Throughout the past two years, many of us have been teaching language courses remotely, either synchronously or asynchronously. Even as many institutions move back to hybrid and in-person courses, there are many useful tools we can incorporate from online learning! One quarantine class activity that I particularly enjoy is creating […]
Technology & Pedagogy
12 posts
I had the chance of meeting Professor Valera Gramigna at the North East Modern Language Association 2021 annual meeting while we participated at the panel “Écrire la ville”. During the debate that took place after the presentations, Professor Gramigna evoked a course in which her students deconstructed the image of […]
Which activities should I do on the first day of class? After several years of teaching, I still ask myself this question. As the first day sets the structure and tone for the whole semester, I am always on the lookout for new ideas. This year I created a YouTube video […]
The French writer Marcel Proust (1871-1922), best known for his novel In Searh of Lost Time, discovered an English game called “Confessions” as a teenager. His answers written as “Marcel Proust by himself” where discovered after his death. The set of questions and answers Proust wrote gave birth to what […]
Specialized Vocabulary: The Job Interview I wanted to have an activity for intermediate- lower advanced students related to “La vie au bureau”- worklife. Learning about work life is challenging yet essential for students without work experience at a professional level, since most of them are considering an internship at an […]
Some song lyrics like those of Oui ou non by the Belgian singer Angèle can be used with intermediate or early advanced students to address the three French registers of language (soutenu or formal, courant (or usual) and familier). As they progress to become fluent, students often like to […]
This is a PowerPoint that I designed for my 1030 class from the comic writer Fiamma Luzzati published in Le Monde. You can use it for your class as reading, vocabulary, or essay activity! Link to Powerpoint Slides: Petits soucis psychologiques en temps de Coronavirus
The images advertising women’s beauty and care tell a cleverly designed story intertwining social norms of desire, intimacy, and gender. Examined diachronically, these images record the emergence of a modern understanding of self-fashioning entangled in growing consumerist expectations. I’ve become interested in these archival materials while researching the construction of […]
Pr. Sophie Queuniet is a Senior Lecturer in French at Columbia University. She has taught French language courses online for many years. She shares a few pieces of advice on distance learning. Conseillez-vous un enseignement à distance synchrone (toute la classe se réunit en même temps en ligne) ou asynchrone? […]
Longtime online instructor Pr. Richard Schumaker shares best practices and challenges to be aware of as CUNY transitions to distance learning. This is a difficult time for everyone – set expectations, accordingly. Avoid isolation. If possible, develop relationships with colleagues that teach the course that you are about to teach. […]
On March 11, 2020, CUNY announced that starting March 19, classes will be held in distance-learning form for the remainder of the Spring semester. As a start, we recommend the guide provided by the Teaching & Learning Center of the Graduate Center. Campus-based guidance here. The TLC also set up […]
Assigning Wikipedia in higher-education courses has become increasingly popular in recent years. Since Wiki Education Foundation was created in 2010, 2,000 courses have been taught through their program, 43,000 students have taken on Wikipedia assignments, and 97% of instructors said they would do it again (as of 2018). What can […]
