Polyglot Press
Messages for the World Language Teacher
September 7, 2011
FB Note: There is now a Facebook Page titled “UCPS World Language Teachers”. You can go there and ask to be a “friend”. This site will permit UCPS World Language teachers to share resources and ask questions of their UCPS World Language colleagues in a closed social networking site. Hopefully, this will be an easily accessible site for frequent sharing and collaboration.
Blog Reminder: These editions of the Polyglot Press are uploaded to a blog of the name “Polyglot Press for World Language Teachers” located at http://polyglotpress.blogspot.com/ You can join that blog and make comments. Find out who has already joined. Bookmark this site as a favorite.
BRAVO!
· Spanish teacher, Rosana Gonzales of South Providence School, makes the SPS webpage banner. This is the first year that SPS has offered world languages.
· Spanish teacher, Christina Bachiller of Weddington HS takes her Spanish 1 students out in the hall in two long lines facing each other to practice interpersonal speaking skills.
· German teacher, Harry Braun explains that the Marvin Ridge HS world languages department plans to use Edmodo this year to collaborate. Email department chair, Sarah Wade, for information on how she has used Edmodo with her students.
· Katie Kane, was pleasantly surprised to find out how much her students like her FaceBook page for her Piedmont HS Spanish classes.
· Numerous teachers are already using “I can statements” with specifics for the day’s lesson in posting their daily student-friendly objectives. Some already have incorporate the target language, “Yo puedo…”. Etc.
· Latin teacher, Juliet Kasler, is featured in the Porter Ridge HS webpage banner as PRHS Teacher of the Year 2010-2011
Events
· First Friday of September 6, 2011 Teachers’ Day in Singapore An official school holiday. Celebrations are normally conducted the day before, where students usually get half a day off.
· September 5 Teachers’ Day in India: It is considered a "celebration" day, where teachers and students report to school as usual but the usual activities and classes are replaced by activities of celebration, thanks and remembrance. At some schools on this day, the responsibility of teaching is taken up by the senior students to show appreciation for their teachers.
· September 8 International Literacy Day
· September 10 Teachers’ Day in China: In the People's Republic of China, there are some activities for the students to show their appreciation for teachers, such as presenting gifts including cards and flowers.
· September 11 Teachers’ Day in Argentina
· September 15 – October 15 Hispanic Heritage Month
o September – October Art Exhibit by Yesenia Traverso – Monroe Public Library The Alcove Gallery
316 East Windsor Street, Monroe, NC 28112
316 East Windsor Street, Monroe, NC 28112
o September – October Art Exhibit by Angel Lasso Indian Trail Public Library 123 Unionville-Indian Trail Road, Indian Trail, NC 28079 704-821-7475
o September – October Art Exhibit by Oscar Ortiz Waxhaw Public Library 509 South Providence Street Waxhaw, NC 28173
o Scholastic Resources for Hispanic Heritage Month http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/hispanic/?eml=TNL/e/20110830//txtl/September_Update/0/topclicks2/Generic_SPS_SL1//////&ym_MID=1362314&ym_rid=9165037
· September 21 International Day of Peace
· September 28 Teachers’ Day in Taiwan The Republic of China uses this day to honor teachers' virtues, struggles, and contribution not only to their own students but also to society in general. People often make use of the day to express their gratitude to their teachers, such as paying them a visit or sending them a card. This date was chosen to commemorate the birth of Confucius, believed to be the model master educator in ancient China.
· October 5 Teachers’ Day in Germany
· October 8 Yom Kippur The “Day of Atonement” in the Jewish calendar marks the end of the Ten Days of Penitence that begin with Rosh Hashanah.
· October 15 7:30 p.m. ¡A bailar salsa de verdad con la Orquesta Mayor! (Real Salsa Dancing with the Orquesta Mayor) Wingate University 220 N. Camden St. Wingate, North Carolina 28174
· October 16 Teachers’ Day in Chile
· November 6 Eid Al Adha – Islamic “Feast of Sacrifice” concludes the Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) and is a three-day festival
· November 9 Kristallnacht Commemorates the 1938 pogrom against Jews throughout Germany and Vienna.
Professional Development
· October 6-November 16 2011 Online Globalization Course for K-12 Teachers Registration for the fall Online Globalization Course for K-12 teachers and administrators is $275 per NC educator, but only $225 for World View Partners. Partner team of 4 is $800. Sample syllabus http://www.unc.edu/world/OnlineCourses/TCSyllabus3-08.pdf Before the course begins, please purchase the new edition of "The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century" (“Further Updated and Expanded//Release 3.0”) by Thomas Friedman To register http://www.unc.edu/world/regform.shtml
· October 14-15, 2011 FLANC 2011 Conference - 45th Annual Fall Conference is in nearby Winston-Salem, NC As always, Pre- and Post-Conference workshops will be offered as well Pre-Conference Workshops Oct. 13 / Post-Conference Workshops Oct. 15. Dr. Charles Moore (Program Chair) has lined up over 80 concurrent sessions Friday and Saturday A great opportunity to earn yourself CEUs for renewal With 16 additional workshops planned Pre- and Post-Conference, you have an incredible opportunity to earn over 20 hours of CEU eligible credits all focused on foreign languages Early Bird Discount!! Save $40 on a full registration before Sept 16th Hotel Room Block will be held until September 16th If you have any questions, please contact FLANC Executive Director- Kc. Kasserman Phone: 336-705-6278 Email: kc.kasserman@flanc.org
· October 19-20, 2011 2011 K-12 Global Education Symposium “Peace and Conflict: Ten Years after 9/11” sponsored by World View. Featured sessions: It happened on the way to way; America’s Global Role After 9 / 11; Why there are so few Muslim Terrorists. The Friday Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina This symposium offers general sessions, concurrent sessions, and support for school-based teams in creating an Action Plan for globalizing schools and school systems. The program is designed for administrators and teachers in all disciplines. Educators will leave the program with strategies for helping their students learn about and with the world 1.5 CEU credits will be offered. Co-sponsors: NC State Board of Education; NC Department of Public Instruction; UNC School of Education. Cost (North Carolina educators): Registration is $175 per person. A Team of 4 is $600 (save $100). A Team is comprised of 4 or more individuals from a school or district. Only $150 for each additional team member. Local Hotel Information: World View has arranged for group rates at several local hotels. Please visit www.unc.edu/world for more information. Please note that space is limited. This program has “sold out” the last five years. Register today! For more information contact Katharine H. Robinson, Program Manager tel: 919.843.6795 or krobinson@unc.edu
· November 1, 2011 Deadline: 2012 CIBER Business Language Conference Call For Proposals for Conference: March 21-23, 2012 University of North Carolina CIBER in Chapel Hill The theme for this year’s conference is Building Bridges from Business Languages to Business Communities and calls for an exchange of ideas on how foreign language educators can best assess and meet the current and future linguistic and cross-cultural needs of professionals operating in diverse and global environments. http://www.ciber.unc.edu/cblc/
· DPI – World Languages will offer evening “DPI World Languages Update Webinars” to all interested NC world language teachers on 3 DPI Update webinars open to all NC World Language Educators at 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. on Thursday evenings. Registration and sign-in details will be forthcoming.
o November 10 Supporting Proficiency-Based Teaching in Every World Language Program . Focus: Formative Assessment and LinguaFolio
o January 12 Assessing Proficiency in World Language Programs Focus: Comprehensive Balanced Assessment System & Proficiency 101
o May 10 Overview of 2012-2013 Plans & Introduction to NCWORLDLANG Social Bookmark
DPI Updates
· Instructional Improvement System (“IIS” – “The Cloud”) Update: A major cultural and pedagogic shift is underway in North Carolina to provide educators with a central location that offers instructional/learning tools, resources, and data to improve and enhance both the teaching and learning process. NCDPI seeks to achieve this goal by providing an online resource for all school districts that will enable educators to use and evaluate instructional materials, strategies, and approaches for educating all students. For the IIS to be effective, it must provide all school districts with equal access to rich instructional resources and a complete collection of information needed to improve instructional practices, make learner-centered decisions, enhance staff productivity, and assess overall effectiveness over time. The presentation for the August focus meetings is found at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/acre/improvement/resources/iis-regional-focus.pdf Resources Page http://www.ncpublicschools.org/acre/improvement/resources
· Public Schools Have Cut More than 8 Percent of Staff since 2008-09 - North Carolina public schools have lost more than 16,678 positions and laid off 6,816 people since the 2008-09 school year in response to state budget cuts, according to the most recent data reported by local school districts just released by the NC Department of Public Instruction. Teacher positions made up 35 percent of the positions lost. Teacher assistants made up 33 percent of the overall positions lost since 2008. Local school districts also cut central office staff, principals and assistant principals, instructional support positions and other non-certified staff. It is important to note, that over that same period of teacher and educator job cuts, North Carolina public school enrollment has grown. To read more, as well as access job loss information by state and local districts, please visit www.ncpublicschools.org and click on the appropriate link under “News.”
· Mini-Grants to Benefit Youth Groups - The N.C. Youth Advisory Council of the Youth Advocacy and Involvement Office in the Department of Administration is accepting applications for mini-grants available to youth groups to conduct community projects. Up to $6,292 is available to North Carolina organizations composed of young people, ages 13 to 18, which implement programs to benefit their peers. The mini-grants will range from $100 to a maximum of $500 each. Examples of projects that have received funding since the program started in 1977 include after-school tutorial programs, purchases of recreational equipment and orchestral music, an alcohol-free graduation celebration and books for children in a hospital critical care unit. The application deadline is 5 p.m., Sept. 30. Recipients will be announced in December. For regulations or to download an application, visit www.doa.state.nc.us/yaio/councils-minigrant.aspx or contact Cynthia Giles of the Youth Advocacy and Involvement Office at 919/807-4400.
Global Studies / Global Views
· As school begins in many nations, the Christian Science Monitor features photo slide show of School Children Around the World http://www.csmonitor.com/CSM-Photo-Galleries/In-Pictures/Schoolchildren-around-the-world
· Arabic Studies As 9-11 approaches, estimates show that as of November 2009, one list counted 93 public schools studying Arabic in 22 states, plus 220 private schools, according to data compiled by the National Capital Language Resource Center at George Washington University. A survey by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages showed that public-school enrollment in Arabic-language classes nearly tripled between the 2004-05 school year and 2007-08, to nearly 2,400. But those figures pale in comparison with the 60,000 who were reported as studying Chinese and the millions studying Spanish. In Virginia’s 178,000-student Fairfax County district, nearly 1,000 students took Arabic at the elementary and secondary levels as of last academic year. In Utah, about 450 students study Arabic across nine public schools. At least two universities, Boston University and Michigan State University, are launching new teacher-certification programs in Arabic at the secondary level this fall. http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/08/31/02sept11_ep.h31.html?tkn=YYVFBpMMWklHPhNFncwpryt2PeYhkRR4WHW8&cmp=clp-sb-actfl
· US Funding for Foreign Languages National Resource Centers, so designated by the Education Department to teach foreign languages and culture at universities around the country, lost 47 percent of their budget for fiscal year 2011 in the last-minute deal to avert a government shutdown in April -- a surprise to observers who had not thought the program was especially vulnerable. Since relatively few students opt for Bengali or Burmese over Spanish or French, federal funding was often the factor that made such courses financially feasible. The cut was across-the-board, so every center is facing the loss of half its federal funds.
· Bloomberg magazine ranks Chinese as the most useful language for business after English: Mandarin, spoken by 845 million people, scored highest in a ranking of languages, excluding English, based on business usefulness. The ranking scored languages according to the number of speakers, number of countries where the language is official, along with those nations’ populations, financial power, educational and literacy rates, and related measures. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-30/mandarin-chinese-most-useful-business-language-after-english-1-.html
o French, spoken by 68 million people worldwide and the official language of 27 countries, was ranked second, followed by Arabic, which is spoken by 221 million people and is official in 23 nations.
o “Speaking the language confers a huge advantage for anyone who wants to do business in a non-English-speaking country,” he said. “It gives you flexibility, knowledge that you need, and personal connections that can make a difference in the speed and effectiveness of your negotiations.”
o Spanish, the official language of 20 countries and spoken by 329 million people, came in fourth, the rankings showed.
o Spanish was the top foreign language studied in U.S. college classrooms in 2009, according to research from the Modern Language Association in New York. Chinese tallied seventh by the number of U.S. students enrolled in classes that year, after Spanish, French, German, American Sign Language, Italian and Japanese, according to a December 2010 report by the association. Arabic was eighth.
· International House of Charlotte offers the opportunity to serve as a cultural ambassador and host foreign guests at your home for dinner:
o Dinner Hosting: Spend a fascinating evening learning about a different culture, sharing the American way of life and making new friends by hosting a group of visitors for dinner. Dinner hosting is an ideal way to participate in citizen diplomacy and experience the exhilaration of world travel in your own dining room. To host a dinner, contact Lara Printz, Program Director, at lprintz@ihclt.org or 704.333.8099.
o Home Hosting: You can also participate in diplomatic efforts by opening your home to an international guest. Home hosts are responsible for: Transportation for the guest to International House in the morning and evening. Breakfast and dinner for your guest. Making your guest feel welcome. Helping him or her get the most out of their experience in Charlotte. In return, you and your family experience a new culture, promote Charlotte and the US, and make lifelong friends! If you’re interested in home hosting, contact Lara Printz, Program Director, at lprintz@ihclt.org or 704.333.8099
· President of Burundi visits Charlotte September 22 http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/08/12/2521248/burundi-president-to-visit.html
· 2011 Calendar of Cultural Festivals and Religious Observances http://www.adl.org/education/2011_Calendar_of_Observances.pdf
· 2012 Calendar of Cultural Festivals and Religious Observances http://www.adl.org/education/2012_Calendar_of_Observances.pdf
· Target currently has landmarks from around the world cards at 36 for $1.00
Technology
· What is Edmodo?Edmodo is a secure, social learning platform for teachers, students, schools and districts. It is a safe and easy way for a class or classes to connect and collaborate, share content and access homework, grades and school notices. The goal is to help educators harness the power of social media to customize the classroom for each and every level. Edmodo is free for all teachers, students, schools and districts.
· Court Decision - Missouri Judge Blocks Limitations on Student-Teacher Facebook Encounters http://www.eschoolnews.com/2011/08/27/missouri-judge-blocks-facebook-limits-for-teachers/
Chinese Resources
· The sequel to the Hollywood blockbuster, "Kung Fu Panda 2" has hit the big screen worldwide. Kung Fu Panda 2 successfully combines Chinese culture with Hollywood production design. A heavy dose of Chinese culture and culinary delights characterizes the sequel, which has been expected to be a big draw for Chinese and worldwide audiences. http://english.cntv.cn/program/centerstage/20110821/101199.shtml
· In the southern city of Nanjing, China, one primary school headmaster took 300 first graders to a Confucian temple on the first day of school to join in an ancient Chinese ceremony that the anti-Confucian government banned for many years. At the “First Writing Ceremony,” the children, dressed in traditional costume, took up calligraphy brushes to write the Chinese character for “person” before having their foreheads daubed with a red dot, signifying the eye of wisdom. Then they rang the temple bell and burned some incense before a statue of Confucius, the Chinese sage who attached enormous importance to a good education. “I wanted a fresh back-to-school ceremony to make the kids look forward to the term,” the headmaster told a reporter from The Oriental Guardian newspaper “I hope it will inspire them to study.”
French Resources
· From AP French List Serv-
o Clich̩ Рshort, videoclip in French with animated characters about many famous French stereotypes. Great for beginners as well as advanced students. http://www.cedric-villain.info/cliche/index_cliche_fr.html
o Introduce your students to Babar. There are several You Tube videos that are in French (and some in English). You can use this shortcut-- http://www.youtube.com/user/olrik31 Right now at Target in their dollar section you can find activity books of Babar and toddler dishes with the designs also. Although the books are in English I'm sure that you could devise something from them in French. I have shown the video "Babar Roi des elephants" to my sophomores and they enjoyed it!
o Teaching Descriptions of Oneself – use the online horoscopes in French for lots of adjectives with the connection to birthdates and zodiac animals
Spanish Resources
· Karaoke online with Justo Lamas –choose instrumental, choral, vocal versions http://www.justolamas.com/karaoke.php
· AP List Serv Suggested Resources for units on Immigration – The movies “El Norte”, "Voces inocentes", "La misma luna", “Y no se lo trago la tierra” Songs on the same topic: "Pobre Juan" (by Maná), "El mojado" (by Ricardo Arjona), "Los mandados" (by Vicente Fernandez) y others from Los Tigres del Norte. The book “Cajas de carton”
Quotes / Signatures
· "I have always imagined that paradise will be some kind of library." — Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine writer, essayist and poet.
· “We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race.” - Kofi Annan, Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations
· "Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher." -- Japanese proverb
· “Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.” – Confucius, Chinese thinker, thinker, political figure, educator
