Attention: therewewere now exists in archival form. There are no plans for new content to be posted in the foreseeable future. The below Join Us information is posted here as a guide to aid in following the classroom archives. The below Join Us information is posted here as a guide to following the classroom archives. Thank you.  Teachers, to sign your class up as a therewewere class, please email your name, email address, school's name and physical address and phone number to: principal@therewewere.com.

Interactive Classroom Description for Teachers

-Main components of the Monthly Classroom:
-Search the World News
-Daily Assignments
-therewewere Articles
-Fact Sheets
-Special Events/Special Announcements
-Message Board
-Conundrum-Corner
-Helpful Research Links for Students
-Photos Page

Main Goals of Classrooms:
-Enhance students' cultural understanding
-Nurture students' interest in world affairs, and the habit of daily reading the World News
-Develop research skills and technological understanding through on-line assignments and cultural Fact Sheets
-Maintain a positive and exciting learning environment through our Special Events, and our challenging Conundrum-Corner
-Encourage student involvement in discussion groups
-Foster collaboration among students and teachers on assignments and projects
-Bring the students closer to the other side of the world through our Photo Gallery

SEARCH THE WORLD NEWS
An optional task for students in therewewere classrooms, this activity is an excellent habit to nurture in young students. World-awareness and knowledge is not attainable overnight, and like many things, should be practiced. Such world-awareness is invaluable to students in their future educational and career endeavors. We hope to show students just how simple world-awareness can be realized, and the resources that make this simplicity possible. Not only will students learn to appreciate the importance of knowing what goes on in the world, while also learning to hone their reading skills.

We will provide links to either Yahoo, New York Times, or the Seattle Times world-news links.

DAILY ASSIGNMENTS
This is the main body of therewewere's classroom. A number of lessons will be available each month for teachers to chose from, with the main goals of these lessons being to expand knowledge of different cultures, and understanding of cross-cultural differences. We hope to provide very unique, and interesting lessons that will get students' excited about the issues at hand, while providing a forum where they can discuss these issues with peers and therewewere writers abroad. Activities in these lessons will range from participating in on-line discussions, researching given topics that will be presented either in writing or in presentation form, or downloading various materials off the classroom site to utilize in the activities.

therewewere ARTICLES
We hope to encourage students and teachers to read and use our writers' articles for enhancing their cultural learning experiences. Some lessons might specifically ask the students to read one of the articles as a reference to the lesson. therewewere will have writers all over the world reporting on their unique experiences far away from home. We hope to capture the cross-cultural situations our writers are faced with, and their reactions to such situations. We hope that their personal accounts will help to better understand our lives at home and the lives of people the world over.

FACT SHEETS
Another optional and helpful resource for teachers that will enhance the strength of the therewewere lessons. These "fact sheets" will consist of basic geographical, historical, cultural, and statistical facts about the countries that therewewere will be exploring. These exercises will familiarize the students with the countries and cultures we discuss, while aiding them in sharpening their research skills. These sheets will be available to download for the teachers' and students' convenience.

SPECIAL EVENTS/ SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
This link will provide extra educational events as another resource for teachers, or simply curious students. This will be updated fairly frequently, and will largely depend on the therewewere staff's experiences. Such events that might be included in the Special Event link include:
-therewewere interviews with a person of cultural and educational interest, such as a national celebrity, teacher, student, American working and living abroad, students studying abroad, etc.
-therewewere challenges to students and classes in the form of special contests: photo contests, essay contests, etc. Winners would have their work posted on our web-site.
-Book reviews for students
-Announcements of certain world-community projects

MESSAGE BOARD
This will provide a forum where students will be asked to participate in discussions concerning the many issues surrounding the cultures we will be exploring. Students will have the opportunity to discuss cultural issues with students from other therewewere schools. In addition, the therewewere staff will be able to participate in the discussions from their distance locations abroad, which will help to mediate and enliven the topics.

CONUNDRUM-CORNER
These activities will send students on unique "expeditions" over the web, or through their library in an effort to work on their research skills, and simply add entertainment to their studies. Students might be asked to answer multiple choice questions of cultural significance, find out the equivalent to $20 US Dollars in a foreign currency, find a picture of a famous landmark in another land and give its significance, or solve other "problems" for the therewewere travelers. We believe this could be an excellent tool for teachers to add a bit of competition to their classroom, aiding students' interest in foreign cultures.

HELPFUL RESEARCH LINKS
We will provide helpful links that relate to the topics of the classroom, in an effort to assist students' efficiency in research activities. We cannot provide all of the links they might need, but these will serve as a starting point. Links might include other magazines with interesting articles or stories relating to world culture, maps, etc.

PHOTO GALLERY
The Photo Gallery will display pictures taken by the therewewere staff members during their travels. The photos will be accompanied by short descriptions.