Interdiciplinary Learning: Breaking down the Silos

Announcement: 

Department meeting April 19th 3:30-4:30

US Chinese room

(We will not have a meeting on April 13th because Diana is away at the Global Education Benchmark Group Conference)

- Our agenda will be on our Abroad Program offerings 

New ways of Integrating:

The Genius Hour Design Cycle: A Process For Planning

Genius hour is trending in education, and for good reason. It is an attempt to restore the personalization, creativity, and authenticity that has been designed out of many schools and classrooms in the modern testing era of ed reform.

This Year, Aileen Hawkins and Elana Milstein helped me start a Genius Hour project in eighth grade.  The students have enjoyed the process and there are parts that I will change and tweak now that I have done it once with a class.  If your interested in knowing more, feel free to ask any of us.

Resources:
The Design Cycle

Pros and Cons of Teaching with Genius Hour

Exit Ticket:

Use this technique to show you what students are thinking and what they have learned at the end of a lesson. Before students leave (for recess, lunch, the end of the day,  their next class, or are transitioning to another subject area), they have to hand you a “ticket” filled out with an answer to a question, a solution to a problem, or a response to what they’ve learned. Exit Tickets help you assess if students have “caught what you taught” and plan for the next lesson or unit of instruction.

How to use

1. Create
Decide what you’d like to find out about students’ learning at the end of the lesson. Write a question or pose a problem on the Exit Ticket, or post the question or problem for students to see.
2. Collect
Set a specific amount of time for students to complete the Exit Ticket. Stand at the door to collect the tickets as students leave the classroom. Students could also post their exit tickets in a designated place in the room before leaving and/or transitioning.
3. Clarify
Examine the tickets carefully. Depending on your purpose, it might be helpful to sort the tickets into piles – for example, tickets that demonstrate students have grasped the content, tickets that show that students don’t understand, and tickets that you aren’t sure about. Consider starting the next lesson with interesting ticket responses or with a graph or chart that highlights common responses.

When to use

Use Exit Tickets at the end of class to:

• Check students' understanding by having them summarize key points from the lesson
• Verify that students can solve a problem or answer a significant question based on the lesson
• Emphasize the essential question for the day's lesson
• Have students ask questions they still have about the lesson
• See if students can apply the content in a new way
• Formulate guided groups for students who did not demonstrate understanding after the lesson
• Create extensions for students who demonstrate mastery after the lesson

Variations

Verbal Exit Ticket
Have students line up at the end of class while you stand at the door. As they reach the door, students must share an idea or concept they learned with you. Each student must give a different answer. As students stand in line, they can discuss different possible answers before they reach you.

Exit Tickets

Education Is Life

How we view our classes into the greater picture of our student's day, year or life
Thoughts to ponder in this interesting Article

Tech and Education- Married

Thanks to Aileen Hawkins who came to one of our last US meetings and shared information with us about tech resources.  HERE is her link. She will be getting back to us on blogging norms and  and privacy settings in YouTube.

Building Bridges Buddy work

Summa Cum Laude

As part of an ongoing cross-divisional IS World Language partnership with Lower and Middle School students called Building Bridges, 7th grade Latin students played the role of teachers and presented a lesson to 5th graders. Through card games, skits, and fun activities like the game-based learning platform Kahoot!, the 7th graders showed their younger buddies some Latin concepts and gained experience teaching a class.

Antonietta's French 4/5 visit 2nd grade

 

Ingrid's students came to a Middle School fourth grade class to share their Chinese knowledge!

Integrating Language and Global Studies

Thanks to Tracy, Daniel and Carolina for their work with the sophomores during their annual sophomore trip.  Here is a summary of their work.  Add to the blog if you have any ideas for them for next year.

Viva El Arte!

On Tuesday, students in AP Spanish Language and Art of Spain classes enjoyed a professional Spanish-language tour, led by Colombian and Uruguayan guides, at the National Gallery of Art. The students were able to practice their Spanish skills and apply their knowledge of art history, while gaining greater perspective on how artwork reflects the history and politics of various time periods. US Spanish teacher Carolina Covarrubias reports that the guides were impressed by the students' Spanish proficiency.

During Spring Break, 19 eighth graders traveled to Spain to immerse themselves in the language, culture, and history of the country. Accompanied by art teacher Kristin Enck and Spanish teachers Mark Modak and Christine Varoutsos '01, the students had a wonderful time putting their Spanish speaking skills to use while visiting historic Segovia, Toledo, Andalucía, and Madrid.

Chinese 4 at Mala Tang

Interdiciplinary work at the Writing Center

Sarah Kate O'Neill has sent along this message

As we get rolling on spring semester, I'm reaching out with an invitation for anyone who wants to do some interdisciplinary helping-out. Would you let the members of your department know that the Writing Center (U220)  needs them? 

Staffing the Writing Center consists of reading student work and asking questions in order to help the student achieve greater clarity and better organization in his or her writing. (For those who are interested, I'm happy to provide more extensive literature about conducting a fruitful consultation). 

I've reviewed each senior writing consultant's updated schedule for this semester. Even with each consultant staffing the Writing Center for 80 minutes each week, some blocks are not yet covered! 

We need a person for each of the following slots: 

Tuesday D block, every other week

Thursday long D block, every other week 

Friday D block, every other week 

Friday F block, every other week 

Monday G block, every other week 

Tuesday H block, every other week 

PD Opportunities  

Thanks to Ingrid- Check out this WEBSITE  she just discovered which is really helpful for foreign language teachers.  She is impressed with the module on teaching vocabulary.  Very helpful. Check it out.

3rd Annual GWATFL Spring Immersion Day
Conference for Language Teachers
 April 9, 2016. 
National Cathedral School

National Foreign Language Resource Center

GWATFL link 2016 Project-Based Language Learning & Interculturality Intensive Summer Institute How can Project-Based Language Learning (PBLL) help learners develop interculturality -- the ability to inhabit and interpret different cultures and to see one’s own culture through the eyes of another? How do I design rigorous PBLL projects to incorporate intercultural telecollaborations? The NFLRC 2016 Intensive Summer Institute (ISI) will help you answer these questions with guidance from experts in the field through a dynamic, technology-rich professional development experience. You will work on a Project Blueprint for your own language classroom assisted by colleagues and guided by a group of language professionals with background in PBL, language pedagogy, instructional technology, and assessment. In-service K-16 world language educators are invited to apply for this on-site, in-person institute. The NFLRC 2016 Intensive Summer Institute is not a beginner's workshop. In order to join, applicants will need to first earn a digital badge from the 2016 Fundamentals of Project-Based Language Learning Online Institute as a prerequisite. Participants who have obtained a 2015 Fundamentals of PBLL badge need to take an additional module to earn the qualifying badge for the 2016 Intensive Summer Institute. (Applicants who have obtained a 2015 Fundamentals of PBLL badge need to submit an additional interculturality-focused Project Blueprint to earn the qualifying badge for application to the 2016 Intensive Summer Institute.) Seats are limited and applications will be competitive. Important Dates Project Blueprint Submission Deadline: March 31, 2016 (Digital Badge should be received no later than April 5, 2016) Application deadline: April 15, 2016 (NOTE: The application form will become available in January 2016) Selection Results Notification: by April 27, 2016 Intensive Summer Institute dates: June 27-July 1, 2016