Curriculum kept

Conjugating verbs one week.

Decorating Easter eggs the next.

Jay County High School German teacher Anni McClung has worked to keep the curriculum she uses in the classroom while also integrating fun elements as the educational process has shifted to e-learning because of the coronavirus pandemic.

McClung received plenty of emails touting online resources for teaching German, but she chose her own path.

“I just feel that that would both overwhelm me and my students. And I do have a curriculum that I follow,” said McClung, who teaches German II, German III and AP German IV/V. “And my students, with German as a foreign language being a class that continues in level … I do want them to be prepared. …

“So I decided for myself that I would stick to my original curriculum and make it work online. So I spend a lot of time digitizing those lessons.”

She uses Google Forms and Google Slides for that purpose, including photos and listening activities from her textbook in her new online offerings. And she uses virtual meetings and video apps so that she can hear them speak her native language.

While freshman Renna Schwieterman said learning German via e-learning is tougher than other classes, she added students meet in their small groups with McClung each e-learning day.

“If we have any questions, she’ll answer them. … She’ll always help out,” said Schwieterman. “She’s usually pretty active on email. … It’s good to keep up because she’s always answering.”

For a recent lesson on modal verbs — to be able to, to have to, to want to, etc. — McClung included a German news article about how coronavirus is affecting lives. Then she asked the students to answer a series of yes/no questions based on the article.

The students uploaded their answers via Flipgrid. Then they each had to listen to three of their classmates’ videos and fill in answers on a BINGO grid.

“That was like my assessment that they understood what they were doing because I could hear them, I could see them fill in their answers,” she said.

The timing fell perfectly for the egg assignment, as the next chapter in the German textbook was about holidays, dates and greetings like “Happy Easter.”

It’s tradition in Germany to blow out eggs, decorate them and hang them to brighten their homes. McClung used Flipgrid and Google Slides to show her students the process.

“I really wanted them to get creative because we have been encouraged to give them lessons that they can do away from the computer,” said McClung. “So this was perfect. And if they wanted to, I encouraged them to involve the entire family — blow out eggs, eat omelets and decorate eggs.”

Schwieterman’s family did that, as her younger sisters Hallie, Karsyn and Whitney joined to decorate eggs of their own.

“I guess they thought it was fun,” said Schwieterman. “They saw me doing it. … So they just wanted to do a project and help out a little bit.”

But the assignment wasn’t just about making Easter decorations. When the eggs were done, the students were asked to upload a video to Flipgrid describing their eggs, what colors they used and who helped them, all in German.

“The kids seemed to really enjoy it,” said McClung. “There were some very nice eggs. …

“The kids were creative. It was a lot of fun.”