Across the Ocean with Italian Class

Prof. Pederiali, the Italian teacher here at Wayne Valley, has been interested in doing an exchange project for a little while now. Recently, her hopes came true. Through connections and coworkers, Prof. Pederiali was able to find a highschool in Verona, Italy that she would be able to do this project with.

The Italian III students at Wayne Valley and the English III students in Italy are creating vlogs in the languages they are currently learning. These vlogs contain the vocabulary in the units each class is currently on. For example, the Italian III class’s vlog is based on their daily routine. With the permission of the students, certain vlogs will be sent to the other high school. 

The vlog exchange is not the only thing that is happening in this project. Prof. P plans to have Zoom meetings with the students in Italy so both classes can get to know each other and hopefully practice maintaining conversations!

Prof. Pederiali believes that this project will greatly improve her students’ learning in unique ways. She explains that the benefits include “communication practice, intercultural competence, experience working with people from different backgrounds, and building connections with members of the global community.”

However, Prof. Pederiali hopes that this project is only the beginning. She eventually hopes to introduce a real cultural experience for the Italian students at Wayne Valley. Prof. Pederiali hopes that her current project will allow her students to learn how to “function across cultures and work with people from different backgrounds” to prepare them for the world.