Center for Teaching & Learning Sarah Piazza (Spanish)

Activities at the start of the semester to foster community-building:

• In a welcome email prior to the start of the semester, I am going to assign as homework before the first class the task of being ready to present an object that represents themselves (the object can be a photo or anything else material). I will provide some guidelines on presenting the object to the class in the target language as an introduction on the first day.  To encourage active listening, I will ask listeners to summarize what they learned about the speaker (I will provide some guidelines and model the first time).
• During one of the days early on in the semester, we will play “2 truths and a lie” using a pertinent verb tense.
• I will divide the students into groups of ~3 (“grupos de apoyo” = support groups) at the start of the semester. I will assign groups after roughly assessing their level on the first day.  The purpose of this group is to have a support network for asking and answering questions amongst peers.  
• *I might create a question forum on Moodle in which students can post any questions they have (hopefully anonymously). Other students can respond, and I will moderate.  I am a little worried about the possibility that replying to this forum could become very time intensive.
• I will open a discussion forum on Moodle for the 2^nd homework assignment: creating a brief introductory video + answering a few questions about a classmate’s video and being ready to share.  I will provide students with a personal video example that introduces me and my family and why I love teaching.  Students will share what they learned about another student in the following class. 

Strategies I will employ throughout the semester for community-building:

• For my 2 hyflex sessions, I will open a Zoom session for each class and request that in-person students login as well so that remote students feel included.
• I typically build in activities similar to “2 truths and a lie” throughout the semester since this kind of activity that involves getting to know each other also fosters language learning.
• The “grupos de apoyo” will exist throughout the semester.
• The final cultural project in all my classes will involve students responding to and interacting with each other’s work.
• I will learn to use the “break-out” function on Zoom so that online and hyflex classes incorporate the kinds of interpersonal interaction that happens in a face-to-face classroom.
• I will play some Pandora music in Spanish prior to each class session and might invite students to share music in Spanish during the 5-minutes prior to class . . .
• As a department, the Spanish program at Amherst is going to create several Spanish language clubs to foster community (in the target language). I will lead a monthly podcast club and also promote all clubs.  In addition, the Spanish Department will launch an Instagram account that students and professors can use to build community virtually. 

How will these strategies respond to the modes of instruction (hyflex and online)?

• In both my hyflex and online classes, I will still hold synchronous sessions 2 or 3 times per week in addition to a weekly synchronous session with the Foreign Language TA. Through using Zoom effectively for small-group work as well as whole class discussions, I hope to generate a sense of belonging amongst students.  

How do these strategies relate to my overarching goals for the class?

Something I love about language learning and teaching is that any activity that involves personal sharing, creativity, or small group work can be designed such that it supports target language acquisition.  Whereas in other disciplines community-building activities might feel like busy work, in the language classroom, all well-designed and scaffolded activities are opportunities to improve language production and comprehension.  By implementing a language immersion model, my community-building activities will directly support students’ language acquisition.  In addition, through designing activities that prompt students to share about themselves and their backgrounds, I aim to facilitate intercultural learning and interpersonal communication, both important facets of learning