Even as we headed out on spring break we could not have imagined the distress and anxiety that we're currently encountering with the outbreak of Covid-19, a particularly virulent coronavirus that caused great suffering and led many to quarantine and adopts social distancing across the world.
I imagine your inboxes are inundated with advice and guidance, and I'll understand a poor read rate but if this newsletter has been helpful in the past we thought that it could provide some support and guidance at this time. At our university, we have been asked to move to remote teaching of our classes and this week has been frantic as we learn new tools, adapt materials, and plan strategies for our teaching.
I want to note that remote teaching is not online learning, that you must do what is manageable and always accessible to the student. We are all living with stress and anxiety that affects the normal way of working, so we can't hope to replicate our classrooms or methodologies online. We aim to provide some continuity for our students to ensure they don't fall too far behind, we need to manage expectations and do our level best. No more is expected of us.
One of the issues of moving to remote learning is the need to vary online activities, both for the students and ourselves we have to use the affordances of the internet and the technology in thoughtful ways. If the students should watch a video in their own time, or listen to a podcast, contribute to a shared google doc or complete an online survey or quiz, then we should do these as an alternative to synchronous webinar sessions. Below are some links, ideas, and prompts to help you at this time.
Please feel free to use this newsletter to share ideas and point people to resources. I will attempt to publish each Friday morning, so please get your emails to me by Thursday afternoon. Please take care of yourselves, look after each other and be kind.
Firefighters use their hoses to display the message ‘stay at home. Spain is in its sixth day of national lockdown to slow down the spread of Covid-19, Aranjuez, Spain
Photograph: Aranjuez Fire Dept/EPA
Teaching during the outbreak.
Advice and resources to support language teachers in response to the coronavirus outbreak compiled by Joe Dale twitter@joedale
Covid-19 Resources for World Language Teachers, a worksheet from tech4worldlanguageteachers.com
Cato Institute offering with a list of free online learning resources
If I had to do it over again/ what they wish I knew - Advice from international educators who are on prolonged online learning due to school closures compiled by Lauren Fernandez
Amazing Educational Resources is a complete list of technology platforms that are providing free resources at this time.
Spanish resources from @olliemfl hosted on the TES language pages.
Scribd the online audio reading service is opening up its library for the next month free for all. Access through this link.
Audible has done the same thing.
All-InMFL is offering reading, vocab, and listening activities free via its website. Register here.
Advice on how to create an APA Style reference for a canceled conference presentation.
Online tools and apps
Quiz creator Kahoot is providing free access to its premium account during the closures.
This Remote Learning Lesson plan template can be copied to your google drive, remember to make new copies for each session.
Ted-Ed, the learning division of TED is giving free access to its videos.
Respondus and Proctoru are providing accounts for online exams
The University of Illinois has perhaps the best online instructional activities index that I've seen.
Ideas and Activities for remote language learning
12 Famous museums with virtual tours while you are stuck at home.
This Virtual music events directory is being updated live and links to streaming gigs and online shows for various artists around the world.
The Metropolitan Opera is providing free performance streams every night during their closure, and there's more Opera and Classical Music through this google doc. Including the Berliner Philharmoniker.
John Hopkins Press is providing free access to Project MUSE, a collection of humanities and social science research.
On Screen
There are many free streaming channels, some who have relaxed their lending policies at this time, including Kanopy and Hoopla.
Leeds Queer Film Festival is providing links to its full program through a google doc.
Christie Books has opened up The Anarchist Film Library to view during the outbreak, including my favorite film - A Man Escaped/Un condamné à mort s'est échappé by Robert Bresson.
The Cinematheque of Milan is providing free access to all its 500 films. Create an account here (sorry I could only find it in Italian)
There are some excellent films in their original languages, and this is a good opportunity to incorporate some classics in your language teaching.
A Man Escaped/Un condamné à mort s'est échappé by Robert Bresson.
Shoplifters - Available on Netflix (you must be logged in)
Please support artists, musicians, and freelancers who aren't able to work at this time. You can buy gift cards, download music, or order tapes, vinyl, and CDs.
Bandcamp is sending all profits directly back to their artists and Etsy is making arrangements for their makers. You can also help by recommending and following artists on Instagram and Twitter.
You could ask students to do some of the listening research for you, share tracks in your language classes, link to videos and podcasts.
Here's a link to Radio Ambulente's education page, with ideas for incorporating podcasts in your teaching.
Thank you for reading, we really appreciate your support and would love to hear more about what you find useful, please forward any links or images that you'd like to feature, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
Instead of a humorous .gif, I thought you'd enjoy a little light relief, I hope it helps to soothe the soul.
This is more of what's needed at a time like this. If you're enchanted, then visit
白Miumiu on Youtube.
Thank you for reading, we really appreciate your support and would love to hear more about what you like and what you've seen that might be useful to share. If you have anything you'd like to include in future issues, let us know.