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A letter from the Presidents
COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS VOLUME 31 NUMBER 3 August 2012
P resident s L etterP age 1
B oard of d irectorsP age 2
ef a dP age 3
P resident e Lect a rticLeP age 4
s Pring c onf . a dP age 5
s Pring s ession P ro -PosaL
P age 6
P ast P resident a r -ticLe
P age 7
2012 s Pring c onf .P age 8
a wards 2012P age 9
V ideo t aPe s Peaking c ontest
P a ge 10
s tudent e ssay c on -test
P age 11
a word from thecommittee
P age 12
toy a rticLeP age 13
w hy s erVe ?P age 14
t ech a rticLeP age 15/16
a nnouncementsP age 17/18
u Pcoming c onfer -ences
P age 21
In This Issue
Affiliated with the Southwest Conference on Language Teaching, the Central States Conference and the American Council on the Te
COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS www.ccft.org August 2012 Page
Summer me is for the 3 Rs: Relax, Renew, Refresh. As we face cuts and di culteconomic mes in our schools this summer me is cri cal, and we hope youvetaken full advantage of those 3 Rs. Hopefully, youve taken that me to breathe,re ect, and decide how to move forward. CCFLT becomes even more important asyour support, your opportunity to grow and contribute. CCFLT is our organiza on,maintained by members and supported by members.
Anna: My past ve years on the CCFLT Board have given me tremendous support in my work as a teacher andcoordinator. This organiza on has given me hope and belief in the power of us together. The connec ons that I havemade through CCFLT have kept me going and kept me fresh. I have received new ideas, new ways to look at instruc on,and most importantly support for language educa on in our state.
Debbie: I have to echo Annas sen ments about serving on this Board. My past 5 years have taught me so much. Ihave met and worked with wonderful, professional and just plain fun people. From ra ing with the Board, to ACTFL inDenver, to the Air Force Academy for the Spring Conference--this year has had mul ple highlights and many memories.I was looking forward to being past president, but I think being co-president with Anna will be even be er!
As we look to this coming year there are some changes in CCFLT. Our President-Elect, Rebecca Schwerd eger, hasresigned as her family made a move to Missouri. Our loss is Missouris gain. So, the Execu ve Board o ered to remainin place: Anna Crocker, Past-President, Debbie Cody, President, and Cris n Bleess, President-Elect. We presented to theBoard that Anna and Debbie would remain as co-presidents and Cris n would have her year to learn and understandthe presidents role. The Board voted to support this structure. Now on October 13, at the Fall Conference (returning tothe Air Force Academy), members will be asked to ra fy this structure for one year only.
The second change is in the schedule for the Spring Conference (February 21, 22 and 23, 2013). In an e ort toaccommodate teachers me and o er more sessions we will have the following schedule:Thursday, February 21
2 simultaneous sessions 5:00 7:00 pm Wine and cheese recep on 7:00 pm
Friday, February 22 Exhibit Hall Open 7:30 Con nental Breakfast 8:00 11:30 am sessions 11:45 am Awards Luncheon 1:15 5:15 pm sessions 5:15 7:15 pm Exhibitors Recep on
Saturday, February 23 Exhibit Hall open
7:30 am Con nental Breakfast 8:00 10:15 am sessions 10:30 11:30 am Keynote Speaker open to all 11:45 am Immersion Luncheons (Chinese, French, German and Spanish)
1:15 5:15 pm sessions
The Conference will be at the Embassy Suites in Loveland, CO. Informa on for registra on and hotelbooking can be found on our website: www.cc t.org. Register early and get a price break!We hope your school year starts o great and we look forward to serving you throughout this year. Please takeadvantage of everything CCFLT has to o er: newsle ers, great website, conven ons and workshops, networking withcolleagues, professional support, and, oh yeah, fun!
Anna & Debbie / Co-presidents
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Board of Directors 2012 2013Of cersDebbie Cody, Co-President, South High School .......... [email protected] Crocker, Co-President, Jeffco ............................. [email protected]
Cristin Bleess, President-Elect ..........................................bleesscc [email protected]/Secondary Representatives:Greg Breitbarth, Littleton Academy..........................................greg_tegu@yahoo.comLisa Bloomer, Pine Creek High School.................................. [email protected] Flynn, Bear Creek High School.......................................a [email protected] Kaufman, South High [email protected] Noonan, Denver Public Schools.............................diana_noonan@dpsk12.orgMichael Verderaine, Doherty High School........................................verdema@d11.orgBecky Loftus, Oberon Middle School......................................rloftus@jefco.k12.co.usKatie Lorimer, Highline Academy................................klorimer@highlineacademy.org
Post Secondary Representative:
Courtney Paige Fell, CU Boulder.....................................Courtney.Fell@colorado.edu
At-Large Representative:Stefan Betley, Holyoke High School..............................................betleyst@hcosd.orgGrace Koda, Littleton Academy....................................................gkoda@lps.k12.co.us
Non-Voting Appointed Members:Jennifer Marglin, Executive Secretary. ................................. execsec.cc [email protected] Cody, Editor .................................................................... [email protected] Murray-Carrico, Web Master.......................................susan.murray@asd20.org
CCFLT website: http://www.cc t.org
CCFLT Listserv E-mail Address: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CCFLT/Use this address to send a message to the Listserv after joining
To change the email address to which your CCFLT Listserv email is sent,go to: http://www.cc t.org/listserv.pdf and follow the instructions.
www.regonline.com to join, renew, or register for conferences.
The Newsletter of theColorado Congressof Foreign LanguageTeachers
P blis ed 4 mes yearly:August, October, January, April
p://cc t.org
Valerie Cody, Editorvalcody7@ya oo.com
Have a question about dues?Please emailJennifer MarglinCCFLT Executive Secretaryexecsec@cc t.org
Advertising rates andpolicies:You are invited to advertisein the CCFLT Newsletter.Commercial ads, whichsupport the mission of CCFLTand are of interest to theprofession, including tour andbook ads, are accepted a thefollowing rates:Size of ad Charge Size of CopyFull Page $250 7 X 9Half Page $125 7 X4Half page $125 3 X 9 Page $75 3 X4
Prices indicate a one-timesubmission in the newsletter. If you have questions regardingappropriate software or design
iles for ads, contact the Editorat [email protected]
Advance payment is
appreciated. Make checkspayable to CCFLT and send to:Jennifer MarglinCCFLT Executive SecretaryP.O. Box 12Wheat Ridge, CO 80034
Questions on advertising costs,email execsec@cc lt.org
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A Letter from the President- Elect
A WORD FROM THE PRESIDENT-ELECT
Its the end of June as I write this article. I have spent agood share of the last week planning my upcoming trip toSouth America. Twenty years ago when I planned a trip,I would go to a travel agency to buy my plane ticket, andthen buy a travel guide for the country Id be visiting. Idstudy the travel guide and then show up in the city andhave a taxi take me to an area with a number of possible
hostels mentioned in the guidebook and walk around with my backpack until I found aplace with a bed. Oh, how times have changed.
Last week, I started my search at the public library by picking up some travel guides
for Argentina and Uruguay (well after tickets were purchased online). When I gothome, I started to look at the books, but then quickly put them aside and opened upmy laptop to start searching online. Even though I had three really good guidebookssitting right next to me, I preferred to go online and do my planning there. Iresearched the must sees and dos of the cities Id be visiting. I looked up hotels (Iam past the hostel stage of my life!) and was able to read reviews from people whohad stayed there as recently as last week. I looked at maps that showed me wherethe hotels were located in relation to the places I wanted to make sure to visit. Ifound a couple of tours that got high praise from former visitors. I even booked myferry tickets from Buenos Aires to Montevideo from the comfort of my couch.
The main reason for my trip to South America is to participate in a teacher exchangeprogram in Uruguay. In preparation for my visits to various Uruguayan schools,Ive created a Google Site that includes videos my students made to share with theUruguayan students, a PowerPoint about my school and all the resources for theworkshops I will be presenting. More importantly, I have been able to communicatewith my exchange partner not only via email, but also on Facebook and Skype.
How technology has changed my world in such a short time. However, this changed world is what our students have always lived in and we need to make sure we areincluding the most up-to-date uses of technology in our classes to meet our students
needs. As we start to prepare our lessons for the upcoming year, we need to thinkabout tomorrows technology today and use technology to allow our students to dowhat they really want to do when studying a languagecommunicate with the world!
Cristin [email protected]
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JNCL-NCLIS Report
As your president, I had the privilege of represen ng CCFLT at the annual mee ngof the Joint Na onal Council on Languages held in Washington, DC in May. Iwas amazed at the organiza ons represented at that mee ng. All of of AATs,professional World Language groups, regional and na onal bodies and more werein a endance. The discussions and issues raised were eye-opening and beyondeduca onal.
On the second day, our task was to visit our state senators and representa ves intheir o ces on Capitol Hill. Some talking points were pre-arranged, but otherswere le to our discre on. Even though I was nervous and in mated, I cansay I was well-received and felt my agenda was heard. I visited the o ces of Senators Bennet and Udall and Representa ve Polis.
These are the points I made for Colorado, speci cally:1. We want World Languages to be named in Race to the Top and in the reauthoriza on of ESEA2. We need federal funding for WL programs so districts cant unilaterally decide to wipe out programs (cite Eagle and Pueblo).
We know some mes they feel they have no choice, but federal funding would help stop that from happening3. We need you to support and work toward a state-wide gradua on requirement4. We want you to make a statement about the importance of foreign language study on your website that we can use on ours.
For Colorado and the country:1. Lang Flagships (DOD)
Double this budget and focus on the k-12 program
2. StarTalk (NSA)Double this budget; expand beyond cri cal needs languages; expand beyond summer programs3. NSLIY (Dept. of State)
Support Presidents request to con nue funding this program4. FLAP and Title VI
Did you know that the fed govt eliminated funding for FL programs in 2012?
This program was small and could have been reduced, but was cut completely. Please work to reinstate this funding.
I have since followed-up my visits with le ers and have checked the Senators and Representa ves websites, but have found nostatements regarding the importance of World Language study. I will be contac ng them again...
I came home with a larger vision for the governments role in our classroom, and a new apprecia on for our responsibili es ascons tuents. Ive been schooled on the necessity of advocacy!
Thanks, CCFLT, for this amazing experience,
Debbie Cody
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Go to www.regonline.com/cc t
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GRANTS AWARDS - SCHOLARSHIPSEvery year the Colorado Congress of Foreign Language Teachers honors those individuals who have contributed
extensively to foreign language educa on. Check out the Grants, Awards, Scholarships and Contests. Start planningon who you will nominate!
FALL 2012
DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 30, 2012
FALL INNOVATION GRANT OF $500.00
FALL INNOVATION GRANT OF $250.00
New Teac er Conference Sc olars ip to a end t e Fall Conference
SPRING 2013
DEADLINE: DECEMBER 1, 2012
The Genevieve Overman Memorial Service Award: Presented to a world language educator for dedicated and longservice to the teaching profession, as well as commitment and leadership in serving CCFLT.
T e Excellence in Teac ing Award: Presented to a world language educator who has excelled in classroominstruc on.
The Program Leaders ip Award: Presented to a world language educator who has provided excep onal leadershipand innova on in programs beyond the classroom level.
T e Kris Wells Memorial Crea vity Award: Presented to a world language educator who has demonstratedexcep onal crea vity and innova on in the eld of world languages, whether in teaching, administra on, or
materials development.
The New Ed cator Award: Presented to a world language educator in the rst ve years of teaching, who exhibits agreat deal of poten al in developing ideas for world language educa on.
T e Friend of Foreign Lang ages Award: Presented to an individual or group from outside the world languageteaching profession who has made signi cant contribu ons to the teaching and learning of world languages.
New Teac er Conference Sc olars ip: To a end t e Spring Conference
MONETARY GRANTS:
If you have an idea for a project for your classroom, please consider applying for one of the following grants:
Ronald W. Walker Memorial Grant ......$1000
Spring Innova on Grant .........................$250
Spring Innova on Grant .........................$500
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12th Annual Videotaped Speaking ContestA fantastic opportunity for students of CCFLT members to
create 90-second video/digitally-taped conversation based
on the new Colorado Academic Standards for World Language.
Standard 1: Communication In Languages Other ThanEnglish, focused on verbal communication.
Students may participate in any of the following:
express needs, tell stories, obtain and convey information, explain
concepts and procedures and/or persuade. Students will
focus on conversational mode versus purely presentational
(such as an advertisement).
This contest is open to all students at all levels. All
submissions must be received by December 1, 2012.
Visit the CCFLT website at www.ccft.org (contests, grants,
scholarships tab) for rules, requirements and information.
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17 th Annual CCFLT Student Essay Contest CCFLT is seeking student essays in English for its annual essay contest.Winning essays will be posted at the CCFLT Spring Conference and willbe shared at the local, state, and national levels with representativesand senators to make them aware of the voices of their youngconstituents. Students are our best voices for world language education!Each sponsoring teacher must be a current member of CCFLT. Eachteacher may only submit up to three (3) essays.
The elementary and middle school winners will receive $25, while highschool and university winners will receive $50; K-12 winners also receivea plaque commemorating their accomplishment. The teachers of thewinning students will be invited to attend the Spring Conference Awards
Luncheon to accept the award on behalf of their students.
The essay topics re ect the theme of the CCFLT 2013 Spring Conference, Back to the Future: 21 st Century Technology Today
Topics are as follows:
Elementary and Middle School:
How has technology helped me to learn another language?High School and University:
As social media continues to skyrocket, how can I use this technology to help me learn another language?
Deadline for submissions is December 1, 2012.
Length and presentation:
One page maximum, word processed, double spaced.
Times New Roman font, 12-point font size
Written in English with attention to the rubric below
Cover sheet to include:
o Students name
o Students grade level (i.e., French, Level 1; 3 rd grade)
o Students age
o Students address, phone number
o Sponsoring teachers name
o Name of school
o School address
Send essays to:
o Anna Crocker: [email protected] o Essays must arrive by 5 pm December 1, 2012
By entering the contest, all participants acknowledge that CCFLT has their permission to edit and usetheir entries as deemed appropriate to the purpose of the contest.
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A Word from the Outreach Committee:
For over sixty- ve years CCFLT has ful lled its purpose of promoting a sense of community between those involved in language teaching across Colorado as well asprovide those interested in language in academia with an opportunity to communicatewith others who share their passion.
As a member of the CCFLT, you have the opportunity to expand your currentknowledge of language teaching as well as explore new techniques for the classroomand beyond. Our mission is to provide you with the necessary skills to establishthe highest standards of pro ciency among students of foreign languages at theelementary, secondary, college and university levels.
Membership gives you access to our two conferences held each year, during whichrecognized speakers present keynote lectures on language in academics and teachingdevelopments in a changing world. Not only will you be able to attend these lectures,
but you will also have the opportunity to participate in our language workshops thatfocus on the most current issues in the advancement and teaching of world languages.Many scholarship and grant opportunities abound for CCFLT members.
Share this with a friend.
CCFLT Membership is online!!You can now easily manage your CCFLT membership.
Do you need to renew your membership or update personal information?
Have a colleague or friend who would like to become a CCFLT member?
Then go to: www.regonline.com/ccft
If you are a member, go to the website, click the join now button, put your email address in the boxes on thenext page and click the already joined link which will take you straight to your membership information. Hereyou can update your contact info or renew your membership. When your membership is close to the expiration date, you will receive an email from Regonline indicatingthe date your membership is due to expire. Keeping your personal info current is the best way to ensurecommunication from CCFLT. Also, please check that your computers lter does not bounce out emails fromRegonline or CCFLT.
If you have colleagues or friends who would like to become members, they will start the process by clicking onthe join now button, putting in the email address, and then continuing through the rest of the process.
If you have any questions, please contact Jennifer Marglin at execsec@cc t.org .
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W y Serve on t e CCFLT Board?
The Board of Directors posi ons, which last for two academic years, give members the opportunity to:
Prac ce Communica on skills in at least two languages
Promote Connec ons at state, regional, and na ons levels
Make Friendships all over the state Gain Leadership and professional growth opportuni es
Share Teaching ps, experiences and concerns
The responsibili es include:
Serve for two academic years (beginning the May a er you are elected)
A end monthly mee ngs from August to May
A end Fall retreat in August (2 days, 1 overnight)
Work at the Spring ConferenceServe on a minimum of two commi ees; one Standing and one SpringConference commi ee
Chair a commi ee in your second year
Reimbursements and bene ts include:
Up to twelve hours CDE recer ca on credit
All phone calls
Mileage at 25 cents per mile
Spring Conference registra on and two luncheon meals
Fall Conference registra on
Cer cates for volunteer hours
Easy to nominate yourself
Build statewide networking connec ons
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2013 CCFLT Board Candidates
Visit www.cc t.org to run for the Board.Vo ng will take place at the CCFLT Spring 2013 Conference .
Hope you decide to join us!
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Tec Tools for Back-to-Sc ool
Looking for some useful tech tools as you start o the new school year? Here are some to get you started!
Product Notes
Edmodo
www.edmodo.com
Social networking for educa on
Students can post and share in the target language Network with other teachers in your subject area
Share links and embed projects from other sites
Quiz and poll classes
A ach documents and work with Google Docs
Grade book, library, calendar features
Mac, PC, iPad, iPhone, Android friendly
Private and secure. Parental access codes.
Go paperless! Free!
Evernote
evernote.com
Note taking, sharing, collabora ng, planning.
Take notes on one device and be able to access thosenotes from your account anywhere!
Add photos and audio
Mac, PC, iPad, iPhone, Android friendly
Free , with ered op ons available
School accounts available
Glogster
edu.glogster.com
Online & cross-pla orm Digital poster
A ach/embed text, images, photos, videos, audio,power points
Embed in blogs or edmodo to share and re ect
Collaborate through Glogster site
Free , with ered op ons available
School accounts available
Google Voice
www.google.com
Use for oral presenta ons
Listen when you want Your own Google voice phone number
Students can call and text that number
Easy to do speaking assessments this way
Use as a backchannel during presenta ons or videos
Free!
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Poll Everywhere
www.polleverywhere.com
Uses cell phones as clickers to respond to ques ons
Students can share cell phones!
Text in answers
Can respond via web
Free!
Quizlet
quizlet.com
Online ash card maker
Vocabulary games
Searchable; share, embed
Free!
Slideshare
www.slideshare.net
Load and share power point presenta ons
Search available presenta ons
Free!
Storybird
storybird.com
Write, share, collaborate
Class accounts available
Short, art inspired stories
Fun and easy to use
Free!
Vocaroo
vocaroo.com
Simple audio recordings
Share link or embed
Very easy to use!
Free!
VoiceThread
voicethread.com
Online audio re ec on & collabora on.
Mac, PC, iPad, iPhone, Android friendly Put up a picture and let students comment
Students can do reports with this
Students can talk and/or write
Free , with ered op ons available
School accounts available
This is by no means an all-inclusive list, but perhaps there is something here you can try this school year. Visit the sites.Explore what they have to ofer. Play. Prac ce. Imagine the possibili es!
Susan Murray-Carrico
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Un i ve rs i t y o f No r t h e r n Co l o ra d o WORLD L ANGUAGE D AY
Apri l 17, 2013
T HE UNIV E R SIT Y OF NO RTHE RN COLOR ADOS DE PART MENTS OF MO DERN L ANGU AGE S AND HIS PANIC ST UDIE S HOST WORLD L ANGU AGE DAY
This daylong event includes competitions, workshops, cultural presentations and many other
language immersion activities in which high school students throughout Colorado and Wyoming
may participate. UNC has sponsored World Language Day for over 40 years and last year they
welcomed over 1200 students and teachers.
Competitions are scheduled for high school students in grades 9 through 12 in Spanish, French,
German, and Chinese while cultural activities and entertainment are open to all attendees.
The University of Northern Colorado will also award Outstanding World Language Teachers in
recognition of their language teaching accomplishments. These awards will be presented at the
teachers luncheon by the Departments of Modern Languages and Hispanic Studies to honor
professional excellence among teachers of world languages in secondary schools.
Please visit the WLD website at http://www.unco.edu/wld for additional
information and to view photo galleries and videos of previous events.
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Oprima dos for better cognition
May 8th 2012, 18:36 by R.L.G. | NEW YORK
MANY people report feeling like di erent people when they speak a foreign language. Ive been scep cal of theseclaims, since many of them seem to line up too neatly with na onal stereotypes: I feel warmer and more relaxed inSpanish, German makes me reason more carefully and the like. But a new study seems to show that people reallydo think di erently in a foreign languageany foreign language. Namely, people are less likely to fall into commoncogni ve traps when tested in a language other than their mother tongue. The study is The Foreign-LanguageE ect: Thinking in a Foreign Tongue Reduces Decision Biases by Boaz Keysar, Sayuri L. Hayakawa and Sun Gyu An in
Psychological Science (unfortunately behind a paywall, but wri en up by Wired here ).
Writers like Daniel Kahneman, Richard Thaler, Cass Sunstein, Dan Ariely and others have written extensivelyabout our propensity for awed reasoning. Mr Kahneman, in particular, has focused on loss aversion: peopleswillingness to take irrational risks (mathematically speaking) in order to avoid suffering a loss. But thiseffect, it seems, disappears when subjects are tested in a foreign language. One group of native English-speakers who also spoke Japanese was divided into two. One half was given a version of Mr Kahnemansloss-aversion game in their native language (English). The second was given the same test in their foreignlanguage (Japanese). The tendency to take risky, irrational bets to avoid losses nearly disappeared for thosetested the foreign language (Japanese). A second test, of Koreans who speak English, found the same thing:
the Koreans made more balanced, cautious choices in English.
This ts Mr Kahnemans thinking nicely. He posits two general systems of thinking: System 1, intuitive andquick, good for most purposes, but prone to those pesky cognitive traps; and System 2, deliberative and slow,
better at higher reasoning but effortful to activate and keep active. The brain, which minimises effort where itcan, leans on System 1 wherever possible. But modern life presents many problems better suited to System 2.
The hypothesis behind the foreign-language effect is that speaking the foreign language activates System2 in advance of tackling the tricky questions. This would not have been obvious from the outset, though.Another possible result might have been that using the foreign language tires the brain, and that this fatiguemight make people more, not less, prone to mistakes. Mr Kahneman, after all, describes ego depletion
leading to bad choices in other studies. But in this study, the effect of priming System 2 appears to have beenstronger than any fatigue effect.
Yet more reason to learn a foreign language, dear readers. Yet an irony emerges: if the hypothesis is correct,the better cognition should only obtain when people are using their foreign language with some effort. If you become so uent that you are nearly a balanced bilingual, would the effect disappear? More researchawaits, but Johnson certainly hopes that this result wont discourage anyone from polishing up their foreignlanguages.
Peoples introspection on their own thinking and language-use is often unreliable. Nonetheless, this studyseems to indicate that theres something there. So a question: do you think differently when using different
languages? And if so, how?Submitted by Pam Centeno, Cheyenne Mountain High School
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Lt Col Richard Dabrowski, PhD
DECORATING THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSROOM
Given the opportunity, most foreign language teachers decorate their classrooms with travel posters,
reproduc ons of pain ngs, maps, student artwork, and other paraphernalia to create an atmosphere that brings tomind loca ons and cultures where the target language is spoken. While this may create a more invi ng space thansterile walls, li le research has been done as to whether these e orts at decora on make any di erence in learningoutcomes. What if you could choose to decorate your classroom any way you wanted what would you choose to do,and why?
A renova on project at the US Air Force Academy gave me this opportunity all the accumulated paraphernaliain our foreign language classrooms had to be removed so that workers could make necessary repairs. At the end of the renova on, all classrooms looked like Photo #1 [a ached]: blackboards covered all walls, with 24 of white spacebetween the tops and the ceiling. I had USAFA graphics create two murals: one a collage of photos of cadets whopar cipated in study abroad programs in Spanish-speaking countries, and the other a colorful pa ern of ags and mapsof these same countries. I then conducted a simple anonymous survey to determine which one was more appealing to
the cadets.
Results
Cadets strongly but not overwhelmingly chose the collage of photos of peers in study abroad programs as theirfavorite, with the ags & maps taking second place. My sense is the photos are par cularly appealing because thecadets pictured are familiar to the students and theyre usually doing something ac ve like horseback riding or sur ng,which makes learning Spanish become a passport to something fun. Many cadets commented on this explicitly; forexample, one cadet wrote: Pictures of past cadet trips is a great idea. It is encouraging to see the opportuni es we canhave if we do well. Others appreciated that there was something colorful where otherwise there might only be concreteblock walls painted white. A representative cadet comment: The classes do NOT have windowsso ANYTHING on thewalls is a plus.
Conclusions
What several cadets told me was that while they liked seeing peers doing fun things abroad, they had nointen on of con nuing to study Spanish beyond the minimum requirement and so for them the appeal of travel was notmo va ng. Indeed, less than half of our students study Spanish beyond the rst year. These cadets reported that whatwould best mo vate them was nding prac cal uses for Spanish right now within the Academy and local community,rather than in future study abroad programs or travel in which they were unlikely to par cipate. Theres room enoughin each classroom for both local and study-abroad murals, hopefully providing mo va on to a broader range of studentsand perhaps encouraging a few more to go beyond the Academys minimum foreign language requirement. What is keyis talking to your students and nding out from them how they want the classroom decorated, and why . You might besurprised by what you nd out!
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Photo #4: Detail of Photo CollageMural
Photo #5: Detail of Flags andMaps Mural
Photo #1: Before Photo of Spanish Classroom
Photo # 2: A er Photo of Spanish Classroom [PhotoCollage]
Photo #3: A er Photo of Spanish Classroom [Flags andMaps]
COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS www.ccft.org August 2012 Page 20
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THE CCFLT NEWSLETTER IS A PUBLICATION SERVING EDUCATORS OF ALL LANGUAGES AT ALL LEVELS Do you have a great unitthat you teach? Do you have some ideasfor activities that addressthe Colorado Standards?
Do you have sometechniques that helpstudents achieve
pro ciency?Or perhaps you have some differentiated activities or tried and true methods tomotivate students. Are there ways youinclude culture in your teaching? How do you makeconnections with language to other contents; perhapsyou coordinate with an art or social studies teacher.
f
Up-coming Conferences
The CCFLT Newsletter would like to include articlesabout teachers and teaching in its publication so that wecan bene t from one anothers expertise.Please consider sharing your successes in the classroom.Articles and ideas for submission should be sent via
email to the president, Debbie Cody at [email protected] . Articles and ideas should bein the form of an MS word.doc attachment. If you wishto sub mit photos, please submit them as jpg les and thesubmission should include a brief bio of the author.
2013 Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
Marc 14 - 16, 2013 hilton Col mb s Downtown
Col mb s, Oh
Join us in Henderson,Nevada
APRIL 4-6, 2013
MultiTasks,MultiSkills,MultiConnections
2013 Central StatesConference on the
Teaching of ForeignLanguages
The Southwest Conference on Language Teaching is a regional foreign language teachers organiza on that hosts anannual conference in partnership with state foreign language teacher associa ons. The par cipa ng states in SWCOLTare Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah.
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