Select Your Partners Beforehand

Follow these steps and you should begin receiving messages from teachers who want to join you:

• Post your project far enough in advance for teachers to find it and sign up for it
• Choose a topic that meets real curriculum needs
• Describe tasks that engage all participants

Follow these guidelines to maximize your chances for success:

• Ensure commitment to your project. Don’t equate a message with a registration; if you have any doubts, request clarification.
• Leave room for dropouts: select enough teachers to make the project successful even if some of them drop out.
• Select teachers who have compatible equipment, adequate technology access, and an obvious commitment to finish the project.
• Confirm that school calendars of all participants are compatible, so that all can finish the project.
• Obtain home addresses and phone numbers from the selected participants.

Share everyone’s e-mail address with the group. Ask teachers to e-mail the group introducing themselves and their teaching situation.

Exchange "hello" activities (simple, student-writing exercises describing school, community, class, teacher; simple surveys of preferences, favorite activities, etc.) to introduce classes to one another and troubleshoot technical capabilities.

Train responsible students to be part of your project. (You’re probably already doing this if you are using technology in the classroom.) This will be a big time-saver.

Meet your own deadlines.
Urge your partners to keep to the schedule, and set a good example yourself. If you have unforeseen problems, let people know and adjust the project timeline.

Send reminders of pending deadlines
Not only will your reminders be appreciated by your partners, they may make the difference between success and failure.

Be a cheerleader
Acknowledge and appreciate your partners’ hard work, especially when they take extra efforts.

Be ready to help
Remember the times you’ve needed help and someone selflessly stepped in to bail you out? It’s time to pass the good deed on.

Be flexible
Encourage your partners to be flexible, too, as you encounter hurdles. Solve problems creatively. Change timelines and alter expectations as you all work toward a successful collaborative learning experience.

If you publish any student writing, send a hard copy to all participants.

Have your students collaborate on a written summary describing the project -- what your students did, what they learned, and what project changes they would make in the future. Send the summary to all participants and post it to some of the project mailing lists for all to see.

Send a copy of the summary, along with project results, to your principal, PTA president, superintendent, and board of education president.

Encourage informal, individual student key-pal activities among participating classes
While we discourage planned key-pal activities, we certainly encourage spontaneous key-pal exchanges based on students’ own interest and initiative. These are often serendipitous activities with major benefits and implications for life-long relationships.

Stay in touch.