Polyglot Press
Messages for the World Language Teacher
May 2, 2012
May Showers, Cinco de mayo and the Charlotte Asian Festival cannot be outdone by Teacher Appreciation Week beginning May 7. Salutes to you all! Kudos, congrats and many thanks for making the global world more comprehensible and more accessible. Where would we be today without the world language teachers that helped us start our own journeys?! Know that you are changing lives everyday!
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BRAVO
· Did you know that Kathryn Snearly is Weddington Middle Teacher of the Year? She was one of those honored at the UCPS Teacher of the Year banquet April 26. Kathryn teaches Spanish using TPRS. She has numerous online tools that she uses with her students who all have laptops. Kathryn keeps many of her classroom resources on PBWorks’ wiki http://weddingtonspanish.pbworks.com/w/page/28803898/About%20Se%C3%B1ora%20Snearly . She is a firm believer in using the target language close to 90% of the time. She is very creative and brings many fun, engaging activities to the classroom. You might walk in one day to see the students up circulating interviewing each other about what sports they know how to play (practicing saber vs. conocer). Another day will find her in a big Mexican sombrero for hat day. She has ‘euros coins’ (paper) that students earn for participation. Her students can create questions in the language to ask her something about class. Students talk about class activities in Spanish by creating their own sentences.
· Shout out to Parkwood High that hosted an international fair, Tuesday, April 24. Congrats to the Marvin Ridge High World Languages team who hosted an International Bazaar Monday, April 30.
· Kudos to the Sun Valley HS World Languages team. They are coordinating a world languages week May 14 – 18 with guest presenters talking about study abroad and exchange students. The cafeteria is serving food from various countries each day. Hats off to French teacher, Daniela Kolarska, who is coordinating many of the events.
· High Five to Xiaohong HuMueller, who masterfully handled the translation work and cultural explanations for the four Chinese administrators with the Marvin Ridge High Chinese sister-school who visited the county last week from Nanjing China. Pairwork, group work and project-based learning were three of the big items that caught their attention K – 12.
· Dr. Dennis Washburn’s name is in the board consent agenda for retirement this year. Dennis is currently teaching French at Porter Ridge High but has also taught Spanish and French at Parkwood High. Hats off to years of dedication to WL teaching.
· 14 UCPS teachers are taking the online course Teaching World Languages with Online Resources.
· Edna Castiblanco, Spanish teacher at Porter Ridge Middle, has her summer mission trip to Colombia planned and ready to go.
Events
· May 5 – Cinco de mayo Battle of Puebla in Mexico where local people proudly fought off French aggression and imperialism.
· May 5 – Asian Festival and Charlotte Dragonboat Festival http://www.charlottedragonboat.com/ Ramsey Park in Cornelius on Lake Norman.
· May 7 – 11 Teacher Appreciation Week – Take a bow and well-earned congratulations!
Professional Development
· July 9-27 Appalachian State University Summer Institute,
Boone ASU invites teachers of French, Spanish, and ESL to participate in the fifth annual Summer Institute in Foreign Languages and Linguistics Participants can earn graduate credit in up to two three-week courses (French, Spanish, or FL Teaching with Technology) or a certificate of attendance for professional development purposes for several one-week modules within the institute. On-campus housing and meals are available Sun-Thurs (weekends free) for one,two or three weeks; a weekend housing option is also available for those living further away.This summer¹s graduate offerings in the Institute are: Theater and Performance in French, Teaching French Language and Culture with Technology, The Media in Spain and Latin America, Teaching Spanish Language and Culture with Technology, Teaching Language with Technology. Application information and course overviews are available on the web. Deadline: June 15, though some courses will fill earlier: http://dllc.appstate.edu/graduate-program/summer-institute-info Interested participants can start an online application for academic credit http://www.graduate.appstate.edu. Teachers wishing to apply credit from this program to an MA at Appalachian should contact the Program Director for more information. The university also offers online/hybrid offerings with a small number of class meetings in Hickory to serve French and Spanish teachers in fall and spring.Questions? Please contact Dr. Beverly Moser moserba@appstate.edu https://webmail.ucps.k12.nc.us/owa/UrlBlockedError.aspx
Associate Professor and Director, MA in Romance Languages
Boone ASU invites teachers of French, Spanish, and ESL to participate in the fifth annual Summer Institute in Foreign Languages and Linguistics Participants can earn graduate credit in up to two three-week courses (French, Spanish, or FL Teaching with Technology) or a certificate of attendance for professional development purposes for several one-week modules within the institute. On-campus housing and meals are available Sun-Thurs (weekends free) for one,two or three weeks; a weekend housing option is also available for those living further away.This summer¹s graduate offerings in the Institute are: Theater and Performance in French, Teaching French Language and Culture with Technology, The Media in Spain and Latin America, Teaching Spanish Language and Culture with Technology, Teaching Language with Technology. Application information and course overviews are available on the web. Deadline: June 15, though some courses will fill earlier: http://dllc.appstate.edu/graduate-program/summer-institute-info Interested participants can start an online application for academic credit http://www.graduate.appstate.edu. Teachers wishing to apply credit from this program to an MA at Appalachian should contact the Program Director for more information. The university also offers online/hybrid offerings with a small number of class meetings in Hickory to serve French and Spanish teachers in fall and spring.Questions? Please contact Dr. Beverly Moser moserba@appstate.edu https://webmail.ucps.k12.nc.us/owa/UrlBlockedError.aspx
Associate Professor and Director, MA in Romance Languages
DPI
This assessment tutorial shows you how the online testing system works. You can select a test and then practice moving between and answering questions.
Information related to the latest version of the online testing system, NCTest v 2.5. Here you can find the technical requirements for the system, information on registration and administration, the assessment tutorial, and other resources related to administering online assessments.
· Formative Assessment Webinar Online - The NC FALCON formative assessment webinar that was held on March 29 is available for viewing in NC FALCON at http://center.ncsu.edu/nc by clicking on Formative Assessment and scrolling to the webinar link. Resources and materials presented by Donna Wade during the webinar are already available in the Falcon Forum in NC FALCON. These files are downloadable once you login to NC FALCON and go to the Falcon Forum. Click on the lesson template notebook to download her lesson file or click "discuss this topic" at the bottom of the message to find three additional files within the message. All NC educators have access to NC FALCON if they have created a login through NC Education at http://center.ncsu.edu/nc If you have not created a login, go to the URL above and click on login in the upper right hand corner. On the login page you will be prompted to enter your login, find an existing account (if you have forgotten your login), or create a new account. When you click on “create new account” you will be prompted to enter information to set up a login. If you have trouble with the login, contact the help desk at ncdesk@ncsu.edu or 919/515-1320.
Race to the Top Updates
· Vanessa Jeter includes the following reading suggestions “WHAT EDUCATORS ARE READING...Rob Jackson is the 2011-12 North Carolina Principal of the Year and Principal of Cuthbertson High School in Union County Schools. He offers the following reading recommendations for instructional leadership and incorporation of technology: Aspire to Greatness: “Great leaders are made, not born, by Nick Corso. This book was written as a guide to help others develop, discover and accelerate their leadership potential through the process of awareness and the study of great leaders who have come before us. The 21st Century Toolbox: Innovative Apps for Educators and Students, by Monica Sevilla. This is a guide for using Web-based learning to better prepare students for college and careers. The Leader in Me: How Schools and Parents Around the World Are Inspiring Greatness, One Child at a Time, by Steven R. Covey. This is the story of the extraordinary schools, parents and business leaders around the world who are preparing the next generation to meet the great challenges and opportunities they will face in their careers and in life.
ACTFL
· Alignment of the National Standards for Learning Languages with the Common Core State Standards http://www.actfl.org/files/Aligning_CCSS_Language_Standards_v6.pdf
· The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines 2012 describe what individuals can do with language in terms of speaking, writing, listening and reading in real-world situations in a spontaneous and non-rehearsed context. The direct application of the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines is for the evaluation of functional language ability. The Guidelines are intended to be used for global assessment in academic and workplace settings. For the past 25 years, the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines have had an increasingly profound impact on language teaching, learning, and assessment in the United States. The 2012 Guidelines website with glossed terminology and annotated, multimedia samples of performance at each level in English can be found at: http://www.actfl.org/profguidelines2012.This is what we are working on in UCPS! Real world situations for students to practice and be assessed in what they CAN DO with the language.
Awareness
Videoclip from Paula McGuire about learning to speak “English as a Foreign Language” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHLplT3aqKU&feature=related
FLANC Spring Fling Notes
· Dr. Bobby Hobgood, of the Friday Institute at NCSU, shared his materials on blended learning on his wiki at http://languageblend.pbworks.com.Bobby recommended the following tools: http://m.socrative.com/ for students to send in opinions, answers, ideas much like www.polldaddy.com or www.polleverywhere.com Dr. Hobgood also recommended having a personal bookmarking site to save your favorite links and to share your favorite links with others. He suggested www.diigo.com. He extolled the benefits of ‘flipping the classroom’ where students watch content videos out of class and practice more in class. NCSU has videos on Flipping the Classroom at http://www.fi.ncsu.edu/project/fizz/ He promoted the idea of teachers filming their own frequently used lessons or explanations so that students can access them again and again. He promoted http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/ as one free online tool for recording your computer screen and your voice while you explain a topic.
· Dr. Scott Kissau of UNC-C along with Xiaohong HuMueller, past student and currently Chinese teacher at Marvin Ridge High, presented on high tech and low-tech warm-ups. High Tech warm-ups included: www.Wordle.net ; www.Piclits.com ; www.Classtools.net ; www.Toondoo.com ; www.pixton.com ; www.Voki.com ; www.Wallwisher.com; www.Linoit.com ; www.PollDaddy.com ; www.Ivoted.com ; www.PollEverywhere.com ; www.Bubbl.us
· Teryn Odom, Piedmont High grad and student teacher at Sun Valley HS with Alice Shrader shared many tech tools such as www.Animoto.com ; www.blogger.com/; www.embedit.in www.Blabberize.com www.Fotobabble.com ; www.glogster.com ; www.Goanimate.com ; https://www.google.com/calendar; https://docs.google.com/; www.maps.google.com ; www.Ipadio.com ; www.Prezi.com ; www.Picassa.com www.ProjectPlaylist.com ; www.Scribd.com , www.Screencast-o-matic.com www.Scribblar.com www.SharedCopy.com www.Slideshare.com www.Sumopaint.com ; www.TeacherTube.com ; www.Vimeo.com www.SchoolTube.com www.Toondoo.com; www.Bitstrips.com www.Pixton.com ; www.uMapper.com www.Voicethread.com www.Voki.com; www.Wallwisher.com ; www.Wordle.net ; www.Xtranormal.com ; www.Widgetbox.com ; www.pinterest.com ; YouTube fun stuff: Conjugations Back http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ex3k3yKjYk Cry Me A Verb http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yup8ifNVcKI Teryn’s own online portfolio can be found at https://site.google.com/site/terynodom
· Mara Cobe of CMS and Teryn Odom of NC Virtual Public Schools presented on their work with Proficiency 101; the NC DPI WL request for videos of teacher lessons. They highlighted the materials of the www.tellproject.com and their “Teacher Effectiveness for Learning” materials. The standard of teaching in the target language 90% of the time or above is repeated. The materials include WL teacher assessment forms and principal observation forms.
Chinese Resources
· From Sharon Tian "Fantasy and Romance" Acrobatic performance http://english.cntv.cn/program/natureandscience/20120103/114275.shtml
· Etiquette for Exchanging Business Cards in China http://www.asianbusinesscards.com/chinese-business-card-culture-tips-china.html
Spanish Resources
· In Realidades 1, there is a unit on healthy eating that refers to the food pyramid. That pyramid is now replaced by the model of a food plate and the proportions one should eat as quantities like a pie chart. Please refer to plates not pyramids now. Resources for this new concept in Spanish are found at http://www.choosemyplate.gov/en-espanol.html Thanks to Katie Kane, Spanish teacher at Piedmont High, for sharing this resources and science / health update.
· Cinco de mayo - Thanks to Paula McGuire, Marvin Ridge Middle, for sharing this link to a three minute video about Cinco de mayo. “A short educational video about the history behind Cinco de Mayo, appropriate for most grade levels, is available at http://www.history.com/videos/cinco-de-mayo#cinco-de-mayo” Paula got this from the CASL list serv and website.
