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Our exchange project was a completely new experience. You had to find your way first, but when this happened, it was all about understanding the American students. They were all very nice and helped you whenever you needed help. Everyone who has been in one of my groups has done their part to get a well-filled Padlet or other good results at the end. Even if some people did not contribute so much, they offered help and none of them was rude or unhelpful.

The first Padlet (with Trump and Clinton) was our first really good co-operation. Since we were unfortunately only two Germans per group, we could not do quite as much as the Americans who were about 5 people. Nevertheless, we have discussed  that everyone is doing his utmost. Our padlet was well filled with lots of work and information and everyone of the group has contributed something. We were unfortunately only two Germans and then we could not do the masses of tasks, as the Americans. They were offered us help again, which we once claimed. Otherwise, we got our tasks done well.If you have asked for something, for example photos etc. then was immediately a reply. The cooperation was always great and fun. Even if you ask for information, something came always back.

On our City project the cooperation worked very well, although we were in this group with other Americans than before. This time, the Americans were nice like the other before. It was easier to communicate because there were always about the same number of Germans and Americans. Also here were all friendly and you could work very well together.

There were no real difficulties, because everyone has been involved and none has not done what he should. A few problems we had with the set of tasks. The Americans could do more because we were just less people to make about the same amount. For the Americans it was not a problem. They did the rest of the tasks which we had no time for. Linguistic difficulties have also hardly occurred with us, since we have usually understood everything. If we did not understand something, then we could also ask directly and they have explained it to us again.   My view of America has changed a bit, because in the normal life you are confronted with very many clichés, which do not agree at all, or only in part.I found it very surprising that all were so helpful and hardworking. Especially by the city project I noticed many negative, but just as many positive things. Since I had the city of Detroit, this was a case for a negative example. The crime rate is there higher than any other American city and also the everyday life in Detroit. It is estimated that every second has a weapon, which is unthinkable in Germany. Also the many abandoned buildings and bankruptcy banks get Detroit in a bad light.Even if there are always these negative things, America can convince with other things. I was very impressed by the many sports teams in the school. There was a cheerleading team, a football team and also hockey teams. Something like that is very rare in German schools. I did not know before, that there are so many sporting possibilities in America. The election 2016 has also given a different picture. Many Americans, especially older ones and those who live in rural areas have elected Trump. While the younger people in big cities tended to give Clinton their voice. Trump won this election. Many executive orders, which Trump immediately determined, are in my opinion not good. This is also one of the things that we have been dealing with for a long time and which makes America rather negative. However, you cannot see everything badly. Obama has done a good job before Trump. An American saying is “From rags to riches” which mean you can earn millions with your own ideas. Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs have also succeeded with a good idea so much that one can redefine the American Dream.

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In our project course, we have made many important topics and brief projects. I will go into three of them exactly and at the end I explain why I chose these three.

Election Project

Together with the Americans, we started our first big project. It had to do with everything around the election, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and the American states. The 2016 election was a very big issue - not just in America, but around the world. We were divided into several groups, so that two Germans were always with about 6 or 7 Americans together. We were given a list of tasks. The answers and solutions should then be collected on a Padlet. Everyone has given their best and our Padlet has also become well. In the small groups where we were now, we were able to communicate well about task sharing and other topics related to the Padlet. In the Padlet we had quite a few different smaller themes, all of which contributed to the whole. We have set up profiles of Trump and Clinton, where basic information about them is clarified and you learn more about their lifes. Then we have named the issues of the 2016 election and the opinion of both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Indeed we have discussed not only Trump and Clinton, but also other politicians like Jill Stein, Evan McMullin and Gary Earl. We also had short insights in other parties, but the focus was on the Democrats and the Republicans. Also the probability of who would win would let us infuse. Almost everyone was sure that Hillary Clinton would win the election, but Trump won in the end. Our result was that we had a good overview of the whole election on our Padlet.

Urban USA Project

This project is focused on the different cities in Michigan. We were divided into several groups again, but this time there were smaller groups, in which were about the same number of American and German. But the Americans unfortunately went to their holiday very early, we had to make the bulk of the project ourselves. We got always help by the Americans. There were 3 cities about what had to be done and another city in Michigan you could choose. In our group we had Chicago, Detroit, St. Joseph and Grand Rapids. I've taken Detroit. Again we were given tasks. In the end we should have a presentation about our city. We worked on VoiceThread. Then we have uploaded a lot of pictures that are related to our theme and added an audio commentary. In the audio commentary, we have said something about the picture and let more information flow into it. Because we always had a lot of time and we could plan everything well, everybody knew what to do. In addition to our city project, we also set up a timetable in which we wrote what we had done, when we had it done and so on. So you always had a good overview of already done and still outstanding things. After all, everyone of our group had finished their VoiceThread presentation and his written presentation.

Christmas Project

Our Christmas project was a rather small project which had nothing to do with the election and simply served as a cultural exchange. We have created a Padlet again on which everyone could post pictures of his Christmas party. It was a very good experience, because everybody got such an insight what Christmas in other countries looks like. Pictures of christmas trees were shared, pictures of Christmas dinner and pictures were you can see the students themselfes. Some have simply uploaded pictures of the snow. In Germany there were no snow laying on Christmas thats why this mainly made by Americans. We also made a VoiceThread by uploading some pictures. Most of the German pictures were from the Christmas market. Everyone has also posted an audio commentary to the pictures.

I have chose this three themes because I liked them the most and I think that they are the three most important ones. The first of my selected topics is the 2016 election, because I personally was very interested in this theme. The good thing was that we could do a lot with the Americans. We have worked well together in our groups. The second of my selected topics was the Urban USA Project, which I found very exciting because you got so much to know about other cities. I found it particularly good that we could work so independently and that we had a plan for everything. The third theme I chose was the Christmas Project, where we could share so many pictures. I liked it very much, because it was not like the normal school projects, because we simply noticed the cultural aspect. It was good to see how other cultures celebrate Christmas and how they make their Christmas celebration. Overall, I really liked everything and I was glad to made this experience

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For our Project we had many tools available. I will now go into the individual applications and explain the steps of the work.

Our most important element was Edmodo. Edmodo was our platform about which we did the most and where we could share the best of the groups. There our tasks were posted and there we always had a good overview.

Our second most important element was Padlet. On the padlets we worked a lot and especially well you could work there to several people. In the end you have a very good overview of everything you have posted there and who did what.

Then there was still VoiceThread, which also was a very important application for us, because we could interact there without writing. Because we could make our audio commentary among the posted pictures, it was a good change, even if it was very strange at first.

Ultimately, there was Sway. This platform was similar to PowerPoint, but our group did not use Sway. That's why I can say less, but the platform has made a good impression, as we got our first assignment and specification for our virtual trip to Michigan on Sway. Our work steps were always similar. First of all, we exchanged in our small groups. Not only with the Germans, but also with the Americans, which was always a bit difficult, because we do not sit in the opposite of them. So you have to explain as much as possible what we are doing now and who is supposed to do which  tasks. When everything was settled, we started to collect information and make notes. After this also was done, we as a German group gathered everything and again asked whether some problems had or whether something is unclear. If everything was good, then we started to write texts, upload pictures etc. This work step was mostly the longest. When all were ready, we had finished our conclusion in which everyone could say or add something.

Our project could only be made possible by the many applications we had all available. The technical progress has made it possible for us to learn in a virtual classroom and to communicate with the Americans without looking into their faces. Even when we talked about Facetime, we did not really see each other, but you could talk to them as if you were sitting opposite. That's why it was a very good experience to make a project, with people you really cannot see in real life and can only be reached via applications. All in all I was glad that I could participate in such a thing.

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This is the first task we had done for our Padlet.

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This is the other task of our first Padlet, which we done together with the American students. It was about the election, about Trumps and Clintons issues and about their lifes. It was also about Michgian and what Michigan probably elect.

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This is my presentation of Detroit which was a task of the city project

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This is my reflection to the Election 2016 project.

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This is our first work, a virtual Trip to Michigan