A Day in My Life
Objectives
- Meet with a partner class to learn about each other’s daily life through the sharing of photos, stories, and artwork
- Reflect on any assumptions that they believed about their partner classmates before meeting them, and strategies that they can use to get to know other people
Supporting Research
When people foster a sense of connectedness to others, especially across social identity boundaries, research shows beneficial outcomes around their relationships, openness to new experiences, and emotional wellbeing. During this activity, educators should encourage students to practice self-awareness and inclusivity by encouraging them to share aspects of their daily lives with a partner class while also challenging any biases or assumptions they may believe about peers from backgrounds different from their own.
To learn more about these skills, and how they promote students’ healthy growth and the development of empathy, please check out our Empathy Framework.
Materials
- Letter for Caregivers to introduce Empatico (Spanish version)
- Room Set-Up Guide for virtual exchanges
- “Post-Exchange Reflection” handout
Activity Partners
Educator Note
Empatico offers an exciting opportunity for educators to connect their classrooms with other classes around the world. Once you have connected with another educator in the Empatico community, you can schedule live virtual exchanges to bring your students together. These cross-cultural experiences enable students to share their stories, explore different perspectives, and make new friends in another community.
Empatico exchanges are most successful when educators plan and get to know each other beforehand. To do this, please schedule a video call to connect with your partner educator, and use this opportunity to share your goals for this experience, exchange helpful information about your students, and discuss how you will lead the exchange together. Our "Get to Know Your Partner Educator" resource provides suggested conversation prompts for your meeting.
For more tips on leading a positive, cross-cultural experience for your students, please watch our “Teacher Tips” video.
Prepare: plan for the virtual exchange.
- Introduce your students to Empatico by watching this video.
Then, you might explain: “Have you ever wondered about what life is like for kids around the world? We have an exciting opportunity to meet new friends who live in a different country, and we’ll be sharing our stories and experiences with each other. When we meet with them, we’ll share about what life is like for us, and learn about what a typical day looks like for them.”
- Engage students in a discussion by asking the following questions:
• How do you feel about meeting our new friends?
• What do you imagine our new friends will be like? What things do you think we’ll share in common, and what differences do you think we might have? Why?
• What do you think our partner class’s daily life is like? What activities do you think they enjoy doing for fun? What kinds of foods do you think they might have for lunch? What subjects do you think they study at school?
• What is something you’re curious to learn about our new friends and their lives? What is something that you’d like to share about yourself and your life with them?
• How can we be kind and respectful towards our new friends to show that we’re excited to meet them?
• What are some other ways to make new friends? How can we practice these strategies during our video meeting?
Throughout your conversation, nurture positive feelings such as excitement and curiosity. Explain that it’s normal to notice differences between ourselves and others, and that you will practice doing so respectfully. If any misconceptions or stereotypes arise, gently counteract them and explain how to reframe assumptions by asking questions or making "I wonder..." comments. (e.g., "I wonder what games our new friends might enjoy playing.") Ensure that students see this experience as an exciting opportunity to learn from their partner class, and emphasize the importance of respecting any cultural differences during the virtual exchange.
- Encourage students to prepare information to share about their daily life, including photographs, stories, and artwork. For example, students might:
• Take photos of their breakfast and lunch
• Draw a picture of how they travel to school
• Tell a story about something fun they did over the weekend
• Describe their favorite hobbies, games, or activities
• Share about interesting places to visit in their community
- Guide students to also prepare questions for their partner classmates, such as:
• What time do you usually wake up? What is your morning routine before you go to school?
• What is your favorite food or snack during the day?
• What do you like to do in your free time?
• Do you have any favorite places in your neighborhood?
• Do you have any chores or responsibilities at home?
• What is your favorite part of the school day? Do you have a favorite subject?
• How do you relax after a long day?
• Do you have any pets at home? What are they like? How do you like to spend time with them?
• What is your favorite thing to do with your family and friends? Do you have a favorite tradition or routine with someone?
• How do you usually spend your weekends?
Encourage students to write down any notes and questions on notecards that they can reference during the virtual exchange. Remind students that although everyone might not get a chance to ask questions and share this time, they will get a turn in the future!
- Establish and share communication norms for the virtual exchange, such as:
• Keep yourself on “mute” (unless you are talking) to limit background noise, and raise your hand when you want to speak
• Listen attentively to the speaker and use hand signals (e.g., thumbs-up, “me too” signal, etc.) to indicate agreement or similarities
• Introduce yourself by saying your name loudly and clearly into the microphone, and make sure that others have a chance to speak during the exchange
Ask students to share additional ideas for how they will show kindness and respect to their new friends, and consider leading a practice session so students can practice these strategies and imagine having a fun, positive interaction with your partner class. For more tips on setting up your classroom for a virtual exchange, please visit this resource.
Interact: meet your partner class over a live virtual exchange.
- On the day of your scheduled exchange, start the meeting by using Empatico’s built-in Zoom integration, or the video tool that you previously selected. Remind students of the communication and behavior norms that you previously established, and how they should show kindness and respect to their new friends. Consider how you will model these norms for students as you interact with your partner educator.
- Start the video call by greeting your partner educator, and express gratitude and appreciation for the opportunity to connect with each other. Then, facilitate an introduction between students in both classes. You might have them introduce themselves, and share about their class grade, school, location, and/or a fun fact about their community.
- Consider starting with a warm-up activity, such as the “Five Breaths” breathing exercise, to help decrease any nervousness around meeting new friends.
- Invite students to share about their daily lives, including any photographs, stories, or artwork, and ask the questions that they prepared for their partner classmates. Make sure that students in both classes participate equally, and celebrate behaviors that show respect and other strengths, like empathy, thoughtfulness, and humility. For example, express gratitude when students actively listen and thoughtfully respond to each other during their conversation.
- End the exchange by asking students to thank their partner class for sharing a part of their day with them, and for the opportunity to get to know each other a little better. Then, students can say “goodbye” and express excitement for meeting again during your next virtual exchange together!
If students in both classes have individual devices (e.g., mobile phone, tablet, laptop, etc.)...
Use a platform such as Google Meet, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams which allows you to screen-share during a video call.
One educator should set up the Kahoot! game and share the code with students in both classes by following this tutorial about using Kahoot! in a remote learning environment, and share their screen so everyone can follow along.
If students in either class don’t have individual devices...
Follow the same instructions above, with one educator starting the game and sharing their screen so both classes can follow along.
Instead of students joining the game to answer the questions, they can hold up their fingers, call out their answer, or use a paper template to indicate their response.
If you prefer not using Kahoot!...
Use this document (Spanish version) to prompt students.