A Stroll Through Paris Neighborhoods

Language Success Story

As a final project for my Paris par métro course, students had to work in groups of 2-3 to present a neighborhood in Paris. Our final face-to-face class period was to have been a sort of stroll through the streets of the city, as students and faculty interacted with one another to learn about each neighborhood. Unable to recreate that atmosphere on Zoom, I wondered how to integrate interactivity into students’ presentations. To do so, I created a collaborative Google doc with the names of each team of presenters and a table with two rows -- one for positive feedback and one for questions. As each neighborhood was presented (through screen sharing by one of the students), the remaining students in the class added their feedback and questions to the Google doc, indicating their name next to each entry. At the end of the presentation, each member of the 2-3 person team chose one question from the list to answer. Although we weren’t able to have the same level of interactivity and conviviality as we would have had face-to-face, the collaborative document allowed all students to participate. I was in awe not only of my students’ commitment to this process and their excellent questions and answers, but also of the ease with which they adapted to and navigated this alternative way of strolling through Paris.

- Kate Paesani, CARLA/Department of French & Italian

The Language Center would like to hear your stories of successful instructional activities, connections with students, teaching experiences, encounters with technology, and the like to share with our community. No success story is too small! Please send your stories and any questions to Kate Paesani at kpaesani@umn.edu.

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