Creating Community -- and Books -- in Difficult Times
Students were required to make a book using the free app www.bookcreator.com. They worked in groups and collaborated on the website to make their book. Initially they wrote out a script into Google docs and were given feedback by me before they went ahead and put it into the online books.
The requirements were simple: What is COVID19? How do you get it? What should you do to avoid it? What have you not managed to do because of it? What have you learned as a result of being in quarantine? What hobbies did you start? They had to answer all of the above questions in Korean.
This is a Beginning Korean class and their vocabulary may be limited, but this semester we learned a lot of grammar that somehow perfectly aligned with phrases they could use in the project. The final projects were turned in and we looked at all the books together. There was great laughter as students included their personal TikTok videos during quarantine, music video clips, and of course countless memes to get over the slump from quarantine. Normally on final project presentation days, we eat popcorn in class and watch each other's videos.
This semester, students got to eat whatever they wanted from home and simultaneously got to laugh with each other during these very trying times. I was in complete awe at how positive they were and how well they took all of it in stride. I realized nothing is impossible as long as I change my perspective and enforce that positivity, the results will be amazing because our students have always been troopers!
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.
