two smiling girls looking at a computer

Connecting classrooms

Cross-cultural learning through video exchange

A free, powerful
teaching tool.

Your students will:

  • Learn about daily life from their peers abroad
  • Develop their listening and speaking skills (in Spanish or French)
  • Make cultural comparisons with their partner school

Already joined the program?

Create videos for your partner school,
then receive videos made by students
abroad for your classroom.

Activity 1
Introduce Yourself!

For the first activity, your students will create a video introducing themselves to the students at their partner school, who are eager to get to know them.

Activity 2
School Life

For the second activity, your students will create a video sharing their daily school routine, giving a tour of their school, or explaining the education system in their country. 

Activity 3
Hometown Tour & Regional Culture

For the third activity, your students will create a video showcasing their hometown or region for students at their partner school. At the end of the video, they will share what questions they have for students at their partner school about their hometown or regional culture.

What our teachers are saying

Start your virtual exchange.

Connecting Classrooms is a FREE program. To get started,
please fill out an interest form below:

FAQs

Students can upload their videos to the Connecting Classrooms platform directly through the link activity link. For more information, please refer to the Connecting Classrooms Platform Instructions. We recommend students do not send their videos directly to the students at their partner school.

Here the instructions for the Connecting Classrooms instructions for teachers.

Teachers will decide with their partner school the language for each video activity. Teachers can opt to do all activities in the target language, or can take a blended approach where the first video is completed in the student’s primary language and the second activity is completed in the target language.

Students can create videos individually or in groups, and there is no participation limit. However, we recommend that teachers discuss beforehand how many videos their school will create for each activity and confirm that their partner school will be able to respond appropriately to the number of videos received.

We recommend videos be 2 to 4 minutes in length and aimed at middle and high school students in Spain & France studying English. The video format should include:

  • Introduction
    • Introduce yourself/group members (first name only)
    • Explain the purpose of the video e.g. “Today we will tell you/show you…”
  • Presentation & discussion of topic
  • Ending – What questions do you have for your peers abroad?

Once you receive the contact information of the teacher at your partner school, we encourage you to schedule a video or phone call to discuss the following:

• How and when will you share the videos for the first activity with each other?
• What language will the students at each school use for the first video activity?
• How many videos will your school send for the first video activity?
• When will you send your students’ responses to the questions asked by your partner school in their videos?

If a student is unable to participate or prefers not to create a video, they can share the same information through a slideshow presentation, infographic, drawing, poem, or whatever creative channel they prefer to express their ideas.

Connecting Classrooms involves both sharing videos and responding to the videos that your class receives. Additionally, teachers can arrange a virtual class visit with a Forum staff member to present the program to students and provide them with their first “cultural exchange.” Schools also have the option to participate in a virtual “mixer” between classrooms organized by the teachers.

Forum by Prométour facilitates the connection between classrooms in the U.S., France and Spain, utilizing its relationships with local teachers. The Forum team will support teachers throughout the project and will also be looking for feedback from teachers and students on how to improve the pilot program.

Yes, you can see examples of videos created by students on our YouTube page.

Start Planning

Submit the form below to connect with a Forum Program Adviser who will create a personalized itinerary for your school trip!