Jessica Bearden
During my trip I will need to interact with local Costa Ricans to gain information and stories about their daily lives and history. My daily activities will include participating in any activity that will immerse me in the Costa Rican culture in order to bring back stories, images and videos to my students. I will also collect extra Costa Rican colones to bring back to my students and explain how much each item I bought and the exchange rate. A slideshow of videos and images taken during the trip will be shown during my standards on Latin America.
Since I am a Social Studies teacher, I will focus mainly on the cultural, economical and geographical aspects of my trip. We will be traveling all over the country of Costa Rica so I will be able to see a variety of culture from the city of San Jose to the jungle area of the Sarapiqui Rainforest. I plan to bring back knowledge and stories from my interactions with local Costa Ricans to help students understand how people in other countries live. Economically, I want the students to understand that each area of the world has different forms of payment that do not always line up U.S. economic system. Geographically, I want students to be able to have vivid first hand images and videos of rainforests, beaches, cities, and other aspects of the country.
I will research the customs and economic system of Costa Rica to ensure I am prepared with any knowledge necessary. I will also ensure I am able to speak basic Spanish in order to be able to communicate with locals regardless of any language barriers. I will also need to purchase and practice using a 4k waterproof camera in order to capture images and videos of the culture and geographical elements of the trip. I will need to exchange U.S. dollars and make sure to save an receipt and information about the exchange rate into Costa Rican colones.
