National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center (http://www.educ.iastate.edu/nflrc/)

Alumni Connection Newsletter - October, 2004 - Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Document Source: http://www.educ.iastate.edu/nflrc/newnflrc/news/200410/

Serving Our Students

Welcome to the October electronic newsletter of the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center! Have you ever stopped to wonder how educators remain so true to their ideals amidst gale-force winds of constantly shifting political priorities, fickle funding, community crises, and the perpetual waves of reform that these conditions create (much less in boats that still float)?!?  What keeps them so firmly anchored to their educational beliefs and values instead of abandoning ships that, according to many reports, appear to be sinking?  One possible answer is that like all good captains, they repeatedly ask themselves the question: How can I serve my crew (of students) with honor? If we are to serve our students with honor, we, like distinguished ship captains, must command respect.  In order to do this, we must be visible.  We must be perceived as professional, responsible, and accountable.  This cannot occur unless we are informed, accessible, and approachable --advocating for those we serve.  We must use who we are to communicate what we know clearly and accurately to those who, by virtue of their positions and influence, determine the policies, procedures, and mandates that, in large part, chart our course.  This issue highlights practical national, state, community, and classroom resources that we hope will support you in serving your students --with honor!

Cherice Montgomery, Newsletter Editor
Marcia Rosenbusch, Director
National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center

SERVING OUR STUDENTS VISIBLY, PROFESSIONALLY, RESPONSIBLY, AND ACCOUNTABLY

How has the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center (NFLRC) been helping teachers to become more visible, professional, responsible, and accountable?

Time sure does fly!  Did you know that the NFLRC has been serving foreign language educators for a decade?!  Visit the following link to see scenes from the summer 2004 Rethinking the PreK-12 FL Curriculum: Intrinsically Interesting, Cognitively Engaging, Culturally Connected, and Articulated Institute [1], look in on the children's Japanese class taught by Jessica Haxhi, and check out the work of Oaxacan artist and institute presenter, Armando Jiménez Arragón (Language, Culture and Content Connections: Mexico and the Zapotec Culture Institute).

How can I make the importance of my program more visible to the parents I serve?

Parent-teacher conferences are just around the corner and the Glastonbury Foreign Language Program has put together a brochure [2] that demonstrates one way to make the importance of your school's foreign language program more visible to parents.

How can I encourage students to be more accountable for their own learning?

Student-Led conferences are a great way to help students take an active role in their own learning.  If you think you might like to try this approach, you'll want to take a look at the suggestions that Tina Bonnett and Ace Marcellus offered for planning and conducting effective student-led conferences [3] at the Idaho Middle Level Association Conference a few years ago.  Are you nervous about trying it without a little research to support your decision?  Then this Eric Digest on Student-Led Conferences at the Middle Level [4] is just what you'll need!

SERVING OUR STUDENTS BY BECOMING INFORMED, ACCESSIBLE, AND APPROACHABLE

How is No Child Left Behind (NCLB) impacting foreign language programs?

A 2003 study by the Council for Basic Education (CBE) [5] suggests that NCLB is having a strong impact on foreign language programs!  One thousand principals in four states report an increase in instructional time in reading, writing, and mathematics (content areas assessed for NCLB) and a decrease in instructional time for foreign languages, the arts, elementary social studies (content areas not assessed for NCLB). These decreases are greater in high-minority schools and the principals predict that the decreases will continue in the future.

How can I help raise public and professional awareness of exemplary foreign language programs?

New Visions in Action (NVA) seeks to improve and strengthen language learning throughout the nation by making information about exemplary PreK-16 programs easily available to the profession. Therefore, NVA is requesting nominations of exemplary programs [6] that, if deemed exemplary after review by working groups, will be featured on the NVA website. Nominate your own, or another foreign language program for its excellence in curriculum, teacher development, teacher recruitment, or teacher retention! Serving our Students by Using Who We Are to Communicate What We Know

How do foreign language educators get involved in advocating for the profession? 

NFLRC alumnus Tyrone Parker has been named the State FL Consultant for Maryland!  As a former foreign language department chair, Fulbright Scholar in Germany [7], former President of the Maryland Foreign Language Association, and a member of the New Visions Teacher Recruitment and Retention Task Force, Tyrone is a great example of how teachers throughout the country are putting their wealth of knowledge and experiences to good use in serving teachers and students.  Congratulations, Tyrone!

How can I promote language study in my community?

The Minnesota New Visions: Languages for Life has compiled a list of tools that you can use to promote language study [8] at community events, school open houses, and parent teacher conferences.  The list includes brochures and videos, articles and reports, databases, and other resources.

SERVING OUR STUDENTS BY COLLABORATING WITH THOSE WHO CHART OUR COURSE

Collaborating with the Community

How can I involve my students in the community? 

Service learning is an approach to curriculum that connects students to curricular content through reflective service that meets genuine needs within the community.  To read a more comprehensive overview of service learning [9], visit Pearson Prentice-Hall's professional development site.  For an expanded definition, you'll want to spend some time with the Montgomery County Public Schools in Rockville, Maryland, whose site provides a list of seven best practices in service learning [10] and a graphic organizer that depicts the three major phases of student service learning [11].  When you think you are ready to actually get started, click on over to the Maine Department of Education, which, in collaboration with the Kids Consortium, has posted a list of potential service learning projects [12] for middle and high school modern and classical language learners.

Partnering with Parents

How can I inform parents about research that will help them with parent-teacher conferences? 

Did you know that research has many suggestions for parents regarding parent-teacher conferences?  This concise, ERIC Digest compiles the results of a number of studies into a list of specific, practical ideas parents can use at parent teacher conferences [13] in order to communicate better with teachers to address learning and behavior problems.

How can I help parents be better advocates for their children? 

Many parents want to be involved in helping their children to succeed in school, but they do not really know where to begin or how to approach educators for help.  Family Net Newsletter of the Ontario Association of Children's Rehabilitation Services, an organization dedicated to children with disabilities and their families, outlines some basic principles for advocacy [14], an extremely useful, step-by-step description of the advocacy process [15], tips for parents who are struggling [16], suggestions for learning to advocate assertively [17], as well as additional online resources to help parents become more effective advocates for their children.

SERVING OUR STUDENTS BY TEACHING THEM TO SERVE

One of the best ways that we can serve our students is by giving them opportunities to develop their gifts, talents, and unique abilities as they use their language skills to serve others in real life settings!  Mickey Stilson offers us a few ideas for encouraging students to do just that:

• Make posters in the target language for the neighborhood (stores) that explain how to register to vote for November's elections.
• Volunteer at hospital admission or emergency rooms, free/low-cost health clinics around town, local shelters, and community outreach offices to help clients who do not speak English.
• Serve as "on call translators" for parents who visit the school and need basic interpreting services, for migrant/immigrant outreach programs, and at various community events.
• Get involved with the community's efforts to promote literacy, environmental awareness, health (anti-abuse, drinking, smoking, and drug campaigns), hygiene, and/or safety by creating public service announcements, writing articles for local newspapers and school newsletters, making presentations to community and student groups in the target language, or volunteering to collaborate with students from the target culture to move these efforts forward.

STAYING ON TOP WITH TECHNOLOGY

One great way to serve our students is by sharing activities that have been successful in your classroom with others.  FLTEACH [18], a moderated discussion list for preK-16+ foreign language educators from around the world, offers an online forum to which you can e-mail your most recent insights and favorite activities.  All postings are archived, so you can search the extensive ideas [19] for activities to enliven your classes, and peruse discussions about professional advocacy, national policy, and methodology for answers to your questions.  Your visit to FLTEACH will not be complete without a visit to the FAQs pages which contain a compilation of postings on popular topics like Activities That Work [20], Advice to the New Teacher [21], Art Projects [22], Classroom Management [23], and Homework and Teacher Paperload [24].

QUOTES TO PONDER

"I am only one, But still I am one. I cannot do everything, But still I can do something; And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do." - Helen Keller

"When, through automation, a man's job has become unchallenging, boring and just a way to obtain purchasing power, if he is to keep that yeastlike feeling of being a prime mover in the world, he must do something of value with his spare time." - Ray Lowes, Founder of Canada's Bruce Trail

"If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to sleep with a mosquito." - Anita Roddick

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." -Theodore Roosevelt

"The ability to think straight, some knowledge of the past, some vision of the future, some skill to do useful service, some urge to fit that service into the well-being of the community-these are the most vital things education must try to produce." - Virginia Crocheron Gildersleeve, Dean Emeritus, Barnard College

"Respectable men and women content with good and easy living are missing some of the most important things in life. Unless you give yourself to some great cause you haven't even begun to live." - William P. Merrill

MEMORIES OF IOWA

Have you been missing Iowa without quite being able to remember why?  These interesting ads from Iowa State University [25] may remind you of some of the many reasons that the time you spent there was so stimulating.  You might even find that they spark some ideas for projects that students could do in the target language to promote your district's foreign language programs!

LINKS IN THIS DOCUMENT

[1] Rethinking the PreK-12 FL Curriculum: Intrinsically Interesting, Cognitively Engaging, Culturally Connected, and Articulated Institute - http://www.educ.iastate.edu/nflrc/inst/2004/homepage.html
[2] Brochure - http://foreignlanguage.org/advocacy/brochure.html
[3] Planning and conducting effective student-led conferences - http://idahomiddlelevel.org/studentled%20conf.htm
[4] Student-Led Conferences at the Middle Level - http://www.ericfacility.net/ericdigests/ed407171.html
[5] Study by the Council for Basic Education (CBE)  - http://www.c-b-e.org/PDF/cbe_principal_report.pdf (921 KB)
[6] Nominations of exemplary programs - http://www.educ.iastate.edu/newvisions/
[7] Fulbright Scholar in Germany - http://www.ccbcmd.edu/live/nov03/fulbright.html
[8] Tools that you can use to promote language study - http://www.mctlc.org/newvisions/prresources.html
[9] Overview of service learning - http://www.phschool.com/professional_development/learning_strategies /service_learning.html
[10] Best practices in service learning - http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/departments/ssl/bestpratices.shtm
[11] Phases of student service learning - http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/departments/ssl/three_phases.shtm
[12] Service learning projects - http://www.kidsconsortium.org/images/project/k-12contents_pdfs/mdl_h s_languages.pdf
[13] Practical ideas parents can use at parent teacher conferences - http://www.ericfacility.net/ericdigests/ed433965.html
[14] Basic principles for advocacy - http://www.familynet.on.ca/Guide_Advocacy/page3.htm
[15] Advocacy process - http://www.familynet.on.ca/Guide_Advocacy/page4.htm
[16] Tips for parents who are struggling - http://www.familynet.on.ca/Guide_Advocacy/page6.htm
[17] Advocate assertively - http://www.familynet.on.ca/Guide_Advocacy/page7.htm
[18] FLTEACH - http://www.cortland.edu/flteach
[19] Extensive ideas - http://listserv.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=flteach
[20] Activities That Work - http://www.cortland.edu/flteach/FAQ/FAQ-Activities.html
[21] Advice to the New Teacher - http://www.cortland.edu/flteach/FAQ/FAQ-Advice-New-Teacher.html
[22] Art Projects - http://www.cortland.edu/flteach/FAQ/FAQ-Art.html
[23] Classroom Management - http://www.cortland.edu/flteach/FAQ/FAQ-Classroom-Management.html
[24] Homework and Teacher Paperload - http://www.cortland.edu/flteach/FAQ/FAQ-hmwk-paperload.html
[25] Interesting ads from Iowa State University - http://www.tkovisual.com/Customers/Iowa%2043x123%201.jpg

This Newsletter was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education under Title VI grant #P229A020023. The publication of products and website URLs in this newsletter is provided for informational purposes only and does not imply an endorsement by the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center, Iowa State University, or the positions or policies of the U. S. Department of Education.

Subscription Information
You received this electronic newsletter because you are an alumni of an activity associated with the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center. This newsletter is published monthly. If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, email us at nflrc@iastate.edu with the subject line "remove alumni connection."

Content: In November, we will examine practical strategies for Supporting Student Learning . Do you have suggestions for content or information to share with fellow alumni? Send your ideas to Cherice Montgomery at chericem@msu.edu .