Retooling for 2023 and Beyond
Mark W. Himmelein, OFLA President 2022-2023
Professor of German, University of Mount Union
With the holidays and an all too short break behind us, like many of you, I too, am already several weeks into a new semester and doing my best to cope with the new realities of teaching in the post-pandemic classroom. Perhaps you, too, have been asking yourself the same types of questions about what makes for effective student learning, classroom management, creating meaningful assignments, and motivating students as we deal with the consequences of the virtual instruction that was thrust upon us. Oh, and let’s not forget the most significant question of all – How do I cope with all of these changes? Of course, any competent language educator adjusts and modifies instructions routinely, but now it seems as if many of our old ‘tricks’ are just not as effective as they used to be. In talking with colleagues from across several disciplines at my university, virtually all agreed that the way my students learn today has changed dramatically from what was the case in the very recent past. At the post-secondary level, we are seeing the first full wave of students whose high school education was largely online or at least very significantly altered by the pandemic’s restrictions. I am confident that similar observations are just as true at the pre-collegiate level as well.
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