Our VE Project Guidelines

Dear Students,

Welcome to this cultural venture! We are so excited to have you all with us in this seven-week collaboration. Having collaborated with each other in the past, we are aware that there are various possible hurdles ahead of us, but we are excited about this unique possibility and what we can learn together. 

You will be put into small teams with whom you will work together to complete the tasks described below. This will prepare you for the final project week in person, together in Weingarten, Germany. Before meeting your team members, you will need to finish the "Getting to know each other" assignment that you will find described below. 

Looking forward to this wonderful collaboration!

VE Overview

Goal:

To connect across cultural and physical borders to get to know each other, compare and analyze cultural practices and perspectives, and together create teaching material with a specific focus on Global Competence and a call for action.

Stage 1: Getting to Know Each Other

Preparation:

Post your personal introduction on Padlet by Tuesday, October 27th.

• Introduce yourself by posting a personal introduction on our VE PADLET https://padlet.com/gabriellavonlieres/welcome-to-our-ve-2025-6cwtzdv6cegoc2pp) that contains something about your background, interests/hobbies, university studies and anything you would like to share, and a photo. Also make sure to answer the two questions: 1) Who inspires you? 2) If you could live anywhere, where would it be?

• Once you have completed this step you will be ready for our first synchronous session on  Thursday, Nov. 5th! Here you will learn more about all the steps to complete the VE experience and what your group tasks will be.

Week 1 meeting:

Everyone will meet on Zoom on Thur. Nov. 5th (1 hour) (18:00 Germany / 19:00 Israel) to hear how the VE will take place, what the steps of the tasks are, and how the teams will work. During the meeting, all students will be informed as to which teams they are in and will be able to meet in their groups and exchange first contact information.

• Decide on a time and “place” to meet for Week 2 activities, and how you wish to communicate (WhatsApp, email, etc)

• ZOOM link for meeting: https://macam-ac-il.zoom.us/j/83699707799

Week 2 meeting:

Meet on ZOOM with your team members and establish how you wish to organize yourselves (meeting duration should enable you to work calmly, and last about 1 ½ hours)  

• Do an icebreaker, such as “Two Truths and a Lie” or “Never have I ever”, with your group to get to know each other (here are some other ideas as well: https://livestorm.co/ice-breaker-games)

• Create a Team Padlet and personalize it for your team with images (use free https://buffer.com/library/free-images/ or private pictures) and different pages. 

• Think about online rules for your team – post these on your Team Padlet as well

• When working online in international working groups, rules of online conduct are especially important to ensure respectful communication. You can look here for some ideas about why it is important to set up rules, and what some best practices for online teams can be: https://fireflies.ai/blog/rules-of-engagement-for-virtual-teams 

• Decide on weekly Team Leaders – post this on your Team Padlet

• Decide on a weekly day/time to meet – post this on your Team Padlet

Team leader #1: Ensure that all things have been completed on your Team Padlet by Sunday, Nov 15th. Send an email to the instructors (Gabriella: lieresuwilkau@ph-weingarten.de; Orly: orli.haim@beitberl.ac.il;  Manal: manalyazbak@gmail.com; Orly: Orli.haim@beitberl.ac.il ) containing your team’s link for your Team Padlet. Don’t forget to mention your team number.

Homework: 

• Create a “culture album” with a collection of pictures of 4-5 objects that define who you are. These objects should reflect your values, beliefs and practices – what is important to you. 

• Make sure all pictures and comments have been added on your Team Padlet by Sunday, Nov 15th

Here is some information about the “culture box” activity, which is the physical version of the culture albums you will create. It is also a nice activity to use in school or in a new group: https://teaching.pitt.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/PDIFD2018-SOUDI-Cultural-Box.pdf

Stage 2: Comparing and analyzing cultural practices

Week 3 meeting:

Make sure you have posted your culture albums on your Team Padlet before you meet on ZOOM (or whichever means you decide to meet with each other)! 

Meet on ZOOM with your team members at your designated day/time:

• Share and explain your individual culture album and how it reflects your values, beliefs and practices. 

• Plan enough time for the meeting to enable you to work calmly, about 1 ½ hours. 

Team leader #2: Write a summary of some of the interesting commonalities and differences you found in your ZOOM discussions and post these on your Team padlet by Sunday, Nov. 22nd.

Homework: Choose a celebration in your country that you have a personal connection to and post a picture of it on your Team Padlet by Sunday, Nov. 22nd. Do not provide any commentary on the picture(s).

Week 4 meeting:

What celebrations do you have in your countries? Comparing and analyzing cultural images

• Look at each other’s pictures and try to guess the celebration or event. Comment on what you think the picture represents and what kind of celebration it is. Write it under the picture on your Padlet.

• Once you have commented on each other's pictures, meet up in your teams on ZOOM and explain your celebrations to each other. How is it specifically celebrated in your town or region? What does it mean to you or others in your region? Do you have special traditions in your family on this day? Do you have a personal story to tell? 

• Discuss the celebrations and see what are some commonalities and what are some differences. 

Team leader #3: Write down what the pictures represent and a short summary of some of the interesting commonalities and differences you found in your discussions and post these on your Team padlet by Sunday Nov 29th. 

Homework:  Read the articles on global competence https://www.udpglobal.com/global-competence-according-to-the-oecd-bringing-it-into-elt/

https://www.oecd.org/en/topics/sub-issues/global-competence.html

Start to brainstorm about possible lesson topics for a lesson that promotes global competence. Each member contributes a few ideas on the padlet by Sunday, Nov. 29th

Stage 3: Working on a collaborative product - your Team Project

Week 5 meeting:

Meet on ZOOM with your team members at your designated day/time. Discuss the ideas collected and start collaborations on the lesson plan you wish to create for an EFL class. 

• In this task, you will work with your team partners to create a lesson plan that promotes global competence in a specific EFL teaching context.

The plan should include work on speaking and listening in English and have a communicative global competence focus.  

It should include the following three components:

• The targeted student group: age, language level, school context 

• The targeted learning objectives (related to the CEFR or other reference documents)

• The activity plan for teachers including clear step by step instructions for the task, assessment criteria, and tips for implementation

• The first step should be decide together what you are going to focus on, including the targeted group, the learning objectives and a rough activity plan. You should post your first ideas Sunday, Dec. 6th. 

Team leader  #4: Ensure that the first ideas of the lesson plan have been posted on your Team Padlet by  Sunday, Dec. 6th. 

Our Midway Meeting will be held online on Wednesday, Dec. 2nd (1 hour) (18:00 Germany / 19:00 Israel). Here we will talk about how things are going. You will be put into other groups so you have a chance to chat with the others involved in this VE. You will also have a chance to talk about the upcoming visit and if there are questions that need to be addressed.

ZOOM link for meeting: https://macam-ac-il.zoom.us/j/83699707799

Week 6 meeting:

Meet on ZOOM with your team members at your designated day/time. Continue collaborations on the lesson plan you wish to create for an EFL class. 

• Finalize the choice of a topic and lesson to promote global competence in a specific EFL teaching context.

The plan should include work on speaking and listening in English and have a communicative global competence focus.  

Decide on:

• The targeted student group: age, language level, school context 

• The targeted learning objectives (related to the CEFR or other reference documents)

• The activity plan for teachers including clear step by step instructions for the task, assessment criteria, and tips for implementation

• You should post your choice and ideas by Dec. 13th 

Team leader  #5: Ensure that the decision and first ideas of the lesson plan have been posted on your Team Padlet by  Sunday, Dec. 13th. 

The final steps will be taken together once you have met up in person in Germany. The week schedule will be given to you once it has been finalized.

Week 7 - visit to Germany:

All visiting students will arrive on Sunday, December 13th. You will receive a separate schedule for this visiting week.

The students not able to join the delegation will be given a similar task to take place in their respective schools. 

Week 8 - final Zoom meeting: 

We will have a final ZOOM meeting on Thursday, January 14th (1 ½ hours) (18:00 Germany / 19:00 Israel). We will have a chance to reflect together on our VE, the visit in Germany, the teaching, the school visits and any other experiences linked to this time that you would like to share. 

ZOOM link for meeting: https://macam-ac-il.zoom.us/j/83699707799

• Nov. 4th: Introduction Padlet Task  

• Nov. 5th: Virtual Meeting on Zoom 18:00-19:30 Zoom Link for VE

• Nov. 16th: Team Padlet Task: Culture Box & Celebration Task 

• Nov. 30th: Team Padlet Task: Podcast Outline

• Dec. 3rd: Virtual Meeting on Zoom 18:00-19:30 Zoom Link for VE

• Dec.  5th: Team Padlet Task: Lesson Plan

• Dec. 7th - Dec. 12: Teaching the lesson - in your classes/delegation to Weingarten 

• Jan. 14th: Virtual Meeting on Zoom 17:00-18:30 Zoom Link for VE