Virtual

For the last year or so Juan Carlos and I have been supplementing his Spanish courses with a program called Second Life, where we hold lab activities and help sessions. This all happens online, so students can attend even if they are at home hanging out in their bedrooms. It is a lot of fun and helps the students feel more comfortable speaking the language.
Meet Eliza:
                    
Eliza is my avatar and she looks somewhat like me, if (gulp!) a few pounds lighter. And I admit readily that she does have better hair and a much better wardrobe than I do in real life.
Here is Eliza with Tanausu (i.e., virtual Juan Carlos)

Juan Carlos is actually better looking in real life, but we can’t all be gorgeous in real life, I guess, can we?
Here we are with some students:

More students:


It has been an experience learning how to teach in a virtual environment, and it is definitely an intriguing way to practice the target language. But I do have to admit that it’s also just fun to wear cute clothes and not worry about getting chalk dust all over them, and to wear shoes that are not sensible and not have to worry about how my feet will feel at the end of class!