The first week of Global Classrooms (GC) should be used to introduce the objectives of the class and what students will accomplish over the course of the semester.
It can be difficult to get students on-board with the goals that GC is striving to achieve with its participants, especially among programa students with whom I noticed a general sense of dread from the beginning stemming from a lack of confidence in their English abilities. I heard a lot of "only sección students are going to succeed" attitudes. Setting the tone of GC with a positive, exciting introduction while deemphasizing any aspects of competition will be key in motivating students to actively participate and remain confident that their time spent in GC will be worthwhile.
Assuming about two class periods of GC with your students per week, below are proposals for lessons to introduce GC and its objectives as well as begin conversation about the United Nations and what role it plays on the global stage.
Class #1
The first class is very important in establishing goals and expectations for students over the course of the next semester. Tell students that they will be given the opportunity to collaborate with fellow students, develop their public speaking skills, and learn about the world in an interactive, fun environment. Also remind students that through all of this they will improve their abilities to communicate in English without even realizing. The below video may be helpful in introducing what this will all look like in practice.
Its a great idea to create a syllabus ahead of time to print and give to the students on the first day of class so that they are aware of what will be expected of them over the next two months and can plan accordingly (mock conference date, important assignment due dates, etc).
Class #2
Now that students are aware of what GC is, its important to start getting them in the mindset of being official delegates of the United Nations (UN), so introduce to the students what the UN is and what role it plays in international politics.
