Teacher Trekker

Recently all four of my senior economics classes completed a multiple month long course on personal finance that commenced with a citywide financial literacy exam. With two weeks to go in their final semester I decided to give them one final group project to complete before the end of the school year. The purpose of this assignment was to intertwine portions of the personal finance curriculum while planning and budgeting a dream vacation. This is a perfect example of how I incorporate my travel knowledge and experience into classroom lessons and projects.

Brainstorming the Project

I find it essential to allow students to participate in the design phase of many of the projects that they complete. I presented to them the overarching theme for the project: “Budgeting a Dream Vacation”. Over the course of the day I worked with each of my classes brainstorming out ideas about the project. They made many suggestions regarding the project guidelines.

Much of the underlined information on the left side board were numbers that students agreed upon. On the right side board they helped create a rough expenses list and gave opinions about the possible scoring rubric. I listed the majority of the restrictions, but they brought up the banning of all inclusive resorts and cruises. Each class period was able to weigh in on this design phase. By the end of the day many contributions were made by students that were reflected in the final project assignment.

Finalizing the Project

Over the weekend I spent some time fleshing out the details of the “Budgeting a Dream Vacation” project. I began by typing up the brainstorming notes. Then I began to more formally organize the structure of the assignment. I expanded on many of the student suggestions to include additional tasks and budgeting considerations that were not previously mentioned during the classroom discussions. I thought about my experiences in trip planning and budgeting that allowed me to fill in many of the gaps that the students are still unaware of. For example, I raised issues about visa fees and other miscellaneous travel expenses that is new to most students. Furthermore, I expanded significantly on the guidelines by providing essential questions that need to be completed. Finally, I altered the scoring rubric to better reflect the amount of work that must be completed in each portion of the project.

Presenting the Project

At the beginning of the next school week I spent a few minutes with each class reviewing the now finalized project. I presented the alterations to the project regarding the guidelines and scoring rubric. There were no objections. I fielded a few questions.

Next we discussed where they should be conducting their research. On the white board we began to compile a list of helpful websites. Following this I directed them to the Travel Resources provided on this website including useful Travel Apps and Travel Websites.

Students then divided into groups. I did some rearranging of my own before allowing them to begin the “Budgeting a Dream Vacation” project. Students will be given 3 periods in class so I can work with each group and assist them in any way possible. Projects will be due a week prior to the end of the semester allowing each group the opportunity to present their dream vacation to their peers.

At the end of presentation week each class will anonymously vote for their favorite dream vacation. That group will receive a +5 points bonus for designing the class’ favorite trip.

Downloadable Dream Vacation Project Files

Feel free to download the “Budgeting a Dream Vacation” Project if you would like to try it with your students. Modifications may be necessary based on grade and skill level. Happy Teaching!

Economics – Project – Budgeting a Dream Vacation – Mac Pages Version

Economics – Project – Budgeting a Dream Vacation – Microsoft Word Version