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What's going to happen now that
the "2005: Year of Languages" initiative has ended?
Click on the logo above to find out.
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Summer
Courses for World Language Teachers
at the Taft Educational Center
June 27 through July 30
The Taft Educational Center has been providing
outstanding workshops for public and independent school
teachers and administrators since 1976. Over the years
of the Center's operation, we have worked with teachers
from all fifty states and more than fifty countries. Our
first-class facilities, and our teaching staff of master
teachers from high schools and colleges, have produced
highly successful programs in an educationally exciting
environment. This summer five separate week-long
sessions will run from June 27 to July 30. Teachers,
department heads, Advanced Placement coordinators,
curriculum developers, and heads of schools should
request and budget funds for summer work as soon as
possible.
Graduate Credits & CEUs
Graduate Credits and Grades
The Taft Educational Center
is pleased to continue our association with the
University of Hartford as our graduate
credit-granting authority. Each week at TEC will
be granted three graduate credits by the
university. Each participant will receive a
grade for a completed workshop, but graduate
credit is optional for an additional fee. Please
contact TEC for fee information. Forms for the
University of Hartford will be available in the
TEC office during the workshop sessions.
http://www.taftschool.org/tec/credits.aspx
Continuing Education Units
The Taft Educational Center
is approved as a provider of Continuing
Education Units by the Connecticut State
Department of Education. For each week of
successful academic work, the Center will grant
3.0 Connecticut CEUs. A number of other state
Departments of Education will accept Connecticut
CEUs for accreditation purposes.
Workshops are subject to change or cancellation.
Specific World Language
Workshops:
10C19 YOUTUBE & ELECTRONIC ACTIVITIES FOR MODERN
LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS
YouTube "is where it's
at" for young people today. They pay
attention to fast, short bursts of
information. Capitalize on that, by
implementing YouTube video clips. It's a
spectacular way to supplement classroom
instruction, and to develop affect and
positive relations with students. With over
six million videos designated as
educational, you're almost guaranteed of
finding videos on any topic.
Learn how to create
lessons, activities, and worksheets for
individual video clips. Research and search
for YouTube videos, align them with national
standards, organize and categorize them, as
well as create a library for yourself. Then,
spice up your World Language classes, by
creating electronic activities and
worksheets, using Microsoft Word, Excel, and
Publisher. Create electronic worksheets that
come alive for your students, as they click
and drag words, sentences and pictures, then
produce language for you. Fashion electronic
activities, in which students produce
surveys that generate tables and charts.
Customize your own graphic organizers, to
teach vocabulary, grammar and culture. The
workshop implements minimal teaching and
modeling time, and focuses on you creating
dozens of actual activities, then exchanging
them with colleagues.
http://www.taftschool.org/tec/nonap.aspx#10C19
Instructor: Joe Barile, Greater
Hartford Academy of the Arts, Hartford, CT
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Educators Wanted to Mentor
Aspect Foundation Exchange Students
Educators
wanted to mentor Aspect Foundation exchange students
coming to CT high schools for the 2010-2011 school year.
Mentors will help locate and screen a volunteer host
family in their community and�supervise the student and
family throughout the school year. Students arrive in
August and stay for one or two semesters. This is a
part-time independent contractor position working with
two or�more students. Compensation is $800 per student.
Please visit
www.americanhostfamily.org
or call 1-800-US YOUTH for more information or an
application.
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Concordia Language Villages
Offers Professional Development Opportunities
for World Language Teachers
during the Summer of 2010
Concordia
Language Villages is offering the following
professional development opportunities for world
language teachers during the summer of 2010:
Teacher
Seminars: June 20 – 30, 2010 at Concordia Language
Villages, Bemidji, Minnesota
Join
educators from across the United States and around
the world as they discuss current topics in world
language teaching and learning. You will observe
and participate in activities at Concordia Language
Villages as part of the seminar. You can register
for either the non-credit and graduate-credit
option. More information about Teacher Seminars
is available by clicking on:
http://www.concordialanguagevillages.org/newsite/Programs/Educators/teacher_sems1.php
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Master of Education in World Language Instruction:
An 18-month program combining coursework on-site at
Concordia Language Villages during the summer with
online coursework during the academic year. We are
accepting applications for Cohort IV now and will
begin selecting the twelve members of the cohort in
March, 2010. More information about this 34-credit
program is available at:
www.concordiacollege.edu/graduate.
You can also view examples of projects completed by
members of the masters program online at
www.concordiacollege.edu/graduate/projects.
If you have questions about any of
these programs or about Concordia Language Villages,
please feel free to contact Donna Clementi, Director of
Education and Research at
clementi@cord.edu.
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TRAVEL FREE WITH TERRA LINGUA’S
SUMMER OUTBOUND PROGRAMS
Terra Lingua USA, a
quality student exchange organization is seeking groups
of students and chaperones to take part in exciting and
adventurous summer outbound programs. With every group
of 10 students, the chaperone travels for FREE!
Our programs are run with
a passion for education and culture. Traveling abroad
with Terra Lingua provides you with a dedicated
Coordinator and Manager to structure your program. Our
availability to you is outstanding, with 24 hour
management support, only a phone call away.
Tennis Anyone? We are
offering a challenging and fun tennis camp in France!
Learn to play this enjoyable sport while experiencing
the sights of France.
Another France option
includes a 3 to 4 week stay with a French family from
Bordeaux. Learn the French culture and language
firsthand in this unique experience. This trip offers a
3-day tour of Paris!
With our Amazing China
program, you can spend 2 unforgettable weeks learning
Chinese folk songs, poems, Calligraphy, handcrafting and
much more. This trip also includes excursions to
Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Wuzhen!
Finally, take advantage
of our Learn French in Canada program. You’ll spend 2
weeks in Canada where you’ll not only take French
lessons, but you’ll explore the sights and sounds of
Vancouver.
All programs are open to
students ages 12-18.
Please contact Kellie
Iacovella at
Terralinguaexchange@hotmail.com
for more information. Visit our website at
www.terralinguausa.org
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Clinton
Teacher of the Year Jessica Godburn writes a few notes in Spanish on
her portable classroom. She teaches 10 classes a day for 22 minutes
each, logging in lots of foot mileage in the halls at the Joel
School. |
Jessica Godburn,
Spanish FLES Teacher,
Named Teacher of the Year in Clinton
To read the
entire article about Jessica,
please click here. |
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France
Honors Five Connecticut Teachers
with the Ordre des Palmes Académiques
The
recipients of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques:
Carol A. Kearns, Margaret Nocturne,
Nancy Silander, Sharon Straka, and Brian
Carter pictured with Pierre Vimont,
Ambassador of France to the United
States.
May 9, 2008.
New Haven, CT — On Monday, May 12, Pierre Vimont,
Ambassador of France to the United States, conferred the
insignia of Chevalier of the Ordre des Palmes Acad émiques
upon five Connecticut teachers: Brian Carter, PIER
Outreach Director, European Studies, Yale University,
New Haven; Carol A. Kearns, French teacher emeritus,
Litchfield High School, Litchfield; Margaret Nocturne, French
teacher, Joel Barlow High School, West Redding; Nancy
Silander, French teacher, E.O. Smith High School,
Storrs; and Sharon Straka, Director, Center for the
Teaching of French, Yale University, New Haven.
The presentation took place at a private reception at
Yale University. Following the presentation, Ambassador
Vimont gave a public address on the topic "France,
Europe, and the United States: What Prospects for
Trans-Atlantic Relations" in Rosenfeld Hall, 109 Grove
Street, at 3:30 p.m.
The Ordre des Palmes Académiques
(Order of Academic Palms) was founded by Napoleon
Bonaparte in 1808. A brilliant administrator, Napoleon
appreciated the importance of education, and he
established the honorary titles of Titulaire,
Officier de l'Université,
and Officier d'Académie
as awards for devotion and accomplishment in the areas
of teaching,
scholarship, and research. In more recent times, this
award was made a ministerial Order under the French
Minister of Education and now has three ranks—Chevalier,
Officier, and Commandeur.
Pierre
Vimont was appointed Ambassador of France to the United
States by President Nicolas Sarkozy on August 1, 2007.
Prior to his present appointment, Mr. Vimont was
Chief of
Staff to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, a position he
had held since 2002. He was previously Ambassador and
Permanent Representative of France to the European Union
from 1999 to 2002. His talk can be accessed with this
link:
http://www.yale.edu/macmillan/multimedia.htm.
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Northeast Conference Selects Barbara
Lindsey’s "Participatory Pedagogy" as Best
of NECTFL 2008
Congratulations, Barbara!
Press release
by Rebecca R. Kline, Executive Director,
NECTFL
Carlisle PA, May
8, 2008 – Barbara Lindsey, Director of the Multimedia
Language Center at the University of Connecticut and former
president of the Connecticut Council of Language Teachers
(CT COLT), has been selected by the Northeast Conference on
the Teaching of Foreign Languages as the 2008 winner of the
"Best of NECTFL" award, presented for the conference
presentation judged most outstanding by attendees and the
Board of Directors.
The 2008
Northeast Conference was held March 27-29, 2008 at the
Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. Over 200 workshops
and sessions were presented, and 2,500 foreign language
professionals participated in the conference and its events.
Professor Lindsey’s session, "Participatory Pedagogy:
Engaging Learners through Social Networking," is
automatically accepted on the program of the next American
Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages convention,
scheduled for November 21-23, 2008 in Orlando.
For additional
information on the Northeast Conference or its Best of
NECTFL award, contact Rebecca R. Kline or visit
www.nectfl.org.
About the
Northeast Conference
The Northeast
Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages serves
educators in all languages (including classical, less
commonly taught, and ESL), at all levels from kindergarten
through university, in both public and private settings. In
existence since the late 1940s, NECTFL is the largest of
five regional associations of its kind in the United States,
representing educators from Maine to Virginia but exercising
leadership nation-wide.
NECTFL holds an
annual conference for all concerned with foreign language
education, providing both outstanding professional
development and the chance to interact with colleagues. The
meeting’s events include the recognition of award winners
both within and outside the field. NECTFL has honored
President Jimmy Carter, Sesame Street, Senator Paul Simon,
and musicians Taj Mahal and Carole Fredericks, among others.
NECTFL publishes
a semi-annual magazine and occasional scholarly reports.
Current foci include cultural proficiency and languages in
preK-16+ urban educational settings. The organization is
widely recognized as providing cutting-edge leadership and
translating visionary work into practical classroom
application.
The Board of
Directors of the Northeast Conference is committed to
educating citizens for participation in a peaceful global
community.
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2008 Student Awards for Excellence in
World Languages
To view the list of awardees for 2008, please click on the link
below.
List of Awardees for 2008 |
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An Interesting
Free World Language Related Web Site
Bill Zimmerman wants to share with you news of his newest
educational project and also ask for your help to make it
succeed.
A year ago he launched a new
web site --
http://
www.makebeliefscomix.com
-- where children and adults can create their own comic
strips. They can select from 15 fun characters with
different moods -- happy, sad, angry, worried – and write
words for blank talk and thought balloons to make their
characters talk and think. There also are story ideas and
prompts to help users create graphic stories.
This site can be used by educators to teach language,
reading and writing skills, and also for students in
English-as-a-Second-Language programs to facilitate
self-expression and storytelling, as well as computer
literacy. It is now being used in 150 countries by
educators.
Some educational therapists use it with deaf and autistic
people to help them understand concepts and communicate.
Parents and children can create stories together, print them
to create comic books or email them to friends and family.
Others will find the site a resource to be creative, calm
down and have fun.
Because so many Spanish-speaking users asked us for the
ability to write their cartoons in Spanish as well as in
English, we recently upgraded the site to accept words
written in Spanish, including appropriate accent marks. This
can be a useful tool for someone who is learning Spanish as
well as someone whose first language is Spanish. This
feature is being expanded to other languages, such as
French, Italian and German.
Mr. Zimmerman hopes that you
will share
http://www.makebeliefscomix.com
with your colleagues, teachers, students or readers of your
publications and resource lists. The site is free with no
advertising. Any help you might offer in getting word out
about this project will be greatly appreciated.
If you can suggest other people or groups whom he might
contact to make them aware of the site please send me their
names, email addresses or phone numbers. Any list-servs he
might join? Relevant Internet resource sharing groups would
be helpful, too. It takes a community to build a useful
resource like this one.
As one
who learned to read with comic books, he knows that creating
comic strips can help people tap into their creativity and
practice their language and storytelling skills. The site
is free and stems from his lifelong mission to create
resources that help people find their voice and express
themselves. The concept for makebeliefscomix.com
is derived from his earlier books, Make Beliefs
and Make Beliefs for Kids of All Ages (which can be
found on his other web site: http://www.billztreasurechest.com.
A Make Beliefs interactive feature appeared for 13 years on
his syndicated Student Briefing Page for Newsday, and in
National Geographic’s World Magazine.
He hope you like
http://www.makebeliefscomix.com
and will use it in your work
and personal life. Your feedback is welcome and very
helpful. Mr. Zimmerman may be reached at
wmz@aol.com.
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Last year, in an effort to
promote foreign languages, TFLTA
(Tennessee Foreign
Language Teaching Association)
sponsored a state-wide quilt project.
Their end result was
an amazing quilt which represented
several schools, elementary through university
levels in the state of
Tennessee.
This year, because
the TFLTA state
conference will be held in conjunction with
ACTFL, TFLTA is broadening
the scope of their original
project by making a “national” quilt.
They have encouraged
all the state organizations to send a quilt
square representing their
individual states.
The quilt squares from the
various states will then be made into a
quilt which will be on display in Nashville at
the ACTFL convention in November.
Above you will see CT COLT's contribution to
this national quilt that will be on display at
the ACTFL convention in Nashville, Tennessee.
CT COLT's quilt square was designed and created
by Lynne Campbell (Glastonbury Public Schools),
the ACTR representative to the CT COLT board of
directors. Great job, Lynne!
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 Downloadable
CT COLT Tri-fold Brochure
This
tri-fold brochure has been designed for members and
non-members of CT COLT. If you are a
member, you can download this brochure,
print it and pass it on to your non-member
colleagues. If you are not a member of
CT COLT, we encourage you to download this
brochure and check out the benefits that CT
COLT offers to its members.
CT COLT
Brochure
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