Connecting Cultures & Communities
The Communicator: A Florida Foreign Language Association (FFLA) E-Magazine
April-June 2019
FFLA Editor's Message 2019 FFLA Conference Scholarships and Awards Opportunities Meet the Experts Webinar Series: Role Play Regions and Membership Get Involved Donate Tool of the Quarter: Circling Article: Teaching WL Standards in Depth Classroom and Summer Ideas Summer Professional Development (Each topic is hyperlinked)
In this Issue
FFLA E-Magazine Editor's Message
Finally, we are proud to announce that we are working hard on changes in order to better serve our WL professional community. This newsletter, a brand new website, innovations in our upcoming conference and even a new logo are just the beginning of wonderful things to come. We encourage you to join us and to be part of the New FFLA Experience. Pablo L. Martinez Torres, MSIR FFLA E-Magazine Editor 2021 FFLA President-Elect
Dear World Languages Professionals, I am beyond excited to introduce you to our new quarterly E-Magazine. It is intended to serve our membership through valuable information, PDs, teaching tools, instructional and tech resources, and diverse professional opportunities. Take some time to navigate the different sections of this newsletter. Share it with professional colleagues (teachers, administrators, etc.) and WL enthusiasts. Feel free to use it to learn, implement, experiment, grow, edit, and keep looking for new ways to improve your professional career.
Want to Present at the 2019 FFLA Conference?
Coordinator's Email
Submit your Proposal NOW!!!
Book your hotel room here!!!
This year’s annual conference, Connecting Cultures and Communities, will be held October 17-19, at the Wyndham Orlando Resort International Drive. It isn’t too late to submit an hour-long breakout session. The deadline for submissions is Tuesday, April 30th. Individuals wishing to propose a half-day or full-day pre-conference workshop may contact the conference coordinators.
Conference Teacher Scholarship First-time conference attendees may receive a scholarship for free registration. Applications are due on Sunday, September 15th. Student Awards Carefully read the criteria for the award and be sure to include all the required components when submitting the application. The awards committee will not consider any incomplete submissions. The deadline for award submissions is Friday, May 3, 2019. Award recipients must be students of current members.
Student of the Year
Conference Scholarship
FFLA Scholarship and Awards Info
Teacher of the Year
Wershow Award
Teacher of Promise
Hall of Fame
These are also available on the FFLA website! Read the criteria for each award and be sure to include all required components when submitting the application. The awards committee will not consider any incomplete submissions. The deadline for award submissions is Friday, May 3rd, 2019. Awards recipients must be current members and commit to attend the October conference.
Educator Awards
Presenter's Bio
Register Here
Role-Play, Relevancy, and Rigor Nina Hidalgo will help us to explore several applications of role-play and pretending to middle and high school students in rigorous activities that replicate real-world scenarios in which they will encounter the target language. Best practice: Design communicative activities All languages/All levels When: Thursday, May 9th, 2019 at 7:00 pm
Join us for our 1st Live Webinar!!!
FFLA Minutes
With the changes to the Constitution & Bylaws approved during the annual business meeting held on October 20, 2018, FFLA has moved from 12 to 16 regions. We divided some of the geographically large regions to make it more feasible for members to attend regionally based professional development opportunities. In addition, the membership cycle was changed to a calendar year to match FFLA ’s fiscal calendar. To be fair to everyone, if you were a member in good standing at the time of the last conference, you do not need to renew your membership in 2019. Look for membership renewal notices following this year’s conference and additional reminders in December.
Regions and Membership
Constitution and Bylaws
YOUR NEW REGION
Access the interactive map on the FFLA webpage. Hover your cursor over the map to find your region, your new region number will appear below the map.
With no membership dues coming in, we desperately need assistance with fundraising and marketing. As we prepare for a focused, strategic membership drive this summer, regional directors need assistance identifying potential new members. Directors in every region also need assistance with social media management. Currently, we need Regional Directors in Regions 1, 3, 4, 12, & 16. If you are interested in becoming a Regional Director or would like to volunteer, please contact President Elect, Craig Leavitt.
Email Craig Leavitt
Get Involved in FFLA!!!
Shop at Amazon Smile
Shop using Amazon Smile and select FFLA as your designated charity. We get 0.5% of what our members purchase, and the pennies do add up. We get a small check from Amazon each quarter. Let’s make it bigger!
We also accept gift cards and items to be included in the annual silent auction. Send donations to: FFLA, Inc. 2172 Derringer Circle W Jacksonville, FL 32225 We will provide you with documentation acknowledging your in-kind donation. We are happy to accept contributions from non-FFLA members.
Click here and Donate NOW!!!
Teaching Tool of the Quarter: CIRCLING as a comprehensible input strategy
Circling is the instructional practice of asking a series of prescribed questions in the target language about a statement in the target language. The purpose of this CI strategy is to provide students with contextualized repetitions of target structures. (A repetition is an instance in which a language learner understands a structure when she or he hears or reads it.) Research shows that language learners need between 70-150 repetitions of a structure in order to acquire it into their permanent vocabulary. The higher the value of the structure to the learner, the fewer repetitions will be needed. The How Begin by making a statement in the target language. The statement should contain only ONE new structure (vocabulary term or phrase), and the rest of the statement should be completely comprehensible to students (previously acquired vocabulary, cognates, and proper nouns). Follow it up with yes/no, either/or, and open-ended questions, and restate/recast the original statement after the answer to each question is given.
Reference
Circling full tutorial and sample templates
Circling Explained
Circling WL Demonstrative Class
Article of the Quarter: How Can I Teach a WL Standard in Depth? by Pablo L. Martinez, Polk County Schools WL Curriculum Specialist
To teachers, it seems that administrators can never put enough emphasis on standard-based teaching. Actually, not covering the standard in depth is starting to become a common administrator comment in a teacher's evaluation. Although many teachers tend to be skeptical about such observations and disregard their importance of it (due to teacher's expertise vis-a-vis- with that of the evaluator), it should not be ignored. Teaching a standard in depth is not an easy task. It requires not only its understanding, but also meticulous planning, practice and evaluation. 2011 Florida WL State Standards Florida's World Languages standards were published in 2011, being heavily influenced by American Council of Teaching Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and Common Core Standards. WL Florida standards are both performance and proficiency-based standards. They stress the use of authentic sources as teaching and learning materials. Standards are divided in 5 standards of Communication and 4 intercultural standards. Also, each standard has several benchmarks divided by proficiency levels with the purpose of facilitating scaffolding. Deconstructing a WL standard In order to teach a standard in depth, we need to know the different components of a standard. Most of WL standards have at least three of the following: skill, content, context, and evidence of learning (3Cs +1E) (See figure 1 next slide). Skills, which are expressed by verbs (i.e. demonstrate understanding) are aligned with communication skill modes: interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational. However, they can also focus on a cognitive (i.e. synthesize) or intercultural skill (i.e. use practices of target language culture). The content refers to the domain of knowledge or topic; the context alludes to the situation in which the student should learn; and the evidence of learning which indicates how your students will show mastery of skill, content and context.
How can I teach a WL standard in depth? cont. 2 Figure 1: WL Standard components
The How Teaching a standard in depth means that you are able to make your students gain proficiency from a simple skill to a more complex one. (i.e. From recall to strategic and extending thinking). Step 1: Many teachers start planning their classes by identifying didactic sources related to specific content. However, in order to select the right source, we should focus first on the (communicative, cognitive and/or cultural) skill we want to develop in our students and try to anticipate how we can scaffold to more complex skills (making our students autonomous on skill mastery). Standard WL.K12.NM.2.1 states the following "Demonstrate understanding of written familiar words, phrases, and simple sentences supported by visuals", which demands our students to show meaning acquisition of a text with drawings or pictures. Since novice low/mid is at the bottom of the level of proficiency and the standard is targeting the interpretive skill mode of the language, we can address recall/retrieval (DOK Level 1) by using a PPT presentation (Identify pics/words) or picturetalk with the reading vocab words as strategies to provide comprehensible input. This facilitates meaning acquisition prior to introducing your students to the reading. To measure student understanding and mastery of the initial cognitive target, we can use picture-word match as a checking for understanding activity. Step 2: Introduce the reading to your students. Teachers usually draw readings from teacher-prepared materials (like textbook readings). The main flaw with these instructional resources is that they do not provide context, limiting the student to gain proficiency at the communication and cultural level. WL Florida State Standards intentionally foster the use of authentic sources by stating that "students will be able to understand and interpret information, concepts and ideas orally from a variety of culturally authentic sources..." Make sure you select an authentic source that is appropriate for students' level of proficiency (i.e. comic strip, graphic short story, local Mexican restaurant menu with pictures, etc).
How can I teach a WL standard in depth? cont. 3
Keep in mind that your purpose is to move your students from recall to application. Focus on activities that help students infer and explain meaning using pictures, cognates or the context of the reading; or sequence events for given text/pictures will successfully pull your students to DOK level 2. Step 3: Focus on student communicative output and think of the next level of proficiency. After providing reading comprehension activities, targeting strategic/reasoning and extended thinking should be the goal. At this point of the lesson, you might want to give a look to the next benchmark (i.e. WL.K12.NH.2.1: Determine simple idea from simple contexts that contains familiar vocabulary used in context). You will notice that the more your students gain proficiency, the easier it will be for them to execute complex thinking skills in the target language. Developing activities in which students synthesize in their own words (i.e. summarize the story to a shoulder partner), identify the purpose of the reading, and/or support an opinion/argument /disagreement with text evidence (i.e. Using prompts like Pienso que..., Concuerdo/desacuerdo con... porque...) will pave the way for your students execution of higher order thinking skills (DOK Levels 3-4). Moreover, they will not only keep your students moving in the cognitive, communication and/or cultural latter, but also keep them engaged. Final considerations Teaching standards in depth is complex. Good ideas are great, but they do not suffice in standard-based teaching. There should be careful attention and continuous reflection on students' interest, abilities, and current proficiency levels at the time of planning and executing our lessons. Routines, procedures and establishing a culture of good attitude towards struggle should also be considered. Finally, evaluation of the skills we intend our students to master should be constructed with specific criteria and consistency should follow. This not only will speak about our students' skill mastery, but also about our teaching practices.
How can I teach a WL standard in depth? cont. 4
Goal: Reflect on the Year's Experience Create a Scrapbook and give them a prompt (i.e. Things I learned in this class...) Have students write letters to themselves or to your future students Create a profile or portfolio for each student Invite students to evaluate the course
If your students already took the AP, IB, CIE or any other state test, you might be thinking of what to do with them during the last days of school. Here are some activities you can do with your students (and align them to the WL FL Sunshine Standards):
Classroom Activities Ideas: What to do after the testing Period
Click here for examples of the ideas suggested above
Goal: Review What We've Learned Let students teach the class Have students write a children's book (Use Storybird) Host a talk show or "experts" symposium
Goal: Do Something Educational But Not Too Stressful for Me or the Students Teach that fun unit you never have time for Teach a class outside Put a new twist on skill drills Engage students in a cause (Write letters to leaders, organize fundraisers, create brochures of a particular issue, etc.)
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Educators, Are you Ready for the summer!?!?
FLDOE: Just for Teachers Discounts
Are you looking for places to go this summer? According to the FLDOE Just for Teacher Community webpage, teachers have discounted or free admission to the following places or attractions with a valid certification or school ID: The Crayola Experience Kennedy Space Center Legoland SeaWorld Orlando SKELETONS: Museum of Osteology Tour St. Augustine For more information about teacher discounts for lodging, car rental, retail/shopping, sports, travel and personal use click the gold icon.
Summer Conferences
International Forum on Language Teaching (IFLT) Conference July 15th-19th Hyatt Place St. Pete/Downtown 25 and Street N. St. Petersburg, FL 33701 7th Sharing Best Practices for the World Language North Central Florida World Language Educators June 26th-27th PK Yonge Developmental Research School 1080 SW 11th St. Gainesville, FL 32601
Registration
Register here
University of Florida Center for European Studies Language Teacher Summer Institute Format: Online July 8-19 Duration: 2 weeks Cost: Free More than 50 hours!!! Contact Cari Jimenez for more info 850-723-5636
LTSI Email Contact
Summer Opportunity
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We want to hear from you. Please send your questions, comments and/or concerns to:
Pablo L. Martinez Editor/2021 President Elect
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