Teaching

[Image Description: A courtyard of tables and chairs with Siena, Italy in the background}

I have taught Italian 102 at the University at Buffalo for 2 semesters.  My favorite activity with my students is their final poetry project.  They pick a poem that they like, write a short biography of the poet, memorize a stanza and recite it for the class.  Then we litter the campus with what they learned.  A sample of one of my student’s selected poem from Ungaretti is below:

[Image Description: Chalk writing on concrete wall that reads “E Subito Riprende il viaggio come dopo il naufragio un superstite Lupo di mare”]

In the summers I volunteer as one of the senior counselors at the WNY Italian Camp!  The camp is language and culture experience for children ages 5-10 where they get to interact with native and heritage speakers of Italian.  The camp uses the Monetssori Method for most of its language instruction.

My favorite activity to do with the kids is the large map activity- where there is realia associated with each area and town on a huge cloth map of Italy.  It’s very stimulating for the kids because there is always something they find interesting; they can touch and handle things as well.  I find it’s the best way to get to know what my kids are interested in and sometimes they surprise you!

I’ve taken professional development classes through Study in Italy:  Methods of Teaching Italian and Focus on Intermediate Italian.  I spent an amazing month in Siena during il Palio (and my contrada won!).  Not only did I learn so much about teaching all levels and using the communicative method, I also met an amazing group of teachers!