Thursday, June 12, 2014

Happy Summer!

Polyglot Press
Turning the Tables on Language Teaching and Learning         
June 12, 2014

BRAVO
What a year this has been! Changes galore! Learning curve off the charts! Incorporation of Chromebooks into instruction! Online access for all learners all day long! Yet, in spite of the surface changes the importance of teacher-student relationships lives on. The importance of quality preparation and engagement remain at the center of our day. World language teachers continue to expose students to new worlds, new ways of living and new ways of organizing words.
Congratulations on your many accomplishments.

UCPS Curriculum Day 2014
·         UCPS World Language teachers will meet Thursday, August 21, 2014 at Weddington Middle School. Refreshments at 8:00 a.m. The program begins at 8:30 a.m.

DPI World Languages Update
·         World Language Webinar #4 was broadcast on Thursday afternoon, June 5, 2014.  All of the materials from this webinar are now posted, including the archived broadcast, PowerPoint presentation, link to the ASW wiki, etc. http://wlnces.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/2013-2014+Webinars
·         The ASW pilot continues. Module 9 has been released. It includes the ASW Quality Rubric. http://ncasw.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/TrainingModules

Ideas from June NC WL Twitter chat: #WLchatNC
·         Try to achieve 100% target language use but create a box in classroom where kids can come to ask questions in English.
·         Have students create their own webpages
·         Google presentations as student portfolios. Add content and visuals there or link to it elsewhere.
·         NCVPS is planning Culture Cafés this summer for interested students to meet online and practice language skills http://ncvpsculturecafe.blogspot.com/ June 19 – El arte de España, July 1 – Las fiestas de San Fermín, etc. 
·         Next Twitter chat August 4 at 8:00 p.m. http://wlnces.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/WLchatNC

Ideas from Technology in A Foreign Language Class MOOC
·         Have students introduce themselves in Voki without mentioning their name. They include five facts about themselves. Peers try to guess who is who.  
·         Each student creates an avatar with Voki then before showing it to the classmates, the student writes a description of his or her avatar and explains what the avatar says. The descriptions are randomly swapped. Students create an avatar according to the description.
·         Lyrics Gap – an online listening comprehension program for music listening. Lyrics are included with missing words. Activities are self-correcting. Includes French and Spanish songs. Teachers can create their own activities with accompanying music. http://www.lyricsgaps.com/  
·         This three week course is in week two  https://www.canvas.net/courses/technology-in-a-foreign-language-class

Ideas from the “Neighbors”
·         Social Media and the WL Classroom – Providence Day Spanish teacher, Sarah Loyola recommends: 1. Blogging 2. Twitter 3. Instagram 4. Video Sharing 5. SlideShare  6. Google Drive 7. Collaborative Editing 8. Facebook  9. Duolingo  10. Polling. Sarah earned the NCTIES Outstanding Teaching 2014 award. http://www.edutopia.org/blog/social-media-for-world-languages-sarah-wike-loyola?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=blog-socialmedia-language-learners  Among her recent initiatives, Loyola created the Level V Spanish class “Teaching World Languages Through Technology and Social Media,” allowing students to further improve their Spanish-language skills with the aid of technology and social media. It was named one of the five courses most likely to pique student interest in the Charlotte area by South Park Magazine in 2013. Her lesson plan, “Connecting with Our Immigrant Nation,” a multimedia project to help students develop an understanding of and appreciation for people from other cultures, was published as published in EDTech Magazine in 2013. Visit her AP Spanish blog at http://pdsblogs.org/apspanish/
·         Assessing with Technology – webpage by Leslie Baldwin, World Language Specialist in Winston-Salem Forsythe County; created for FLANC Spring Fling http://lesliebaldwin8.wix.com/assesswithtech

Chinese Resources

·         22 Facts About China That You Did Not Know – video; 4 minutes; English


German Resources
·         Talk German – “A lively introduction to the language in ten short parts. Watch and listen to the clips and have a look at the key language and transcirpts if needed. The Talk German TV series from which these clips are taken, is repeated from time to time on BBC Learning Zone.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/german/talk

On the Lighter Side - Linguistic and Cultural Guffaws
·         http://www.engrish.com/


Happy Summer!

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