Teacher Training Workshop: JCU Italy Reads Welcomes High School Teachers

On Saturday, September 7, 2019, John Cabot University’s Italy Reads program welcomed 70 of the nearly 200 teachers from the 65 participating high schools to the Teacher Training Workshop. Italy Reads is JCU’s community-based English language reading and cultural exchange program. This annual event provides teachers with resources to study the work of a different American author each year.

Teachers Training Workshop

This year, the focus of Italy Reads is Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. 32 teachers received scholarships to study Walt Whitman in a course taught by JCU Professors Andrew Rutt and Elena Buia Rutt during the Spring 2019 semester at JCU. This course, recognized for 30 hours of professional development, includes the creation of a sample lesson plan to be shared with colleagues.

Some of the teachers contributed ideas about how best to teach Walt Whitman from a cross-cultural perspective. An interdisciplinary approach to the study of literature has always been an effective way to contextualize the work and the author. Teachers are encouraged to invite colleagues from other subjects to join in the activities.

Teachers who came to the workshop represent schools in Rome, Naples, Pomezia, and Venice. Students participating in Italy Reads can satisfy the requirements for work-related study credit hours (Dlg.107/15) in the context of Percorsi per le Competenze Trasversali e per l’Orientamento (PCTO) (formerly ASL).

Learn about Activities for High Schools at John Cabot University

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