenery, can help the target student
  remain motivated.

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• Musical students can play an instrument and sing
  an original song about endangered species.
• Cooking and serving authentic Ecuadorian recipes
  can be a palatable manner in which to learn about
  Ecuador. Food preparation is a worthy hands-on
  activity.
• A student can assist in the making of fact-filled
  flash cards to be used in the teaching of other
  classes.
• Hands-on activities, such as setting up exhibits
  for a school-wide program will keep this student
  motivated.
• A student can assist in developing mock travel
  brochures that depict the special features of
  Ecuador.
• A student can teach a group of younger students
  ten facts about wildlife on the Galapagos
  Islands.

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How to Earn a Free Trip to another country as an
Educator

• Some of the best ways to teach about a country is
  to visit the country yourself.
• The secret to visiting a country on a teachers
  salary is to attempt to get paid to travel or win
  a free trip through a variety of ways.

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And These Ways Are

• 1) Apply for an ESL job over the summer.
  Internet websites such as Daves ESCafe.com post
  thousands of advertisements for teachers to teach
  ESL. Some of these companies hire teachers to
  teach for the summer. Many of these companies do
  not require teachers to have an ESL teaching
  license.
• 2) Apply for a Fulbright-Hays scholarship. This
  scholarship will grant you an all expense paid
  trip to another country. You apply in the fall
  and leave in the summer. You spend 4 weeks
  learning about the country.
• The application process includes
• (a) Submitting your application and resume
  online.
• (b) 3 letters of reference on character and
  academic abilities.
• (c) 3 essays.

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• 3) Apply for a National Endowment for Humanities
  summer seminar scholarship. This scholarship pays
  teachers to learn at a summer seminars and
  institutes mostly nationally, and occasionally,
  internationally.
• 4) Apply for a Gilder Lehrman Institute of
  American History scholarship. This scholarship
  will pay teachers to learn.
• 5) Apply to do research for a university that
  sponsors programs that pay teachers to travel and
  learn (e.g., Kean University-NJ History trips).
• 6) Organize and chaperone an international
  school trip. You will get a free trip in the
  process. Examples of companies that give teachers
  free trips are EF tours, Passport, ACIS (most
  expensive for the students), Exploric, and People
  to People.

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• 7) Apply for a study sabbatical. Many school
  systems will pay teachers to research overseas.
• 8) Apply to work on a cruise ship for the
  summer. Sometimes, cruise ships hire teachers,
  because they have strong interpersonal and
  leadership skills.
• 9) Apply to Semester at Sea. Semester at Sea
  hires accomplished teachers to teach students
  about other cultures and countries while
  traveling around the world. Most teachers who
  work for Semester at Sea hold doctorates or high
  degrees in their fields.
• 10) Read teacher magazines, newspapers, and Web
  sites, and seek out travel opportunities.

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Closing Thoughts

• Teaching about countries and cultures can be a
  truly enjoyable experience that involves all
  members of the school community
• Modifying lessons for students with ADHD is
  simple and effective