While Italian 103 will be taught completely online, there will be plenty of interaction between classmates and with your instructor as all of our meetings will be synchronous. The class will take place 4 days a week and will mix work with the entire class, small group sessions with me, and cultural activities that you will complete on your own. You can find a layout of what a regular week of classes will look like after this paragraph. My choice to teach online was a difficult one, but I just could not see how we could do the exercises required for the class (interact with different partners one on one, do group work, speak loudly to practice pronunciation) without putting us at a high risk for contracting the virus. But I can assure you that I will be available on zoom for office hours and that my online class will be as interactive as my in-person lessons. In fact, working with the technology we have will allow us to be creative and collaborative in new and exciting ways. While I am yet to finish designing my syllabus, please feel free to send me any questions you may have about the course.
Monday – I’ll present vocabulary, a grammar point, or a conversational skill (greetings, introductions, talking about the weather, etc.). After hearing an explanation of the topic, students will work in small groups and complete drills from the textbook and additional ones that will include visual cues. The class will be dynamic and every student will get to speak Italian.
Tuesday – Students will work with a partner and meet with me to go over the content from Monday. These will be 10-15 min sessions done throughout the day. Students will be able to ask questions about the content and to do oral practice drills. I will give feedback on grammar and pronunciation. These exercises will be graded on completion.
Wednesday – We will do a short class session to review grammar and vocabulary (25 min). On this day students will also do their lab work, which will consist of online exercises and/or a cultural activity (watching a music video, learning about Italian customs, or recording a dialogue with a partner).
Friday – We’ll reserve Friday for long exercises that will integrate what we have learned during the week. Some examples of that work: translating a paragraph from Italian into English and reading it to the class, presenting a skit incorporating the topics we’ve studied, or making a brief presentation in Italian. These exercises will be done in group and with my supervision.
Office hours – I plan to hold office hours over Zoom on MTWF from 9-10 and 4-5, and by appointment if those times conflict with your schedule.
