Steps Needed to Initiate Project. The following are only a few possible suggestions:
| Teacher Preparation | |
| 1. | Learn about the area such as its natural history and culture. Suggestions follow: Apply for a job such as: Teaching ESL over the Summer - e.g. Dave's ESLCafe.com Semester at Sea High School Programs: check out this list from highschoolprogramsabroad.com Apply for the following Scholarships and/or Opportunities such as: Fulbright Ecuador Fulbright-Hays National Endowment for Humanities Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History or The International Partnership for Service-Learning and Leadership. |
| 2. | Teachers should research Ecuador/Galapagos Islands through the internet, videos, meetings with Ecuadorians, and textbooks. |
| 3. | In addition, if financially permissible for the students, teachers could chaperone a class trip to visit the Ecuador/Galapagos Islands. Examples of companies that provide these trips are: EF Tours & ACIS, and The Wetlands Institute of New Jersey, or Toyota International Teacher Program: to the Galapagos, or Costa Rica. |
| Administrators | |
| 1. | Administrators could help this project by allowing an assembly of students to gather and listen to guest speakers (such as parents or colleagues, or from a local museum or university) about Ecuador/Galapagos Islands. |
| 2. | Provide technology and permissions for students permission to engage in a safe pen pal relationship with Ecuadorian students. See, e.g. MyLanguageExchange.com. |
| Parents | |
| 1. | Parents can support this project by allowing their children to participate in the teacher-directed pen pal project with Ecuadorians, and by teaching their children about the importance of understanding other cultures. In addition, if financially permissible, parents could allow their children to visit Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands on a class trip or as a summer opportunity. |
| 2. | Parents can talk to the class about Ecuador/Galapagos Islands if they are from there, or if they had visited there. |
| 3. | Parents can take their children to a zoo or museum and expose their children to animal and plant species, and cultural artifacts from Ecuador/Galapagos Islands. |
| 4. | Practice Spanish at home with family. Listen to spanish-speaking radio. Here is just one example of a language programs in Ecuador. |
