Happy World Teachers day! October 5th Let's celebrate with a meeting!

To Learn more click here

October 5th meeting agenda

(US Cindy’s room- E219)

• Welcome new teachers
• Share something going well in your classes
• General announcements
• Copies of philosophy/outcomes
• Departmental goals by languages- What do we want to look like in 5 years?

Odds and Ends:
Parent/Teacher Conferences
US: Friday October 7th
MS/IS Thursday and Friday November 3 and 4

Building Bridges with LS, continues
Michelle O'Hara is the new LS librarian.  Some of you may remember her as an alum and even her mother who also worked in the Lower School library.  She is helping us coordinate the language buddies initiative.  Stay tuned as we will be reaching out to teachers (and their students) to share their language of study with a LS class.
The way it works is that one of your language classes (students) prepare a 30 minute lesson on a language theme (numbers, colors, weather, animals, etc.) We will coordinate with a LS library time for your group to come down to the Lower School library and share the lesson with a LS class. There are many benefits to all the children involved and it gives our Lower School children a chance to interact with a world language during their school day.  We only ask that you commit one of your classes for one 30 minute time and I will reach out to you if your class coincides with a LS library time.  Through our budget we are able to purchase children's books in the target language or a possible resource you or your students may need.  Check out Pinterest and  Teachers Pay Teachers for lots of ideas!

Language related Clubs

MS- Heritage Speaker lunch club (bimonthly)

IS- possible language lunch tables in the dining room (monthly)

US- A.S.I.A. , Chinese Culture Club, Latinos Unidos 
Phoebus magazine accepts essays and writings in other languages

Honor Code and Core values- 

put them up!
I have seen many of you put up the core values in your languages, great! Next thing for us to think about is the school honor code.  Remember that students get their first grades here at Potomac as they finish their 6th grade year.  The beginning of grade anxiety and habits that are less than truthful can begin in IS.  Let's make sure we give students the opportunity to think about their actions.  Here are some honor statement samples for both homework and tests and the full US Code of Conduct.  

Sample honor statements

Upper School Standards of Conduct

Thanks Carolina for cleaning the US Language Office fridge!

No October birthdays

GET THE FACTS ON THE GRADE 8 LANGUAGE TRIPS

Eighth grade parents are invited to a question-and-answer session with IS language teachers about the Spring Break trips to France, Italy, and Spain. The meeting will take place on Thursday, October 13, at 7:00 pmin the IS Commons. Light refreshments will be served.

SYA visit 
Be on the lookout for Uchenna Ezibe the representative from Student Year Abroad who will be visiting on October 11th from 11:30-1:30.  She will briefly speak with students in some classes during D, E and F blocks that day. (TBD)  SYA is mostly interested in talking with classes that have sophomores. We will also set up a place (TBD) where students not in those blocks that are interested can speak with her.  If you do not know about SYA, click HERE. SYA is offered in each language we teach at Potomac.

CHINA TOWN HALL TO FEATURE HENRY KISSINGER 
As part of the national “China Town Hall” event, the Chinese Department is hosting a gathering in the Tiered Classroom on October 18th from 7 to 9 pm. The first part of the evening will feature Ingrid's husband, David Shambaugh, a China specialist and author of the book China's Future. IS and US students and parents  are encouraged to stop by to view a live webcast featuring Henry Kissinger, who formerly served as national security advisor and secretary of state.  Although this event is related to Chinese, it really has impact on world politics, current events and international relations.

Mixed ability groups- Many of us face mixed ability groups in every class.  Click and see an article that can give you tips for dealing with varied abilities in your classes.

Abroad Experiences, Let me count the ways

Virtual in class: Global Nomads Group, YFU Virtual Exchange, Epals, MIXXER, My Language Exchange,7 more sites for virtual exchange  Use these resources to try and connect to other classrooms or talk about world issues in the target language

Potomac sponsored short term programs: customized programs in each language with Potomac chaperones from one of our vetted vendors

SYA- junior year abroad in all 4 languages (our GPAC, SERC, VPAC)

List of quality immersion programs that students can use themselves: updated yearly   Potomac School List- found on Campusnet under summer opportunities