What should I discuss with my partner teacher before the exchange?

Before your classrooms meet in a live video exchange, you may want to use our instant messaging feature or video chat features to get to know your partner teacher and her/his students. Here are some common topics that teachers discuss when talking for the first time:

• About you: where you are from, what subject you teach, your prior experience with global collaborations, fun facts about yourself
• Class demographics: age of students, class size, language abilities, special needs, or other demographics
• Lesson planning: choosing the activity, discussing your plans for the “Prepare” stage, planning student speaker arrangements during the exchange (e.g., in small groups, pre-selected or impromptu speakers), discussing the script (e.g., who will speak first, what to discuss), room setup (e.g., students sit in desks, on the carpet, standing)
• Scheduling the live exchange: date, time, or length of interaction

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