Polyglot Press

Turning the Tables On Language Teaching and Learning

April 7, 2014

BRAVO

· Welcome to Natalie Korda who has joined the staff at Weddington Middle to teach Spanish.

· Best wishes to Michelle Ballard of Forest Hills and her husband on the birth of her daughter, Madilyn Kate who weighed 9 lb. and 8 oz. and was 20 inches long.

· Welcome to retired Forest Hills High teacher, Wanda Parks, who is subbing for Michelle Ballard during her maternity leave.

· Kudos to Danilo Loor at Central Academy of Technology and the Arts who has a one month scholarship to study in Berlin this summer through the Goethe Institute.

· Congrats to Daniel Sellner who was featured in traditional dress on the UCPS webpage reading a German storybook at the Cuthbertson cluster international festival http://www.ucps.k12.nc.us/news/jump.php?news_id=377614 You can see the festival video at http://animoto.com/play/AZVtBGjOJsosxUOa1SrewQ

· Sarah Wade and Alejandra Elliott were featured on the Marvin Ridge High webpage for their recent tertulia in which students from each class were brought together to practice speaking the whole period. As one students said, “I love Cafe Ole. It's an awesome way to practice and not feel like it has to be perfect. It boosts your confidence which is what a lot of us need!”http://mrhs.ucps.k12.nc.us/news/jump.php?news_id=377569

· Congrats to Amanda Mancilla and Danilo Loor who organized a schoolwide assembly with Jose Galvez, a professional photography who chronicles the lives of Latinos in the US and most recently Latinos in NC http://www.josegalvez.com/ Steve Walker also spoke about indigenous languages in Mexico showcasing the “whistling language” as one of 7,000 languages in the world.He distinguished between head language and heart language. Contact either or both presenters if you would like them to speak at your school.

· Congratulations to Weddington High School World Language Department that once again organized their world language festival in honor of National Foreign Language Week including skits and songs from every language and class in performances each block. Teachers are: Christina Bachiller, Christine Knapp, Jessica Martinez, Brooke Monroe, Sibyll Salazar and Yanli Zhou.

· Applause to Kayla Thompson a senior in IB Spanish with Cathy Eisner (who has left UCPS) and Alice Shrader at MRHS who will attend the NC Governor’s School for Spanish.

· Best wishes to Spanish teacher, Yubely Zolke, who is interning as an Assistant Principal at East Union Middle.

Lessons Learned While Out and About

· Students and teachers are implementing a tremendous amount of technology in their classroom. Their experience and comfort levels seem to be growing by leaps and bounds.

· Julianne Lease split her Piedmont High Spanish 2 class into five stations for a review session. One group was at the SmartBoard doing some drag and drop activities, a memory game, a spelling game. Another group was working on a crossword puzzle on paper. Another group was playing the fly swatter game with current vocabulary. Students rotated to each group.

· Laura Nicholson kept her students on task in Spanish 1 and 4 using an online timer. She uses http://timer.onlineclock.net/. Many teachers have found online timers useful. Another often used timer is at http://www.online-stopwatch.com/ A new one I just learned about is that in Google Chrome , just type set timer and you are taken to a Google timer.

· Danilo Loor has linked Quizlet vocabulary practice to each of his German assignments. Students find the links in a Google doc inside a shared folder. Students each have earbuds for listening to the audio flashcards and practicing them at their own pace. Students have easy access to a Google form that he uses as a DropBox for turning in assignments. Likewise, they can share completed work with him in Google Drive folders.

· Alice Dipom found an online version of The Little Prince for her Monroe High French 4 students. The story is read aloud in French. The French subtitles are included as are English and Spanish translations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mVBaKd45jk

· Marlena James is using Flubaroo with her Spanish 1 and 2 students at Monroe High. Flubaroo is a Google product that self-grades multiple choice or simple words or phrases. It is very useful for quickly grading, for warm-ups, for creating data easily and quickly. Short tutorial videos can be found at http://www.flubaroo.com/instructional-videos

· 7^th grade Spanish students in Edna Castiblanco-Bass’ class are very excited, very motivated when they get to play Kahoot. In Kahoot, the teacher can enter questions in any language and four possible answers. Students read the question and choose the best answer. The student who answers first gets the most points. Students get a message per question telling them their score, who is ahead and who is below them in points. Kahoot is very colorful and can include a visual that relates to the question. Students can use fun, goofy names for practice or real names for true assessment. Teacher can email him or herself the results and keep them for grades or as data for the formative assessment process. Kahoot tutorials are found at http://bit.ly/UCPSWLInteractiveTools

· Natalie Korda’s Weddington Middle students were using the interactive practice questions by Barbara Kucsun Nelson from Colby University to practice their understanding of Interrogative Questions in Spanish. http://personal.colby.edu/~bknelson/SLC/interrogatives.php The value of the exercise is in the immediate feedback students get as to if their answer is correct or incorrect. The entire site is full of useful lessons and units from Day of the Dead videos and songs to present progressive practice http://personal.colby.edu/~bknelson/SLC/index.php

· Yubely Zolke of East Union Middle and Stacie Thompson of Cuthbertson High both have processes to encourage and reward completing homework. In both classes students can earn a homework pass for that rare occasion when they forget to or can’t do their homework.

· Stacie Thompson and Janeva Bailey of Cuthbertson High address multiple learning styles, culture and hands-on learning by showing their Spanish 2 students how to make ponchos. Students brought in their own fabric and cut openings for their head and neck.

· Marlena James is using Flubaroo to automatically correct quick formative assessments she does as multiple-choice or short answer warm-ups she creates in Google forms. Online demos at http://www.flubaroo.com/instructional-videos

Featured Tech Tool

Kahoot – Middle school 6^th grade Spanish teachers learned how to use Kahoot to make interactive games for practice and formative assessment. Kahoot is a free online tool at https://getkahoot.com/ where teachers can create multiple choice questions in the target language that can incorporate photos of the topic or vocabulary. Students gain points by answering correctly and by answering first. Points vary depending upon the order in which you answer. Teachers can include background game show music and timer per question. Likewise, teachers can save students results for create data to guide future instruction. Students do not need an account or login. For tutorial, go to UCPS WL Google Site http://bit.ly/UCPSWLInteractiveTools Lisa Helms of Cuthbertson HS said, “It was a huge success! The kids loved it and I loved it because it loaded correctly and worked… I had kids begging to do it again. Merci!!!!!

Schoolnet

· If you have not accessed Schoolnet to search and see what resources are available there, I invite you to do so. You have a link to Schoolnet in Power School. From there, go to CLASSROOMS, then to INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS for the search window. Choose World Languages and add SPANISH to your keyword search.

Professional Development

· Edweb.net free webinars on TechTools by going to http://www.edweb.net/techtools Free webinars every month after-school Eastern Standard Time, great discussions, sharing of resources, archived webinars and the opportunity to network with educators from all over the world! Past topics have included: flipping the classroom, etc.

· CARLA Summer Institutes for Language Teachers http://www.carla.umn.edu/news/flash.html CARLA = Center for Advanced Research in Language Acquisition CARLA offers a range of institutes targeted at foreign language and ESL teachers from a variety of teaching levels and contexts. CARLA is located at University of Minnesota, 331 17th Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55414

o Using the Web for Communicative Language Learning and Professional Development—online course
July 7–August 10, 2014
Presenters: Marlene Johnshoy and Alyssa R. Bonnac

o Using Technology in Second Language Teaching
July 14–18, 2014
Presenters: Catherine Clements, Marlene Johnshoy, Beth Kautz, Dan Soneson, Rick Treece, Pablo Viedma, Caroline Vang, and Zhen Zou

o Focusing on Learner Language: Second Language Acquisition Basics for Teachers
July 14–18, 2014
Presenters: Elaine Tarone and Maggie Broner

o Improving Language Learning: Styles- and Strategies-Based Instruction 
July 14–18, 2014
Presenter: Martha Nyikos

o Culture as the Core in the Second Language Classroom 
July 21–25, 2014
Presenters: Wendy Allen and Francine Klein

o Content-Based Language Instruction and Curriculum Development
July 21–25, 2014
Presenter: Laurent Cammarata

o Developing Assessments for the Second Language Classroom 
July 28–August 1, 2014
Presenters: Donna Clementi and Ursula Lentz

o Language and Culture in Sync: Teaching the Pragmatics of a Second Language
July 28–August 1, 2014
Presenter: Noriko Ishihara

o Developing Materials for Language Teaching
July 28–August 1, 2014
Presenter: Bill Johnston

WL Blogs

· Amy Lenord - Blog entry on teaching interpersonal communication skills http://www.amylenord.net/1/post/2014/02/the-questions-workshop.html

Digital Resources

· Online Timer – in your Google Chrome browser, just type ‘set timer’ and you will be taken straight to a time you can set for minutes and seconds. Beware, it rings rather loudly.

· Google Advanced Image Search - setting the usage rights shows images that are labeled with a Creative Commons license

· Download free music for soundtrack to digital storytelling, etc. from Jamendo a music sharing site of all legal to use songs. www.jamendo.com

· Connect to students’ lives. Use the family tree for Duck Dynasty tv show found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_Dynasty SCOLT board member and past FLANC & SCOLT Teacher of the Year, Carmen Scoggins shared this as something that worked for her at FLANC Spring Conference 2014.

· Carmen Scoggins also recommends Duolingo’s phone app https://www.duolingo.com/ cellphone apps for kids to practice and expand their exposure to the language out of class.

· Imovie app for iphones –Create your own movie trailers. Promote topics, chapters, I can statements, language learning, bilingualism, etc. imovie app for iphones permits you to create your own ‘movie trailer’ or ‘movie’. See what Carmen Scoggins created at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hE-Y-ofW0U8 Find themes such as: narratives, retro, Indie romance, superhero, teen, etc. that provide templates for your creations.

· Create your own Movie Trailer. Promote student accomplishments, course topics, chapters, I can statements, language learning, bilingualism, etc. imovie app for iphones permits you to create your own free ‘movie trailer’ or ‘movie’. See what Carmen Scoggins created at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hE-Y-ofW0U8 Find themes such as: narratives, retro, Indie romance, superhero, teen, etc. that provide templates for your creations.

· Twitter chats: #edchat and #lrnchat. By including these hashtags, teachers can instantly communicate with peers around the world and share education-related tweets. #WLchatNC will take you to previously tweeted comments for world language teachers in NC. The next WL twitter chat in NC is Monday, April 7 at 7:00 p.m.

Global Awareness

· (International) PISA Problem Solving Exam: With an average score of 508 points, U.S. students exceeded the 500-point average on the exam, in which countries' mean scores ranged from 399 (Columbia) to 562 (Singapore). This meant they performed on par with England, Estonia, France, Netherlands, Italy,the Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Norway, and Ireland. Other countries that earned significantly higher scores than the United States were Macao, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Chinese Taipei, Canada, Australia, and Finland. http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/inside-school-research/2014/04/pisa_problem_solving.html?cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS2

· World View Recommended Podcast - Montagne, R. (Host). (2012, November 12). Struggle for Smarts? How Eastern and Western Cultures Tackle Learning [Audio podcast]. Morning Edition.http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/11/12/164793058/struggle-for-smarts-how-eastern-and-western-cultures-tackle-learning

· World View Recommended Reading - Levin, D. (2013, September 2). Chinese Educators Look to American Classrooms . The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/03/science/chinese-educators-look-to-american-classrooms.html?_r=0.

NC DPI

· NC State Board of Education March Newsletter: Digital Learning Planning Move Forward” The NC General Assembly, via Session Law 2013-12, has stated its intention to transition K-12 education from traditional textbooks to digital learning approaches. A move of this magnitude requires a major transition from the traditional paper textbooks and similar materials to digital resources. Board members are engaged in a planning process that will be followed between now and the 2015 long session of the General Assembly to create the proper plan to support digital learning resources. Deliverables include a plan to

· transition from funding for textbooks to funding for digital materials;

· provide educational resources that remain current, that are aligned with curriculum, and effective for all learners by 2017;

· inventory of the infrastructure needed to support robust digital learning in public schools.

To do this well, a variety of issues will need to be addressed including professional development and changes in teacher practice. Lieutenant Governor Dan Forrest who chairs the Board’s special committee on digital learning said that North Carolina is well positioned to make this move to digital learning.

· U.S. Department of Education Cites NC as a Leader in Reform Through Race to the Top “ North Carolina is considered a national leader in education reform based on the work it has done in public education via the Race to the Top grant, according to the US Department of Education (USED). The USED yesterday released its third-year report on Race to the Top. In it, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan named North Carolina as, once again, one of the top states making progress in serving students, supporting teachers and bolstering technology in its remodeling efforts. To read more, as well as access a copy of the report, please visit www.ncpublicschools.org and click on the appropriate link under “News.” March 20, 2014

Chinese Resources

China – Latin America Round-Up: From the Global Economic Governance Initiative - You may be interested in this newsletter about business and political connections growing between Latin America and China. If you want to be on their email list, you can sign up at http://myemail.constantcontact.com/News--Trends-and-In-Depth-Analysis--The-New-China-Latin-America-Round-Up.html?soid=1109340385094&aid=05If9_mctdA

· Who knew that there were bimonthly newsletters compiling articles, trend reports, book review and academic papers focusing on the relationship between China and Latin America? See articles below:

· China's top lender ICBC to add Peru to expanding Latin America operations http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/money/story/chinas-top-lender-icbc-add-peru-expanding-latin-america-operations-2014013?utm_source=GEGI+Round+Up+1&utm_campaign=GEGI+Round+Up1&utm_medium=email

?utm_source=GEGI+Round+Up+1&utm_campaign=GEGI+Round+Up1&utm_medium=email

· LatAm-China Cooperation Significant Step http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/indepth/2014-01/29/c_133083192.htm?utm_source=GEGI+Round+Up+1&utm_campaign=GEGI+Round+Up1&utm_medium=email

German Resources

· Free digital greeting cards in German http://www.hueber.de/huebercards/

Spanish 3 Resources

· Señora Alicia compares Susana's photo with her portrait to demonstrate the difference between foto and retrato. http://www.ket.org/education/video/kdlaym/kdlaym201110.htm

Polyglot Press for World Languages Teachers

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Evolving Changes in UCPS World Languages

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