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First Stab at PBL

I’ve been reading a bit about Project Based Learning and decided to give it a try with my Spanish IV class in a few weeks.  I plan on letting my students know up front that this is a first for me and I will be learning along the way just as they are.  Anyway, I’m going to ask them what kind of trip they would take if they had $5000 to spend.  The only caveat is that it has to be a Spanish-speaking country/countries.

I expect them to plan a two week itinerary including all the nitty gritty details like which airports they will use, how many layovers, what quality hotels, etc.  I feel like it would be a good project because it’s so open and can include so many other disciplines.  I think it will definitely be process oriented (instead of product).

Some of the things I want them to learn/do:

  • Use Evernote or Memonic to keep track of and share everything
  • Learn about other countries/cultures
  • Convert currency
  • Learn about Geography
  • Learn travel vocab in Spanish
  • Learn about travelling
  • Based on location, think about weather (Northern/Southern hemisphere) and clothes to bring
  • Get them to experience the web in Spanish (have them search in Spanish)
I’m sure there are some other things that I’m forgetting.  It seems like a good project, but also seems pretty intimidating from my standpoint.  I’m most concerned about evaluating it all.  I’m not sure what I want to evaluate or how I should evaluate it.
I was also thinking about adding a second piece to the project.  After their trip is planned, I’d like them to take the trip that they’ve planned virtually and write a travel blog about it (some in Spanish, some in English).  If they could show me what they’ve learned through their travel blog, that might be easier to assess.
I’d really like some suggestions and guidance on this one.  One part of me feels like I will have bitten off more than I can chew for a first attempt, but my more adventurous side says to jump in feet first.  What am I missing?  What would you include, remove, or otherwise alter?  Do you think this will be a complete disaster?  What advice can you give me?
Thanks!
Ken

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