Kansas World Language Association

 APRIL 2010

  CONTENTS: 

• From the President's Desk
• Sign up for KSWLA Website Features
• KSWLA 2010 Conference
• News of Interest
• Call for 2010 Conference Presentation Proposals
• Call for Award Nominations and Scholarship/Mini-Grant Applications
• KSDE News from Phyllis Farrar
• ACTFL 2010 - Boston
• Teaching Tips
• From the Executive Secretary
• E-Newsletter Archives

April 1, 2010

Greetings, KSWLA Friends and Colleagues:

Springtime brings new life, and renewed energy. We’d like to preview our new initiative that we are starting based upon YOUR suggestions, the KSWLA Virtual Professional Learning Community (PLC) Book Study.  To align with this year’s Annual Conference keynote speaker, Greg Duncan, we will be reading from the book, Ahead of the Curve: The Power of Assessment to Transform Teaching and Learning.  This text includes chapters from multiple authors and is edited by Douglas Reeves. 

We hope that you will share our enthusiasm for KSWLA’s Virtual PLC Book Study and sign-up to participate.  Please contact me if you would like to take part within this professional development opportunity (leahmac@ksu.edu).  All are welcome and encouraged to participate.  KSWLA will work with you in order to facilitate your work towards continuing education credit, professional development points, or to further your personal/professional growth by being a part of this Virtual PLC Book Study. 

Book Study readings and discussions will begin May 2010 and run through August 2010.  PLC interactions will continue into the new school year, as participants implement an idea or ideas learned about within individual classrooms.    

Consider taking part within the KSWLA Virtual PLC Book Study and collaborate with other world language professionals across our state.  Again, our first book will be:

Ahead of the Curve:
The Power of Assessment to Transform Teaching & Learning
Ed. Douglas Reeves
ISBN# 978-1-934009-06-2
Solution Tree Publishers

 

 I look forward to hearing from YOU!  Please share your interest in participating within the KSWLA Virtual PLC Book Study by e-mailing me at leahmac@ksu.edu by Friday, April 23^rd.

Yours truly,
Leah
 
Leah McKeeman
President, KSWLA 2009-2010
leahmac@ksu.edu

Obama: Revise No Child Left Behind law

President Obama sent a proposal to Congress to improve the No Child Left Behind law in the Washington Post on March 14, 2010. The proposal places more importance on academic growth than the current pass-fail approach to evaluating schools.  

For more information, please go to the ACTFL Newsroom area of actfl.org.

 Phyllis Farrar
Education Program Consultant
World Languages and ESOL
Kansas Department of Education
pfarrar@ksde.org

 

INTEGRATING ASSESSMENTS INTO WORLD LANGUAGE CURRICULUM
Good assessment is integrated into good instruction. Using language-specific guides (what students will know and be able to do) based on Kansas Model World Language Standards, we will discuss model summative assessments (how we will know they know it). Integrated Performance Assessments, AP exams, Oral Proficiency Interviews, National Exams, and other assessments will be examined. The Kansas LinguaFolio pilot project will also be introduced. Presenter Phyllis Farrar, World Languages Consultant, Kansas Department of Education will be joined by collaborators and hosts.

Pittsburg State University
Saturday, April 10, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
AATSP-Sunflower president and vice president, Monte McFerron and Edmee Fernandez, and Bert Patrick
Place: Pittsburg State University, 1701 S. Broadway, Pittsburg, Russ Hall 326
RSVP by April 2 to Edmee Fernandez, edmefe@yahoo.com or 620-308-6389. When reserving a space, please include your name and the school where you teach. Space is limited, so be sure to reserve your space early.
 

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THE TEACHER LEADERSHIP EXPLORATORY CONSORTIUM represents a broad array of education organizations, state education agencies, teacher leaders, principal leaders, superintendents, and institutions of higher education. They are asking for your feedback on a set of draft standards for the development of teachers as leaders.

The group began developing model standards for teacher leadership in August 2008. Now, educators, the public and the policymaking community are invited to offer feedback on these standards to help inform curriculum, professional development, and the development of other standards and assessments. You can access the model standards and provide feedback at http://tlstandards.weebly.com/. All comments are welcome.

 

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TEACHER WORKSHOP 2010
June 7 – 11, 2010 

Eisenhower and the Righteous Cause: 
The Liberation of Europe

Join us for a fascinating week-long workshop for educators this summer, from June 7 – 11. The purpose of the workshop is to explore the themes presented in Eisenhower and the Righteous Cause: The Liberation of Europe, a Holocaust-related exhibit, opening May 24, 2010, at the Eisenhower Museum.

In the classroom, too often the story of the Holocaust ends prematurely with the arrival of the liberators. For the survivors, however, the day of liberation was only a beginning to the end of their suffering. In many cases, a return to some semblance of normalcy would take years. This workshop will explore the Holocaust with a special focus on liberation and aftermath, including the displaced persons camps, the creation of Israel, and the Nuremburg Trials. Workshop participants will explore the museum exhibit in depth, will consider how best to teach these Holocaust-related topics, and will discover a wealth of educational resources—including primary source materials. Finally, participants will receive instruction on how to create unique lessons and projects which emphasize the importance of teaching respect and understanding for all people.
 
Following the weeklong workshop, participants are invited to engage in a week of primary research in the archives of the Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum for the purpose of researching and developing the lesson plan, richly integrated with primary source material. 

Presented by the Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum, Abilene, Kansas, and the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education, Overland Park, Kansas, in partnership with the Lowell Milken Center, Fort Scott, Kansas, and the Harry S. Truman Library & Museum, Independence, Missouri.

Registration cost is $100. The deadline for enrollment is May 7, 2010.
Enrollment is limited to the first 35 persons who apply. Graduate credit is an option.
For questions contact Kim Barbieri:  kim.barbieri@nara.gov.  Information and a registration form can be found on the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum website.
 
 For more information on other news and events, contact Phyllis Farrar at pfarrar@ksde.org.

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If you have any ideas, requests, or comments for the Teaching Tips or any other section of the e-newsletter, please send them to Ann Cardwell, acardwell@kswla.org.  

Ann Cardwell
KSWLA Executive Secretary
PO Box 35 Bushton, KS  67427-0035

acardwell@kswla.org

• January 2010
  
  
• February 2010

 JANUARY 2010

FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK

Dear KSWLA Friends and Colleagues:   

Thank you to all who attended, presented, and helped at the 2009 Conference in November at the Wichita Marriott. Without your efforts our conference would not be what it is. At the conclusion of the conference, the Executive Council met to review the event. From feedback we’ve received and reflecting on the changes that were made this year, we feel the new format was overall a success. However, as always, we continue to strive to find ways to improve and enhance the conference in order to make it as beneficial as possible.   

There were many wonderful breakout sessions at the 2009 Annual Conference. Based upon attendee comments and evaluations, we’d like to announce the Best of Kansas is Marta Silva who presented the session entitled “Brain-research based strategies to introduce, review and assess new and previously-introduced vocabulary to FL classrooms”. This session explained key items from current brain-research programs applied to FL instruction in order for students to preserve knowledge in their long-term memory, so that information can be reused in future units. Congratulations Marta!  

During January, the Executive Council hosted its 1st Annual KSWLA Retreat in Manhattan, Kansas. We met to discuss and review the feedback we received from you regarding ways we could enhance and strengthen our service to you as members of the organization. We had great conversation, fruitful brainstorming, and what we hope to be a successful plan for this year and future endeavors. As we move forward, we will keep you apprised of new initiatives. One such initiative is a renewed presence on Internet.  

Past President Chuck Thorpe has transitioned roles, and is now the Webmaster for our website, www.kswla.org. If you remember, we spotlighted some of its features during our business meeting at this year’s conference. Take some time to visit it, and familiarize yourself with its features. You’ll notice there is an active discussion board that we encourage you to utilize, and a link to more information about issues in advocating for foreign language instruction. Keeping an eye on our website, will help you keep your finger on the pulse of our KSWLA organization!   

In addition to thanking Chuck Thorpe for his continued service in KSWLA, I would especially like to thank Past President Melanie Adams for not only her work at the 2009 conference, but for her continued support and leadership as we begin to plan for November 2010. I would like to welcome Alyson Young to the Executive Council as secretary. She has already done an amazing job stepping up to the responsibilities of this office. Mary Smith has assumed the position of vice president, and she is now actively seeking proposals for the 2010 conference. Please think about the type of presentation you would like to see and the possibility of sharing your talents and insights with fellow KSWLA members. Michele Barbian returns for her second year as treasurer. She is a valuable member of the Council and continues to work diligently for KSWLA. Ann Cardwell continues as our Executive Secretary. She has jumped right in and is a great asset to the Council. I am excited about our Executive Council; we have high expectations for ourselves and are driven to make them realities!   

I had the opportunity to attend ACTFL in San Diego a few weeks after our conference. We are always searching for new keynote presenters as we go from workshop to workshop. We have some exciting names and themes to consider for 2011 and 2012. Please mark your calendars for November 5-6, 2010 at the Doubletree in Overland Park, KS; Greg Duncan, an outstanding national presenter, will be our keynote speaker. We hope to see you all there!  

Yours truly,   

Leah McKeeman
President, KSWLA 2009-2010
leahmac@ksu.edu

NEWS FROM KANSAS DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Phyllis Farrar
Education Program Consultant
World Languages and ESOL
Kansas Department of Education
pfarrar@ksde.org

The KSDE Advanced Placement/ International Baccalaureate Grant will be sending 20-21 middle school and high school teachers to 2010 summer institutes to learn more about the AP model for curriculum and testing for upper level courses. As of January 20 there is only one more scholarship available – for a French teacher. The scholarship offer was announced via the KSDE Languages list-serve in mid-December and most slots were filled by the second week in January. Additional interested teachers will be placed on a waiting list, in case someone has to cancel by the registration deadline June 4. Those on the waiting list will also have the first option to claim scholarships for the summer of 2011. The scholarships cover registration costs and a large share of transportation and housing expenses for the five-day institutes. To apply for a scholarship, write Phyllis Farrar at pfarrar@ksde.org   

Language-specific curriculum guide work sessions will continue during the spring semester. These are conducted by Phyllis via internet LiveMeeting and conference phone call during late afternoon (3 – 4:30 p.m.). These curriculum guides follow the state standards, proficiency benchmarks, and indicators to provide specific language examples. French Novice Mid and German Novice Mid will require only one or two more work sessions. Latin Novice Low and Spanish Novice Mid will probably need three or four more work sessions. Schedules for upcoming sessions will be announced soon via the KSDE Languages list-serve.  

LinguaFolio 3-year pilot: On the recommendation of the 35 members of the KSDE World Language Advisory Council, K-16 teachers of all languages are asked to implement the use of LinguaFolio for all students. It is felt that this model of portfolio self-assessment enables students to understand that language learning is a process requiring time and practice. It validates opportunities to learn languages in setting outside of school. Documents for printing are available on the World Language Instruction Resource page at the ksde.org  website. A critical component of the portfolio is documentation of skills. Creative students and teachers may opt to create digital portfolios. Teachers who implement LinguaFolio should keep a journal of the implementation process and collect data that could be used for making instructional decisions. Those who pilot LinguaFolio are invited to share their insights with Phyllis at pfarrar@ksde.org.  

Two surveys are currently being conducted during KSDE world language workshops. One collects enrollment data for the 2009-2010 year. The second collects data concerning hours of instruction, use of state standards, teacher proficiency levels, and use of target language during instruction. If you do not have the opportunity to attend a workshop and are willing to provide this information, please contact Phyllis Farrar at: pfarrar@ksde.org.

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS OF SPANISH & PORTUGUESE Girasol Chapter

The AATSP-Girasol is planning to have “Immersion Evenings”, perhaps twice a year. Members would be able to socialize in an informal setting and enjoy music, food, and games, and have fun in their second language with no academic agenda. AATSP-Girasol would like to plan the first gathering in March.

For more information, contact Monte McFerron (mmferro@pittstate.edu) or Edmee Fernandez (efernand@pittstate.edu).

TEACHING TIPS

Ideas from The Language Educator, published by ACTFL, November, 2009, Volume 4, Issue 6 (Web Watch, pages 60-61).  

Walk, Talk and Learn French
http://coffeebreakspanish.typepad.com/wtlfrench/

“In this video series from the Radio Lingua Network that began in January, 2009, teacher Pierre-Benoit walks around the streets of Paris talking about the language he sees on posters, advertisements, and notices.”  

Advertisement in German-American Cookbooks
(German I & II: baking, food, & measuring terms) http://csumc.wisc.edu/mki/Education/Adverts_Cookbooks.htmhttp://www.asisehace.net/  

Donors Choose
A really good site for seeking “outside funding” for projects, equipment, and/or supplies:  Donors Choose http://www.donorschoose.org/ On this site you can submit a proposal for funding anything from books to color printers, and everything in between.

[Editor’s note: Our art teacher received a digital camera, a color printer and cartridges. As her proposal was “technology based”, half of the funding came from the Bill Gates Foundation.]  

AsiSeHace.net
A free website from the Spanish Department at Nottingham High School in England, containing many activities and links to enjoy. www.asisehace.net