The Language Collaboratory is a partnership for the advancement of intercollegiate dialogue on the teaching of languages and cultures, driven by language centers and institutes at the University of Iowa, the University of Michigan, the University of Minnesota, Michigan State University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The purpose of this initiative is to provide collaborative professional learning opportunities for educators of language, culture, and literature at the five institutions.
This series aimed at furthering conversations that help uncover the complexities of striking a balance on the professional, academic, and personal goals to achieve the well-being of instructors and students of languages. In our discussions, we strived to answer the following questions: What are the major challenges in promoting our own and our students’ well-being in the context of remote instruction and the ongoing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic? As language instructors, what are concrete steps that we might take to better care for ourselves and our students?
Individual sessions in the series addressed topics such as work-life balance, issues of equity in access to technology or to functional spaces to teach and to learn, balancing academic rigor with flexibility in language courses, balancing ethical considerations with compassionate approaches to assessment, facilitating meaningful interactions in remote language courses and in co-curricular programming, and new models for student (dis)engagement.
All sessions can be viewed on the Language Collaboratory YouTube channel.
Monday, April 26: Reassessing the impact of the pandemic on well being: Identifying opportunities for growth and innovation. Dan Soneson, Adolfo Carrillo Cabello, University of Minnesota
Thursday, April 22: Building an Online Chinese Learning Community. Xuefei Hao, Michigan State University
Thursday, April 15: Balancing Independent and Peer/Group Work in Language Class. Takako Nakakubo, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Thursday, April 1: Trauma-Sensitive Teaching Practices: A Compassionate Framework for Language Educators. Elizabeth Ablan, Michigan State University
Thursday, March 25: Language TA Fatigue and Burnout. Jeanne Schueller, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Tuesday, March 16: Academic Integrity: Promoting Trust, Reflection, and Accountability in the Remote Setting. Stephanie Goetz & Susanna Coll Ramirez, University of Michigan
Monday, March 8: Connections Beyond the Classroom: Meaningful Projects for Remote Language Courses. Katrien Vanpee, University of Minnesota
Thursday, March 4: Creating Meaningful Communication Inside & Outside the Classroom. Yasmine Ramadan, University of Iowa
Monday, February 22: Recent Developments in Collaborative Online International Learning, and How They Can Benefit Language Learning Classes. Dan Nolan, University of Minnesota Duluth
Monday, February 15: Work / Life Balance in Language Teaching. Kristine Munoz, University of Iowa
Thursday, February 11: Balancing Academic Rigor with Flexibility in Language Courses. Sabine Gabaron, University of Michigan
Thursday, February 4: Spring Networking Session: Strategies to Prevent Teaching Burnout. Dan Soneson & Adolfo Carrillo Cabello, University of Minnesota