IWLA News (blog)

IWLA Fall Conference by Jennifer Tovar

Wed, 19 Oct 2016 20:13:13 GMT

All I can say is WOW! I came back to my classroom so inspired.

I attended the IWLA 2016 conference for the first time this year and learned so much. I came back and used 2 ideas right way. I had never heard of Duolingo and at lunch, I talked with other teachers. By Wednesday after the conference, I had all my students signed up and playing. Some of my students are addicted. It is awesome!!

In my upper-level classes, I took an idea from a TPRS/CI session and recreated it to a vocab practice in the upper levels. Students had to choose a 6 genre, 6 characters, and 6 settings. Then I had my class choose 6 random numbers between 5 and 20. We then rolled dice to establish the basics for our script. The number that was chosen was the number of vocabulary words they had to use. One of my classes wrote a script for a romance, with a character named Nathan Drake in Madagascar using 19 vocabulary words. The other class chose a horror script, with a Spanish teacher at the train station using 19 vocabulary words. I actually ended up doing this activity while my administrator was conducting her formal evaluation. She was impressed.

Thank you IWLA for putting this on every year. It was fantastic and I can't wait until next year.

IWLA Conference: Reenergizing, Reaffirming, and Reinforcing by Kayla Weis

Mon, 17 Oct 2016 18:10:52 GMT

I love the IWLA Conference because it reminds me of the big, important ideas that may slip through the cracks when you get caught up in the day-to-day of teaching, lesson planning, making copies, etc. The keynote speaker, executive director of ACTFL Mary Abbott, discussed core practices that are key to language learning success, and I think that language teachers can’t look at these often enough. These core practices are as follows…

1. Using the target language 90% of the time. (Both students and teachers)

2. Using the target language for communicative activities... in other words, using the TL to communicate previously unknown information. Activities where students know beforehand what their partner will say are not communicative activities. Communicative activities have no "right" answer.

3. When teaching grammar, focus FIRST on how/why the form is used. Then, focus on conjugations and form. (Use the PACE model.)

4. Use authentic cultural resources. (I really need to do better on this one. I attended an open discussion forum (“EdCamp”) on this topic where teachers shared ideas, and I need to find where the notes from that session are posted.)

5. Use backwards design: First determine desired results, then evidence, then instruction.

6. Expand feedback to more than "buen trabajo/muy bien." Another fun fact I learned was that the best error correction strategy for speaking is to repeat the student's utterance up to the error and pause, waiting for the student to supply the correction.

Well, there you go! Short, sweet, and hopefully helpful. :)

#IWLA17 Free Registration Giveaway

Elizabeth Dentlinger — Wed, 12 Oct 2016 19:18:50 GMT

Would you like to join your world language teaching friends for FREE next year at #IWLA17 on October 13th & 14th at the Des Moines Marriott? Did you also attend #IWLA16 this past weekend? Then this post is for you!

In an effort to help spread the word about how truly amazing the Iowa World Language Association’s Fall Conference and its members are, we would like to invite you to write a few words about your experience at the #IWLA16 conference in order to encourage others to come in the future. A few ideas that may inspire your writing:

your top 5 favorite things from the conference
a collection of quotes
a summary of a stellar presentation you saw
observations as a 1st time attendee
observations as a 30th time attendee
an activity you plan to try out as a result of something you saw while there
why you plan to go to future IWLA conferences as a result of this one

All submission must be received by Saturday, October 22nd in order to be entered in the drawing for ONE FREE REGISTRATION to #IWLA17! Submissions should be made to current President Jason Noble (thespanishnobility@gmail.com) and current Vice President Elizabeth Dentlinger (eldentlinger@gmail.com). There are two ways you can submit your piece:

Bloggers - write your post on your own blog and then share the link with us. We will send it out on IWLA social media accounts.
Non-Bloggers - write your piece in a Word doc, Google Doc, etc., and then send that to us. We will post it on iwla.net and then share it on IWLA social media accounts.

Best of luck to all who enter!

-------------------------

This information is also pinned at the top of our Facebook page through the end of the competition. To receive up-to-date information from the Iowa World Language Association, please consider following us on our Facebook page, our Twitter, and our Pinterest page!

Big Iowa WL news!

Stacy Amling — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 02:35:12 GMT

It's been a whirlwind couple of days for us! After months and years of hard work, so much of what we as IWLA members and world language educators have been fighting for is being realized this summer: state world language model competencies for Iowa AND a representative at the Iowa Department of Education!

If you've seen the pictures we posted earlier today on Facebook & Twitter, you've seen that several IWLA Executive Board members (Kat, Linda, Jason, Kate, and I) have been collaborating with Marcia Powell and Sandra Dop from the Iowa Department of Education and the 2015 Iowa Teacher of the Year, Clemencia Spizzirri, to pull together information from Iowa Learning Online, ACTFL, and other sources to formulate Iowa model competencies in support of the competency-based education movement in the state. We have more work days planned this summer and we will be sharing our work with all of you soon, but it's a great feeling to have this initiative moving forward!

As part of this process, it has been wonderful to meet Clemencia and to begin to foment a new collaborative relationship with her! Part of her platform as Teacher of the Year is to advocate for language education, and she is doing many exciting things that are great for students, great for us all, and great for our profession. If you are on Twitter, you can follow her there: @elspizzirri. We hope she will join us in October for our fall 2015 IWLA conference, too.

The other HUGE event from today was meeting Stephanie Wager, who has worked as the Iowa Department of Education's Social Studies consultant for the past couple of year and who has recently been asked to also support World Languages as part of her job. (As many of you know, we have been lacking a voice within the Dept of Ed and the AEAs in recent years, so this is fantastic!) Stephanie has studied Spanish, and taught English in Mexico for a year, and is excited to support our efforts and be a voice for us at the Department. Please join us in thanking Stephanie for her efforts!

Two Univ of Iowa graduate-level Spanish courses for summer via Distance Ed

Stacy Amling — Tue, 05 May 2015 16:13:00 GMT

The University of Iowa is offering TWO courses online/via distance education this summer that can be counted as graduate Spanish courses. The instructors of both courses welcome in-service teachers looking to get graduate credit, and the Continuing Ed program affirms that students can register for graduate credit for both of these classes.

Two things to keep in mind:

It is the individual enrollee’s responsibility to check that they qualify to take the class(es) for graduate credit, and to be sure that they register appropriately to get it. The courses are offered for undergraduates as well as graduate students, so attention should be paid to that (there's a point to sign-up as either "undergraduate" or "graduate" - when enrolling). Directions for registering as a non-degree student are here: http://www.continuetolearn.uiowa.edu/readytoenroll/index.asp
Similarly, it’s the individual enrollee’s responsibility to be sure that whoever is looking at their transcript will accept the course as graduate credit.

Here are the two courses:

SPAN: 4095:0EXZ Advanced Spanish Grammar

https://isis.uiowa.edu/isis2/courses/details.page?_ticket=neLiY1j48yxVMfOG2amv3QuvswZ-4TnO&id=772494&ci=154375

Course Professor Philip Klein http://clas.uiowa.edu/dwllc/spanish-portuguese/people/philip-w-klein

SPAN: 4830: 0EXZ The Hispanic World in the Digital Era

https://isis.uiowa.edu/isis2/courses/details.page?_ticket=jOsBARekp-De4UmfUWkUGAuvswZ-4TnO&id=784506&ci=169228

Course Professor Ana Merino http://clas.uiowa.edu/dwllc/spanish-portuguese/people/ana-merino

Embassy of Spain - Colegio del Año award

Carrie Morris — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 22:09:10 GMT

The Education Office of the Embassy of Spain will be awarding the “Colegio del Año” award 2013. Application deadline is March 31, 2014.

The aim of this contest is to reward academic excellence among schools in the United States implementing Programs which use CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) methodology using both English and Spanish. The competition is organized by the Education Office of the Embassy of Spain and is sponsored by the Santander Shareholders in the United States of America in collaboration with the Cervantes Institute, the Publishing Companies Anaya and Santillana and the Comillas Foundation.

More information and application form

http://www.mecd.gob.es/eeuu/en_US/convocatorias-programas/convocatorias-eeuu/escuela_a-o

ACTFL 2013

Thu, 16 Jan 2014 21:14:26 GMT

Last November, while the streets of Des Moines were icing over, I was enjoying ACTFL’s annual convention in sunny Orlando. The weather was just one of the many highlights of this year’s convention. The four days that I spent at ACTFL included a productive Assembly of Delegates, an inspiring keynote address, and sessions full of great ideas.

On Thursday, I attended the Assembly of Delegates where we spent most of the day discussing advocacy. As IWLA’s new advocacy chair, I was especially interested to see what is going on in other states, and what we might be able to do in Iowa. The delegates went through a list of action items, and I’m proud to say that IWLA is already doing so many of the things that were on the list. For example, we have a teacher of the year award and we’ve established relationships with many of our representatives. Another item on the list was to create PK-16 standards for world language education, which some of our members are currently working on. Many of the action items concerned meeting with administrators and legislators, which we will continue to do.

I’d also like to share with you a few documents that we went through at the Assembly. ACTFL has revised their standards to make them easier to understand and implement. The PDF can be found here:

https://www.actfl.org/publications/all/world-readiness-standards-learning-languages

I know that many of us are interested in using ACTFL’s “Can-Do” statements, especially after attending sessions with Paul Sandrock a few years ago. A booklet of these statements can be downloaded here:

http://www.actfl.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/Can-Do_Statements.pdf

ACTFL Executive Director Marty Abbott recently interviewed Rosetta Stone CEO Steve Swad. They had a very interesting conversation that you can read here:

http://www.actfl.org/sites/default/files/AOD/RosettaStoneQ%2BA.pdf

On Friday morning, the ACTFL convention officially kicked off with a keynote address from Tony Wagner. I was excited to hear him speak, as my coworkers and I had read one of his books as part of our professional development a few years ago. Much of his address focused on the seven survival skills that he discusses in detail in the book The Global Achievement Gap. If you haven’t read it yet, I would highly recommend it. Wagner’s thesis is that the culture of schooling is radically at odds with the culture of creativity. One of his questions for us was this: what must we do to develop creative problem solvers? One idea that I found very interesting comes, not surprisingly, from the offices of Google. Google employees spend part of their work week on what they call “20% time.” This means that 20% of their time is spent pursuing their own individual ideas and passions. In this model, their work does not necessarily have to fit their job description, and there is no penalty for failure. This idea might be one part (albeit a fraction) of the answer to Wagner’s overarching challenge to teachers, which is to inspire play, passion, and purpose in our students.

The sessions this year covered many languages. The Asian languages were well-represented, as they have been for the past few years. However, there seemed to be more Spanish and French sessions or sessions that were intended for all languages than at last year’s convention. This may be because the focus was on technology, as the theme was New Spaces New Realities: Learning Any Time, Any Place. Going into the conference, I hoped to find new ways to use my SMARTboard and my iPad in class. Last year, ACTFL board members promised that the technology sessions would really focus on technology as a means and not an end, and that really was the case. . I was not disappointed by any of the sessions that I attended, but my favorite session was one that focused on how to implement Google’s 20% time in a world language classroom. Everything I attended left me feeling very motivated to find new ways to allow my students to be creative and pursue their interests while using all of the amazing technology they have at their fingertips.

If you are interested in attending ACTFL in the fall, the convention will take place from November 21-23. It’s another chance to escape the cold of Iowa for warmth, as it will be in San Antonio Texas.

Finally, I would like to thank IWLA for giving me the opportunity to be your representative for the past two years. I have learned many things that I hope will make me a better teacher, and I’ve been lucky to meet some inspiring colleagues along the way. In two years, IWLA will be looking for a representative again, and I would truly encourage anyone who’s interested to run for this position. I can’t even begin to express how wonderful it has been and how grateful I am.

Just a few days until the conference!

Carrie Morris — Fri, 27 Sep 2013 19:58:01 GMT

Final details are being put into place for the October 11-12 IWLA conference, and having been involved in some of the planning, I'm really excited! It really is amazing how much work is involved in the conference on so many levels. We've been fielding registration questions for the last few weeks. Bea Houston, our membership chair, has been sending out receipts from paper registrations. The executive board has been working on various responsibilities--looking at award and grant nominations, making sure our website is up and running, paying for all the necessities that come along with the conference, preparing for meetings. Our president, Tracy Dinesen, has been working with the Downtown Marriott for months on our conference arrangements, and last but certainly not least---Kerisa Baedke has put together yet another full slate of great conference presentations! If you haven't yet, I highly recommend taking a look at the At-A-Glance on the Conference tab (just scroll down a bit--it's there!) and getting an outline of what's in store for this year.

If this will be your first year at IWLA, I hope you get the opportunity to network with colleagues in your teaching area and in others and really take advantage of all the opportunities that the conference provides. It can be an overwhelming few hours, so having an idea of what you want to accomplish can really help. If there is a classroom issue or teaching concept or strategy that you want to address, there may very well be a conference session that can help you. There may be fellow teachers at your table that can give you suggestions or support.

If you've attended before or have been attending for years, please know that we are grateful for your continued trust in IWLA to provide you with a quality conference experience. We really do try to bring back the things you like and try to fix the things you don't as much as we possibly can. At the Friday luncheon, there will be a survey for you to share any ideas with us on ways to make our conference even better. I hope you'll take the time to do so.

See you in two weeks!

Carrie Morris

IWLA Secretary

Looking for materials - Spanish - Navegando

Carrie Morris — Fri, 06 Sep 2013 17:47:54 GMT

Michelle Osberg from Mormon Trail High School is looking for copies of the EMC Navegando series for Levels 1-3.

If you're looking to get rid of some books just taking up space, she would greatly appreciate your passing on anything you can!

You can contact Michelle at mcosberg@msn.com.

Thanks!

Suggestions for semester to trimester changing for Spanish?

Carrie Morris — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:37:36 GMT

Please respond to Paula at her e-mail address below if you have suggestions.

I need help from our members. My school is switching to trimesters next year. Each trimester will be 12 weeks long. All core classes (Spanish 1 - 2 - 3 - 4) will be taught 1st and 2nd trimester with the 3rd trimester reserved for electives. So all of my core classes will now be condensed from 36 weeks to 24. I will teach an 8th grade Exploratory during the 3rd trimester in addition to several English classes.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what should be taught and what "can be omitted"? I am using the Realidades textbook. I have several copies of Spanish for Mastery 2 & 3 on hand as well.

Gracias,

Paula McDougall

pmcdougall@dunkerton.k12.ia.us

Interested in Joinging a Teacher Study Group?

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:24:18 GMT

Teacher Study Group: Exploration of Cultural Teaching and Competence.

A Drake university World Languages and Cultures faculty member is seeking language educators to participate in a teacher study group focusing on cultural teaching and cultural competence for world language learners.

The teacher study group is a form of collaborative professional development in which teachers with similar interests meet regularly and explore issues relevant to classroom practices. Participants who agree to join the teacher study group will meet once a week face-to-face or online. At the meetings, members will exchange their questions, ideas, and experiences. They will also learn about and discuss theories and teaching methodologies related to cultural teaching and cultural competence.

The expected group meeting duration will be for five to ten weeks, and meet once a week for one-hour meetings, during the summer break of 2013. (meeting times and duration of the teacher study group activities will be determined according to participants’ schedule.)

This is a research study, and the participants will be asked to fill out questionnaires and participate in interviews regarding their teacher study group experiences. No participation fee or stipend are involved in this teacher study group research.

To sign up, or for questions, contact Chinatsu Sazawa at chinatsu.sazawa@drake.edu or 515-271-4992.

JNCL-NCLIS urges Senate action!

Carrie Morris — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 02:05:23 GMT

JNCL-NCIS urges all of those interested in world language issues to contact their Senators and have them sign on to the letter below. The letter goes to Senator Harkin, so contacting Senator Harkin directly could also be helpful!

Do not call Sen Schatz's office or e-mail his staff. Instead contact your own Senators' offices, asking that they sign on to Sen Schatz's Title VI (International Education) Dear Colleague Letter. You can go to senate.gov to look up your Senators' phone numbers. Call and say who you are, and what you are calling about. Thank you!

Today Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) circulated the attached (copied below) Dear Colleague letter on FY 2014 funding for Title VI/Fulbright-Hays to all Senate Members inviting sign-ons. Addressed to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Labor, HHS and Education Appropriations, the letter urges "robust funding for Title VI/ Fulbright-Hays International Education and Foreign Language program, at minimum the President’s request of $80.938 million."

The deadline for sign-ons is NOON Thursday, April 25. This is a short timeframe, because Senator requests to the Labor, HHS and Education appropriations subcommittee are due on April 26. Senate staff may contact Sen. Schatz's Legislative Assistant, Christiane Cardoza, e-mail Christiane_Cardoza@schatz.senate.gov or phone, 202-224.-934.

Please support Sen. Schatz's efforts by circulating the letter to your Senate contacts ASAP, urging Senators to sign on by April 25. Sen. Schatz is striving for a bi-partisan letter.

Message and Letter to Senate offices from Sen. Schatz's office

Senator Schatz would like to invite your bosses to join him in sending a letter to the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Subcommittee requesting at minimum $80.938 million for Title VI/Fulbright-Hays International Education and Foreign Language programs. These programs enhance instruction in foreign language and area studies in order to advance our nation’s diplomacy, national security, and trade competitiveness. The President’s FY 2014 budget requests $80.938 million for these programs.

The deadline to sign on is 12:00 noon Thursday, April 25.

April __, 2013

The Honorable Tom Harkin The Honorable Jerry Moran

Chairman Ranking Member

Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Senate Appropriations Subcommittee

On Labor, Health and Human Services On Labor, Health and Human Services

and Education and Education

Washington, D.C. 20510 Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Chairman Harkin and Ranking Member Moran:

As you draft your Fiscal Year 2014 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Appropriations bill, we request that you include robust funding for Title VI/ Fulbright-Hays International Education and Foreign Language program, at minimum the President’s request of $80.938 million.

Title VI/Fulbright-Hays programs have had a tremendous impact on our nation over the years by developing a strong foundation in international education, research, and foreign language studies, especially in the less-commonly taught languages of U.S. strategic interest. The FY 2014 budget is particularly critical, because the nation’s premier Title VI language, area, and international business resource centers and fellowships will compete for the next cycle of 4-year grants. Given the 44 percent funding reduction since FY 2011, without an adequate restoration of Title VI funds, we could potentially lose nearly half of these centers that form the cornerstone of the nation’s deep international knowledge and expertise.

The various programs funded under this account serve to strengthen the nation’s educational infrastructure in areas where the need grows greater by the day. Strong academic programs in critical foreign languages and intensive training in multi-disciplinary regional studies including socio-economic, cultural, security, and religious aspects among others are vital to our national security. It is also important to keep in mind that, beyond the intensive curriculum development and related academic programming that is possible thanks to these programs, these resources make possible extensive outreach to K-12 classrooms, strong collaborations between four year postsecondary institutions and community colleges, and strengthened ties between U. S. postsecondary institutions and international partners.

We strongly urge a robust restoration of funding for these programs to preserve this critical international and foreign language education infrastructure. This is a small, but vitally important investment both in education and national security, as well as economic competitiveness.

Sincerely,

Online Graduate Credit available through UNI this summer!

Carrie Morris — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 00:22:27 GMT

The Department of Languages and Literatures at the University of
Northern Iowa, in conjunction with the Office of Continuing and Distance Education, is offering two Spanish graduate online courses for the Summer 2013 semester:

SPAN 6052 - Topics in Language and Culture: Sport and Media in Spain
3 units
Instructor - Juan Carlos Castillo
Dates - 6/10/13 - 7/5/13
Instruction Mode - online via eLearning
The aim of this course is to develop an understanding of the culture of
Spain through the study of sports. The focus will be on how sports are
used to promote different identities, through the study of the media,
national icons and symbols, nation-building, globalization, immigration,
gender, drugs and cultural diversity. Even though some of the readings
for the course will be in English, Spanish will be the language used in
the class and in all assignments.

SPAN 6060 - Spanish American Literature: Latin American Novel
3 units
Instructor - Ivonne Cuadra
Dates - 7/8/13 - 8/2/13
Instruction Mode - online via eLearning
Study of selected Latin American novels of the 20th century.

Tuition will be $431/unit + $24.25 technology fee per class.

These courses are fully applicable to the UNI Spanish, Spanish-Teaching, and TESOL-Spanish M.A. programs. For information about admission into these programs, please visit:
http://www.grad.uni.edu/admission

Students who want to take a Continuing Education course can also be
admitted through the Continuing Education office as non-degree seeking students.

Please fill out the enrollment form at
http://www.uni.edu/continuinged/enroll-now by June 6th if you are enrolling for SPAN 6052 and by July 4th if you are enrolling for SPAN 6060 to ensure you will have eLearning access at the start of the course.

Questions regarding course content should be direct to the instructor,
juan.castillo@uni.edu & ivonne.cuadra@uni.edu.

Any questions regarding enrolling or locating course information can be
answered by Trisha at UNI Continuing and Distance Education,
trisha.becker@uni.edu.

How much further?

Carrie Morris — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 16:51:32 GMT

At this time of the term, I think it’s safe to say that students as well as teachers are starting to run out of gas a little. This is my attempt to help to put a little zip back into your attitude and some spring in your step so that we finish the year on a positive note. So here are some things that may help to keep in mind.

YOUR CLASS CAN BE THAT ONE BRIGHT SPOT. At the 2011 conference, Ellen Bernard Shrager made some comments that I haven’t forgotten. She talked about how some of our students don’t come from the very best environments and our class may be the best part of their day. They may feel safe, happy, cared about, and excited in our classrooms. Even if that is true for just one student, think of that one student when you walk into your next class. You can help him/her have a great day. Teach every class as if there is at least one of these students in it.

YOU SET THE TONE. I know I have had days where I feel less than energetic or less than prepared. Recently, I decided to combat that with a dose of energy and positive attitude. I started my second semester class like I had the most exciting story to tell them. It was just two minutes, but I used gestures, dramatic faces, and simple enough language to tell them what happened to me at a restaurant. They listened, responded appropriately, asked questions and they were off to the races. They worked so well in conversation activities, stayed engaged and kept the energy level up for the rest of the almost two-hour class. I feel almost certain that those students didn’t spend a single minute disengaged from the task at hand.

WE HAVE ONE OF THE MOST FUN JOBS EVER. Administrative responsibilities aside, when we are in our classrooms with our students, what we do is so much fun. We wouldn’t do this if it wasn’t to some point. No matter what is going on outside the classroom, we have a few minutes to be with students and teach them another language and culture. I firmly believe that our attitude dictates how well it goes.

I hope this helps you to get through these last few weeks. Summer will be here soon.

Contact your U.S. Senators and Representatives today!

Carrie Morris — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 15:07:33 GMT

Ensure that existing language programs are protected.

We know that actions speak louder than words with the future of critical education and foreign language programs on the line. Our leaders on both sides of the aisle must come together for a “grand bargain,” but so far, these conversations have yet to yield real results. Tell your Member of Congress TODAY to work with their colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support a grand bargain that provides a long-term solution to sequestration and includes a balanced approach to deficit reduction. Without a real solution, the education and foreign language programs we care about face an uncertain future with nearly 10 years of devastating cuts. The time to act is now – send a message to your representative and senators today!

To learn more about ACTFL’s Action Alert, “Sequestration Now in Effect - Urge a Grand Bargain”, go to http://capwiz.com/actfl/home/ and contact your representative and senators today!

Language Advocacy in your own school!

Kat Akers — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 16:02:11 GMT

When collaborating with your staff are there certain breaks in your conversation because they just don't understand your content? Do you feel you are pushed to the bottom of the totem pole of knowledge because you are a language teacher?

Of course there are always going to be times that you feel your content is just not understood by either a parent, staff member, or administration. The important thing is to remember that each individual has gone into their content area for their own reasons and the best thing to do is respect them. I have learned in my few years of teaching is that I must take interest in my colleagues work for them to take interest in mine. How can you do this you say, check it out below. These are just a few basic steps to create a great environment in your own district to ensure others respect your work.

1. Be enthusiastic behind your own doors. If you are not excited about what you are teaching, the kids won't be either, which will trickle into a downward spiral of respect from all sides of the spectrum.

2. Collaborate! Take an interest in another team members classroom by asking them to collaborate on a project together. You might have to schedule a few extra meetings or communication with them, but try it and see how your kids then make the connections in the two or three content areas.

3. Communication is Key! Ask questions and really listen to the responses you are getting. Do this by asking what is going on in your colleagues' classroom. They might be struggling with the same problems or students.

4. Get your kids out of your room. Okay, this may not be a possible action for all to leave your classroom on a regular basis. What I mean is: get the kids to explore language development, culture, or uses outside your own room. Globalize the classroom, even if it is just in your school. Get the kids to explore the uses of languages in other content areas or show them how by taking a field trip.

5. Attitude is everything. If you are willing to work with someone new or try something new how can others around you do the same? You need to take a step out of your comfort zone and show everyone that you are willing to take chances to try something new. Having a great attitude about risks will show others you are willing to work beyond your own mind and accept others' work as well.

Polyglots: master of language learning

Kimberly Huegerich — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 01:15:02 GMT

Being a polyglot is not normal. They master multiple languages with ease. What if we could harness that ability and teach people the same skills? Are those skills even teachable? Could language teacher make language learning easier?

Reading blogs of polyglots and the process they go through to learn can be fascinating. They do offer some insight into language learning that sets them apart from the general population. Follow these tweeps or read their blogs to get inside their heads and see how learning a language can be fun and easy!

@irishpoyglot

@yearlyglot

www.fluentin3months.com

www.theplyglotdream.com

http://thepolyglotexperience.blogspot.com

ACTFL Conference Wrap-Up from Carly Triplett

Stacy Amling — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 19:32:39 GMT

Here's Carly's report from attending the ACTFL conference in November as our IWLA representative:

After a very long election season, it was nice to visit our nation’s birthplace, and be reminded of all of the positive things in our country. While the Liberty Bell and Ben Franklin’s constant presence reminded me what was great, many of the things discussed at ACTFL also reminded me what we need to work on, particularly in terms of our educational system. Much like the local efforts of IWLA members, ACTFL members are working hard to get our subjects recognized by our administrators and political representatives. Advocacy, 21^st century skills, and technology were the overwhelming themes throughout the conference.

My first day at ACTFL was spent at the Assembly of Delegates. Our focus was on advocacy. As we make efforts to reach out to our representatives on a state level, ACTFL members did have some advice. The easiest piece is that everyone who teaches a world language should have a 30-second “elevator speech” as to why our subject is so valuable to learners. We all know that our subject area has so much to offer, and it would be easy for us to give long speeches about it. The idea was that we should condense those speeches to very short, concise dialogues that include the current buzz words in education. We also spent part of the day working on ACTFL’s position statement regarding incorporating languages into the core curriculum. If you are interested in this topic, ACTFL has aligned all of the national standards for learning languages with the common core standards, which can be found at: http://www.actfl.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/Aligning_CCSS_Language_Standards_v6.pdf

The second day started off with the opening session, featuring keynote speaker Dr. K. David Harrison, who specializes in endangered languages. He stated that there are currently 7,000 languages in the world, most of which are currently unrecorded. He estimated that half of those languages will go extinct during this century, as we lose a language every two weeks. I found it very interesting to see how Dr. Harrison is fighting to preserve these languages, just as many of us are struggling to keep our programs alive, even some of us who teach well-known languages.

As I attended the rest of the sessions, my intention was to be sure to find at least one 21^st century skills session and one technology session. It turned out that I didn’t need to try very hard, as those themes were prevalent in almost every session that I attended. In terms of technology, we’re all still trying to come up with the best ways to use our SMART Boards or our classroom iPads. One of the presenters even had a graphic to show how some of the apps for iPads could line up with 21^st century skills. I found it very interesting; you can see it at:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7277/7732438324_4a51312d05_z.jpg

The ACTFL sessions were an amazing opportunity to see what other world language teachers across the United States are doing in their classrooms. The performance based programs and the incredible uses of technology were very inspiring. If you can manage to find a way to attend, next year’s convention looks equally promising--the theme is New Spaces, New Realities: Learning Any Time, Any Place), and it will take place in sunny Orlando!

Stop sequestration of funds by Congress - Please read and take action if you can

Carrie Morris — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 23:19:53 GMT

ACTFL has been in touch with state advocacy teams and has asked us to pass on the following message. I hope that you can read the following message and help take action!

Dear fellow language advocate:

As you may know, “sequestration” (an across-the-board spending cut to all discretionary federal programs) is set to go into effect on March 1st of this year. If nothing happens to prevent it, large cuts to Title I and IDEA will go into effect, meaning jobs and services lost. Important language programs, such as the K-12 Language Flagship initiative and STARTALK, will also experience significant cuts if sequestration is not prevented. Furthermore, if elected officials agree to spending cuts that avert sequestration, there will still be winners and losers. Now is the time for language advocates to speak up – in an effort to protect critical programs.

ACTFL, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, is leading an advocacy effort to prevent these cuts. Please join me TODAY in sending a message to your senators and representative telling them that funding for language and education programs are important to the future of our country! It will only take a few minutes – click here to make your voice heard.

Go to ACTFL’s site and “take action” on the sequestration alert at http://capwiz.com/actfl/home/

Thank you!

Marty

Martha G. Abbott

Executive Director

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)

1001 North Fairfax Street, Suite 200

Alexandria, VA 22314

Ph: 703-894-2900 ext.110| Fx: (703) 894-2905 | E-Mail: mabbott@actfl.org

www.actfl.org | www.discoverlanguages.org

Teacher Swap Shop spam issues

Stacy Amling — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 19:10:41 GMT

At our Executive Board meeting yesterday, we discussed problems we've been having with spam posts on the "Teacher Swap Shop." We like the idea of providing a forum where members can post questions, materials requests, or other topics of interest, but unfortunately our site has been the target of more spam than real posts.

As such, we have taken that sub-page down temporarily in order to re-evaluate the settings and consider how we can balance the desire to have an open forum with the need to protect members who do post from getting hundreds of irrelevant and potentially harmful replies.

In the meantime, if you have an event or an issue/request to share, please email it to me or one of the other Exec Board members and we'll get it posted.

Talking to students about their learning styles & strategies

Stacy Amling — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 18:56:24 GMT

Discussion of learning styles and study preferences is probably nothing new to trained language teachers, but may be a revelation to students. The idea that learning (and language learning, in particular) is not a "one strategy fits all" endeavor has proven to be a valuable topic of discussion in my classroom. Each semester, I talk to students about study strategies, mnemonics, and learning tricks that worked for me. I also try to encourage students--and especially struggling students--to think about what they're doing to learn and perhaps to try something different, whether that be studying with a partner or a tutor, making flashcards, or other strategies. After reading Annie Murphy Paul's review of recent research of effective study strategies (http://ideas.time.com/2013/01/09/highlighting-is-a-waste-of-time-the-best-and-worst-learning-techniques/), I've been giving this more thought.

One thing I'm trying with my 2nd semester students is to have them complete the VARK test (free online from http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=questionnaire) and to have them share their results with me. This brief test helps to identify learners as visual, aural, reading/writing, kinesthetic, or multimodal. To follow up, they also need to look at the study tips for their learning style and see which of those things they already do or what they could perhaps do differently based on those suggestions. I'll see how it goes this semester to see if it'll become a regular part of my class or what other options are available.

How do you work with your students to help them be more effective learners?

IWLA Grants and Awards

Kimberly Huegerich — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 20:42:57 GMT

Have you worked with a language teacher who you were inspired by? Have you attended an IWLA conference session by someone that amazed you? Do you have a go-to person when you have a language question? Has someone directed you to someone to help you with a new idea, research-based concept, or cutting-edge approach? Want to pay this person a sign of appreciation?

Nominate an inspirational, knowledgeable, leading educator for the Teacher of the Year, Teacher of Promise, or the Distinguished Educator Award! Nomination materials can be found on the “Awards” tab on the right side of the IWLA website. Nominations are due April 30, but don’t delay.

Have a unique idea for your classroom? IWLA also awards grants for innovation in the classroom. Check out the requirements and application materials under the "Grants" tab at the left.

Get your excitement on paper today and send the information to:

Kimberly Huegerich

501 Park St

Jewell, IA 50130

Email: kimhuegerich@gmail.com

Teaching Culture- Pinterest Style

Kat Akers — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 20:06:10 GMT

I have tried to incorporate a new, yet exciting, way to increase awareness of culture in my classroom. It has worked out well so far, but is still in progress.

I have created a new area in my classroom that is dedicated to culture. This month it is "Cultura de España~ Pinterest Style."

I created a board on my own personal Pinterest that includes all things cultural about Spain that I could find. I caught myself overwhelmed in it for over an hour! I figured if I was so addicted to this application as many others were, including some of my students, maybe it would be a way to get them excited about it too.

I had the kids do the research and find the pictures to go along with it. I had them share their findings and post them to the 'Classroom Board.' They are still working on these and each level will have a different tasks assigned with their grammar and vocabulary included.

I am sure there are so many ways to make Pinterest work for you!

Happy Pinning!

Kat Akers

IWLA VP

Remind101

Kimberly Huegerich — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 03:37:53 GMT

Students walk into class on test day and ask what we're doing today. You want to scream!

This year I have started using http://www.remind101.com to help students and parents stay on top of assignment deadlines. This is also a great way to communicate other class information, such as reminders about activities, changes in schedules, late starts, and other school-related information. This is a texting service that students (and parents) choose to sign up for and the teacher sends out messages via the web. One message and everyone on the list is informed! It's completely free and no limit on the number of texts. The students don't see your personal number and you don't see theirs. Messages can also be scheduled to send at a later day or time. Check out this link for more information.

New Year - New Resolutions- New Activities in the Classroom

Kat Akers — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 15:37:55 GMT

If you are like me it is hard to stick to New Year's resolutions. Whether it be a diet change, spending habits, or even just taking more time for yourself, it is hard to stick to the changes in your lives, big or small.

This year we had a huge change in our school district beginning in January, we became a 7-12 1:1 school. This brought much excitement, joy, and fear to our staff. We now had to change to a newer way of teaching and classroom management. How were we going to make sure kids were doing what they were supposed to do on their computers? What happens when the internet is not working? Do I have to use them all of the time? These are just a few of the concerns brought up during our staff discussions during professional development.

Well, the day finally came when the students came in with their new laptops, there have there been some frustrations, joys, and especially new learning on our part as teachers. It has taken patience, extra work, and some creativity on my part to create lessons to keep the students occupied. I could always do activities at the drop of a hat to fill up those last five to ten minutes in a lesson, but now, I have been trying to create a new set of bell ringers and activities to involve all students through differentiation. It has been a few extra hours after school, assisting in some basic computer skills, and even some last minute decisions.

I know this is the new wave of technology and advancement in education and I am quite excited about it. There are so many tools that a computer can give to the students that more options are available for their learning. I am no guru on everything technology, but I am learning with my students and this is exciting. I find myself rejuvenated for the semester. If you have any ideas or examples of how computers, technology, or other 2.0 tools are used in your classroom, please share them. Comment on this blog or even email me.

I look forward to hearing from other 'veterans' on this topic.

Kat Akers

kat.akers@centraldecatur.org

IWLA Vice President

An easy Web 2.0 tool you can use tomorrow!

Carrie Morris — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 21:58:04 GMT

Like many of you who attend IWLA and participate in different technology offerings, I am often amazed by all the cool internet tools that we can use in our world language classrooms. I just ran across one that I'll use in some of my classes this semester. I often shy away from tools that entail lots of explanation or practice--I admit it. But this one is easy.

My students are assigned to write paragraphs or compositions in Spanish. They often prefer to type them on the computer, but putting in all the appropriate accents and punctuation can be time-consuming for them. I show them the shortcut keys with the ALT key, but this only works on keyboards with a numeric keypad. I tell them about Microsoft Word and Insert-Symbol. I show them how to select the US-International keyboard. It all seems too complex.

So now there is yet another option to add to the list of possibilities, a website called TypeIt. http://www.typeit.org/ Choose your language and students can click the button for the character they want, or they can hold down the Control key and type the letter. Quick and easy. The text can then be pasted to essentially any application. I'll be trying it in some of my classes this term.

Happy New Year from IWLA and How the Fiscal Cliff Deal Effects Teachers

Sat, 05 Jan 2013 19:57:24 GMT

Happy New Year from IWLA! We hope that 2013 proves to be a positive year for us all. As president, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to some changes that are happening here on the webpage. We will be posting items of interest here on the blog, items that we are working on as a board, items of interest in world language education and items of interest to you as a teacher. We have many projects underway and we look forward to sharing them with you. There will be two or three posts every week so we hope that you not only enjoy reading them, but that you also comment and share your thoughts.

Our first post is from Jason T. Dinesen, E.A. Jason is an enrolled agent who specializes in taxes. Welcome Jason and thank you for letting us know what changes we will see as a part of the fiscal cliff deal made last week in Congress. Thank you for letting us know what teachers can expect this year!

Congress passed a “fiscal cliff” bill on January 1. Here are some of the key provisions of interest to educators:

$250 “Above the Line” Deduction for Classroom Expenses
The bill extends, through December 31, 2013, the deduction for classroom expenses of K-12 teachers and teacher’s assistants. This deduction can be taken even if an educator claims the standard deduction.

Tuition and Fees Deduction
The deduction of up to $4,000 of qualifying tuition and fees for college expenses has been extended through December 31, 2013.

Student Loan Interest Deduction
The allowance of a deduction of up to $2,500 of student loan interest has finally been made a permanent part of the tax code.

American Opportunity Credit
The American Opportunity Credit (formerly known as the HOPE Credit) has been extended through 2017. This credit is available to students in their first 4 years of undergraduate studies.

Employer-Provided Educational Assistance
The bill makes permanent the ability of your employer to pay up to $5,250 of tuition, tax-free, on your behalf (for example, if you are pursuing a masters degree and your employer helps pay your tuition).

Other Things to Know About the Fiscal Cliff Bill
Here are some general-purpose items about the fiscal cliff bill of interest to anyone:

The “Bush Tax Cuts” are made permanent, except for a new tax bracket of 39.6% created for taxpayers with income above $400,000 (if single) or $450,000 (if married). The top rate under the Bush Tax Cuts had been 35%.
The capital gains rate of 0% for people in the 10% and 15% tax brackets has been made a permanent part of the tax code. The capital gains rate of 15% for people in the 25%-35% tax brackets has also been made permanent. A new capital gains rate of 20% has been created, but will only apply to people in the 39.6% bracket.
The child tax credit is permanently set at $1,000 per child (it had been set to drop to $500/child in 2013).
The credits available for adoptions and for daycare expenses have been made permanent.
The Earned Income Credit remains expanded through 2017, allowing more taxpayers to qualify for this credit.

Jason T. Dinesen, EA

Dinesen Tax, Inc.

Web: www.dinesentax.com

Twitter: @dinesentax

Phone: 515-778-8189

2012 Post-Conference Survey

Stacy Amling — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 19:20:32 GMT

We would like to send out a big "thank you" to all who participated (Conference Committee members, Advisory Council, presenters, exhibitors, and attendees) in our conference this weekend. It would not be as successful as it was without everyone's participation.

The Executive Board is looking for your feedback about your conference experience. Please take a few minutes to respond - it's only 5 questions! http://bit.ly/SWcGR6 Gracias, Danke, y Merci.

Grant/Award Dealine MONDAY

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:53:11 GMT

Remember to apply for grants and nominate colleagues and student teachers for our awards! Deadline is Monday the 30th for nomination. If you are worried about getting a paper copy in by deadline, please send me an email to let me know one is on the way! tracy.dinesen@simpson.edu

Apply, Nominate and Inspire!

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 15:51:49 GMT

As April looms, don't forget to apply for a grant, nominate an outstanding fellow teacher or a teacher of promise!

IWLA grants are for projects that are innovative, creative and directly affect students and student learning. We now have a rubric to evaluate grants, which the executive board hopes will help everyone better understand the grants and will guide members in writing their proposals.

As always, we ask that you nominate your fellow teachers (or even yourself) for the outstanding educator awards. We have awards for primary, secondary and post-secondary teachers. We have an amazing membership and Iowa is lucky to have so many wonderful teachers at all levels. Help us recognize our colleagues and let the state know what wonderful things language teachers are doing in the state.

Last, but not least, we have a NEW award this year: the Michael Oates Teacher of Promise Award. This award is for students completeing their student teaching or teachers in their first year. We want to award our up and coming teachers who show great promise in the teaching profession and who will inspire thier students for years to come. The award comes with monies for classroom supplies and a paid registration for the IWLA conference the following year. Please, if you are a mentor teacher, a teaching supervisor or you work with an inspiring student teacher or first year teacher, nominate them for this important award!

,The award and grants deadline is April 30th. You can send all nominations and applications to me, Tracy Dinesen at the following address:

Tracy Dinesen

World Language and Culture Studies

Simpson College

701 North C Street

Indianola, IA 50125

I look forward to receiving your applications and nominations!

Sioux Central CSD Needs a Spanish teacher 7-12!!

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 17:29:33 GMT

Sioux Central CSD lost their Spanish teacher due to tragic circumstantes in the middle of the fall semester. They are in need of a mid-year replacement, beginning the first full week of January. Please, visit http://www.sioux-central.k12.ia.us/jobs.cfm?job=52900&cat=361&getjob=1 for more details! Let's get them a qualified and dynamic replacement!

Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) victim of cuts (from ACTFL)

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:35:18 GMT

Dear Language Advocates and Supporters:

Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee considered and passed the Labor HHS and Education funding bill. Although some education priorities were protected, the bill zeroed out ALL funding for the Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP). This means that for the next fiscal year there will be no funding for new FLAP programs and possibly none for current FLAP grantees. FLAP is the only existing K-12 national program for language learning.

In the big picture, the elimination of FLAP demonstrates a lack of commitment to teaching foreign languages in US schools at a time when our nationb them to compete in a global economy. Meanwhile other countries have made language a high priority b students to study language for at least nine years. Cutting FLAP also flies in the face of Department of Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta, who is urging the US to prioritize language for national security interests.

Zeroing out all K-12 language learning in fiscal year 2012 means that the opportunity for thousands of children to learn another language will be jeopardized or eliminated as school districts struggle under tight fiscal constraints. To add to the distressing news b to its previous funding level in the Senate bill.

We urge you to contact your member of Congress and tell them this decision must be reversed. If you currently have a FLAP grant, your congressional representative needs to know what will be lost if your funding is eliminated. Thank you for your continued support.

Conference News

(Past member) — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 18:34:14 GMT

You can now receive information and important updates about the fall conference through facebook!

Search IWLA Annual Conference through Facebook or go to http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/IWLA-Annual-Conference/144612092290841?sk=wall and click on the like button. This will allow you to receive messages about the conference on your Facebook homepage. There are several posts to view on this page about this year's keynote and luncheon speakers, as well as a reminder about early bird registration.

CONFERENCE NEWS

New this year! Thursday night conference kick-off wine and cheese reception!Thursday, October 6, 6-7:30pm. Join us for complimentary wine and cheese and catch up with friends or network. Room location at Downtown Marriott to be announced.

Saturday Afternoon Technology Workshop at the DMACC Urban Campus will be FREE this year to conference attendees! You need to pre-register for the workshop, through the events link on the IWLA website. There are limited spots available. See listing in events link for details.

Iowa All-Star sessions! Didn't make it to a session last year that you heard so much about? You can catch it this year as an Iowa All-Star Encore presentation. Featured sessions include: Tech in Spanish Classroom (Wigant, Smith, Huegerich), Trials, Tribulations & Tenacity (Zwanziger), Learning New Vocab in German (Martin, Carpenter), Web 2.0 Tools for you and your classroom (J.Smith) and Activities that Rock! (Sobotka).

DATES TO KEEP IN MIND

*Sept. 9: deadline for early bird registration

*Sept. 15: deadline for conference rate on rooms at Downtown Marriott, conference site

*Sept. 23: deadline for regular registration

Go to conference link and click on conference registration to find 2011 registration form

See you all in Des Moines!

Sara Blanco, IWLA Past President

2011 Conference Chair

UNI's Tete-a-Tete and some teaching inspiration!

Carrie Morris — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 17:14:11 GMT

First, a big Gracias and Bravo to the Modern Languages faculty at UNI for such a great event on Saturday, April 9. Paul Sandrock was an amazing keynote speaker. If you ever get a chance to see him speak, it is a must. He is so personable, helpful, and inspiring. He gave comments on global competency, and had a basic outline for how to create it. For as simple as it could seem, that is what we should try to do.

Start with curiosity
Add in experiences to build curiosity
Add desire to communicate
Provide tools to communicate
Instill confidence to communicate across borders

One really useful part of the day surprised me. Late in the semester, it's easy to lose focus and motivation. Sandrock showed a video of a French immersion teacher, Jai Scott that is on the Annenberg Learner website. It hit me--this is why we do what we do. That experience, along with others from the UNI events, have helped me keep it up the last few weeks. Here is a link to the video: http://www.learner.org/libraries/tfl/french/scott/analyze.html?pop=yes&pid=2004. There are also links to other classrooms. I haven't watched them yet, but this one did its magic.

French Film comes to Varsity Theater in Des Moines

(Past member) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 02:08:20 GMT

Info from Pat Westphal (thanks, Pat!)

We are pleased to bring you OF GODS AND MEN as our next feature. It starts this Friday, April 22.

Based on the true story of a profound life-and-death crisis faced by a group of French monks in a monastery in Algeria's Atlas Mountains in the mid-1990's. The film emphasizes from the start how well the monks, who are unmistakably there to do service, not proselytize, fit into the town's Muslim community. They attend the birthday parties of local children and run a free medical clinic. But when a gang of terrorists slaughter a group of Croatian construction workers whose only crime is that they are not Muslims, it becomes clear that the monks are living in a different world and must make some hard choices. These days it is unusual to see a screen depiction of faith so entirely devoid of fury, and it is a testimony to the delicacy of the director what remains with you is not the brutality of the monks' fate, but the gentle, sustaining power of their belief.

OF GODS AND MEN will be shown each evening at 7:30 & 9:35. There will be a 4:00 matinee on Friday, plus the usual 1:30 matinees on Saturday and Sunday. It is rated PG-13.

Varsity Theatre
1207 25th St | Des Moines, IA 50311-3005

ACTFL Leaders: Budget Cut Message on National Front

(Past member) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 22:31:25 GMT

Dear ACTFL Organizational Members:

Congress and the White House are putting the final touches on details of the budget cuts for the current fiscal year. The picture is not good for a number of education programs, including foreign language education. I have attached a list of program cuts provided by the National Education Association that includes all of the Department of Education cuts. What is different about this budget plan is that the U.S. Department of Education will have final determination of the exact funding cuts for those line item programs NOT specified in the legislation. The Department has 30 days after enactment of the legislation to submit its detail of cuts to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. The cuts listed for Title VI - International Education and Foreign Languages total $50 million, but the legislation does not specify exactly which programs are cut. Thus the U.S. Department of Education must specify where those cuts will come from 30 days after the bill is signed by the President. This is a devastating cut to Title VI, which may lead to staffing and program cuts at universities with Title VI programs in critical languages, as well as resource centers.

FLAP was excluded from any specific cuts. However, once all of the specific cuts are made then all programs will be reduced by an across-the-board .2% cut.

Also of note:

Funding for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) is eliminated. The only potentially positive news here is that NBPTS will be able to compete for funding from a competitive grants fund, which includes several other programs. As you know, many foreign language educators have attained their NBPTS certification. Officials with NBPTS say that they intend to continue operation and increase their efforts to obtain private funding for their operations. While the federal funds only provide a portion of their operating income, NBPTS will be severely hampered in its operations, which may set back further our efforts to open up NBPTS certification to more foreign language teachers.

STEM BA and Masters foreign language teacher training cut $2.2 million – program eliminated. The one bright spot in the STEM program for foreign languages – teacher training – has been eliminated.

As you look at the pitifully small amount of funding foreign languages receives through the Department of Education programs, these cuts are shocking and tell us that we have a long way to go to build a constituency with influence in Congress. We will re-double our efforts to focus attention on the fact that foreign languages are not yet a priority for policymakers. We need to work that much harder to gain support for foreign language provisions in future legislation such as the Elementary Secondary Education Act. Of course, we will be talking with the U.S. Department of Education about the specific cuts they intend to make in Title VI of the Higher Education Act, and we will continue monitoring the status of FLAP.

We have a lot of work ahead of us to regain the ground lost with these budget cuts. One way you can help is to continue to contact your Representatives and ask them to demonstrate their support for foreign language education by cosponsoring the Holt/Tonko bill, H.R. 6036. The bill has not yet been introduced in the new Congress, but you can ask that they contact Congressman Holt and sign on to the bill as a cosponsor when it is reintroduced this year. Representative Holt is preparing to introduce the bill and can add cosponsors now. You can go to our website for details of the legislation and instructions on making contact at http://www.actfl.org/i4a/headlines/headlinedetails.cfm?id=299

Thank you for your continued support and adocacy efforts for language education!

Bret

Bret Lovejoy

Executive Director

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)

1001 North Fairfax Street

Suite 200

Alexandria, VA 22314

Ph: (703) 894-2900 Fx: (703) 894-2905

Goals and Assessment: A Useful 5 Minute Activity that Anyone Can Do – Tracy Dinesen, IWLA Vice President

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 15:19:34 GMT

We all wish we had a window into our student’s heads from time to time. Are they understanding the material? How are they studying? How confident are they in what we are doing? Are they prepared for the test? We imagine what we could or would do with the information that we received; how we would improve activities, give more study tips, try just one more thing to help them understand even better. Believe it or not, it is possible to get answers to these questions and it won’t require seminar training or a grant to accomplish the task. It is simple, takes 5 minutes and will give both you and your students a wealth of information about their skills, preparation, weaknesses and strengths helping you guide them to better results and more effective learning.

As teachers we use goals use to organize ourselves and communicate with colleagues and administrators but we don’t often share this with our students. By informing our students of the goals in a way that they can understand and use for self-evaluation we can get answers to our questions and help them become aware of their own skills. To accomplish this, I reformulate the goals into user friendly “I can” statements so that the students can evaluate themselves. For example, during a unit on the stresses of daily life one overarching goal is: I can talk about my daily life and its stresses. The students will say if they can do this Often, Sometimes, Rarely or Never. In order to help them to be aware of all of the skills they must have in order to complete the goal satisfactorily, I also include sub-goals. For instance, sub-goals for this task could include: I can use the vocabulary from the unit effectively and appropriately, as well as, I can conjugate verbs in the present tense including reflexive verbs. Once the students have assessed their progress, we discuss strategies and resources that they can use in their studies and in their practice beyond classroom activities and homework. I do this activity with my students generally two or three times during a unit, once at the beginning, once a week later and once three or four days before the learning check or exam. Additionally, even though the class has moved on to later units, I still have them evaluate their progress towards the goals from previous chapters. This helps students to understand that while the in class unit may have ended, their progress towards the goals continue, as does our practice.

This method is used in Linguafolio and I have personally found it very helpful in organizing my activities and my course. I can keep my focus on the goals, placing them at the center of the course and purposefully creating activities to help meet them. It also helps me limit activities and information that may be interesting but, will not meet the goals of the unit. In addition, the students are aware of their own strengths and weaknesses. This helps them focus their studies and reminds them that they have responsibility and control in the learning process. The instruction on study skills; outside of class practice and resources have helped my students at all levels incorporate more language and culture into their lives, improve their skills, and working towards personal goals with language. In addition, language learning is being demystified because they are pulling from skills they use in other courses and in their English communications on a daily basis.

For more information on this technique and strategies your students can use in their studies, visit http://linguafolio.unl.edu/. You can create your own free account, print publications, get additional resources and find example “I can” statements for the language that you teach. For sample handouts that my colleagues and I use in our Spanish courses or to report your experiences with this method, please email me at tracy.dinesen@simpson.edu. I look forward to hearing from you!