Virtual Classroom Corner

Deutsche Welle

Deutsche Welle “#DailyDrone“: • Get your daily Germany fix by viewing drone footage from incredible places around this spectacular country. | https://tinyurl.com/y2n9fu5k

Deutsche Welle “Play the 360° app and experience German World Heritage Sites” (by Elisabeth Yorck von Wartenburg) • Exploring the Wadden Sea, discovering the Zwinger and Semperoper in Dresden, or hiking through the vineyards of the Moselle Valley is now all possible from your home and just a click away. Use your computer or smartphone to discover Germany through the app provided by Deutsche Welle. | https://tinyurl.com/y4cdu9t7

Google Arts and Culture

(https://artsandculture.google.com)

Google’s “Google Arts and Culture” platform allows users to browse various museums, collections, stories, and galleries all over the world. We have found some great virtual tours in Germany that we love and want to share. Wander the halls of five spectacular museums in Berlin, including the Neues Museum and the Pergamonmuseum, while zooming into details of specific masterpieces, unearthing mysteries, and learning about the history and architecture of the buildings on Museum Island Berlin. Go behind the scenes at the Museum Island Berlin and learn more about the project “Refugees as Guides in Berlin Museums.” Explore five stories, including “Does anybody have information…?” or “May he rot forever,” and look through various artifacts at the Jewish Museum Berlin.

Museum Island Berlin: https://tinyurl.com/w7lsle3

Refugees as Guides in Berlin Museums: https://tinyurl.com/y384rwm8

Jewish Museum Berlin: https://tinyurl.com/y3nvvn4l

Goethe-Institut

Big Pond: • In collaboration with radio producers and broadcasters from the US and Germany, the Goethe-Institut

Washington produced 52 episodes for the podcast The Big Pond. This series takes on pretzels, beer, and the

Berlin Wall, each piece offering a fresh perspective on just how much the US and Germany share. | https://tinyurl.com/y32ymvhs

Binge Fever • Television “Made in Germany” is having a golden moment with the rise of international streaming services.

German series that appeal to global audiences through smart and original writing, diverse themes, talented lineups, and opulent productions have never received so much attention. In this dossier, we’ll highlight binge-worthy German serials and fill you in on where to watch them in the USA. | https://tinyurl.com/y3za5qqg

Digital Kinderuniversity (“Kinderuni“) • The Goethe-Institut’s Digital Kinderuniversity (“Kinderuni”) is a free online platform which provides information and education for children aged eight to twelve. It gives young scientists the chance to find out the answers to questions for themselves, while at the same time learning their first words in German. | https://kinderuni.goethe.de

3D Germany Tours

(https://tinyurl.com/y2duezah)

Amanda Hornick, who traveled with TOP in 2019, has created a bank of ten 360º guided tours that teachers can access with students on a computer or through the app “Google Expeditions.” The nice feature of using “Google Expeditions” in a classroom setting is that it allows the teacher to control what their students see. Not only can teachers start and stop a VR tour, but they can read the provided VR scripts to students, pause a tour if students are needing a redirect, and point out preselected features of a specific location. Use Amanda’s 360º guided tours to help your students explore places in Germany like the Friedland Refugees Camp/Museum, the city of Göttingen, Point Alpha, Berlin, and Potsdam.

Instructions on how to access and use the VR tours can be found here. Access the tours by scanning the QR code.

TOP Alumni Mini-Grant Announcement

In the spirit of continuing the dialogue on modern Germany and increasing global competency in North American classrooms, TOP offers its Alumni funding for class, club, and school-wide projects related to current issues in Germany.

{ CRITERIA }

The purpose of this Mini-Grant is to support a class, club, or school-wide project that encourages students to learn about, research, experience, and discuss current issues using Germany as a case study. You may propose funding for a project on any topic that is of interest to your students, as long as it relates to contemporary issues in Germany. We encourage projects that involve online exchanges with German students and are happy to help connect you with a partner teacher.

{ ELIGIBILITY }

Mini-Grants are available to all TOP Alumni (past Fellows) and can be used to support a class, club, or school project at any grade level.

{ AVAILABLE FUNDING }

Mini-Grants are available in the amount of $500 - $2,500 and will be awarded after the approval of a project proposal. Your proposal should include a detailed budget for the project, with the proposed total project cost falling anywhere within the available range. Funding could be used, for example, to pay for project-specific supplies, local student transportation, classroom equipment for online exchanges, newspaper subscriptions, etc. All requests for funding must be directly related to what you need to carry out the proposed project with your students. We will not fund: teacher travel without students; basic school supplies such as paper or pencils; food/beverage costs, etc.

{ APPLICATION PROCESS }

Proposals should be approximately 2-3 pages in length and provide a title and detailed description of the project, its objectives, activities, learning outcomes, and timeline. Proposals should also include a detailed project budget. All proposals should be submitted as an email attachment to top@goethe.de.

{ DEADLINES AND PROJECT PERIOD }

Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis. Projects should be completed within the same calendar year in which the grant is distributed.