Tech and Design Thinking

Upcoming meetings:   April 12 transition meetings

WL Department meeting April 27th 3:30-4:30 Location: Tracy's house
(instead of May 10th social)

April Team Meetings:
French- April 6 12:30 in Cindy's room
Chinese- April 6 10:30 in Ingrid's room
Latin- April 6 11:15 in Jason's room
Spanish US Levels 1-3- April 13 12:30 in Giovanna's room

Around the World- April 7th

A Potomac School Community Celebration!  The event is scheduled for Friday, April 7 from 10:30 am to 2:30 pm and 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

We are excited that we have close to 34 countries represented this year. 

We are one!
Original artwork in the IS done by Emma Mae Regan

Departmental Goals by Language
We will be having our last of three team meetings this month.  Look for the email that gives date, place and time.  We will go over the completion of your team goals.

Spanish:  1) Placement and Pacing : revising the placement exam
                 2) Use of Descubre and adding the NSE

French: 1) Revision/Review of French textbooks
              2) Upper School/8th grade tutors (Tuesdays 9:30-10- 15 minutes)

Latin: 1) Textbook Evaluation (packets?)
           2) Increase campus visibility- NLE, LS/MS Buddies, Latin 1

Chinese: 1) 90% TL used in class
                2) Upper School China Travel Program

What is Design thinking?

Design Thinking is a methodology used by designers to solve complex problems, and find desirable solutions for clients. ... Design Thinking draws upon logic, imagination, intuition, and systemic reasoning, to explore possibilities of what could be—and to create desired outcomes that benefit the end user (the customer).

What is Design thinking in education?

Test it out in your classrooms- can the students be creative to test out new possibilities?
Examples:
Sewickly Academy

Design thinking in Language education:
one sample Ser and Estar

Bringing Design Thinking to Language Curriculum Design

Stanford D School- the original Design Thinking Concept

Computer Fun and Jenni Ashley resources:

Jenni was at the FETC conference in January and she collected many ideas for our department.  Check out some of these resources by clicking on the colored links.  Feel free to contact Jenni directly.

Creative Commons- attribute pictures
Canva- design brochures, posters (www.canva.com)
Print friendly- make a printable version or pdf of any webpage (www.printfriendly.com)
Rocket notebook-
Google Arts and Culture Institute-history and culture from various museums (in languages)

Biteable/Adobe Spark- make your own videos with voice included

Digital storytelling has come a long way!  There are many easy to use, web-based applications that can be used to tell a story, animate a lab report, offer a preview to an essay or project, or narrate a process.

Office Sway and Spark Page allow you and/or your students to add images and animation to original content to create a ¨web page story.¨  If students have written a narrative or essay, this would be a fun way to publish and share.

Biteable and Adobe Spark incorporate less text but images and animation to create a video.  These applications could be used to narrate and reflect on art work, explain a process, or create a book talk. Use stock images or upload your own.

Here is a very quick video I created using Biteable.  It was so fun and easy!

Let me know if you would like to explore these apps or others.

How to Utilize a Makerspace for World Language Learning

World Language News

Position Statements on Languages, Computer Coding

ACTFL has released two position statements to express its stance on computer coding and foreign languages. The first position statement, “What is a World Language?,” offers a concrete definition and specific criteria to determine what constitutes a world language. The second position statement, “Supporting the Study of World Languages and Computer Science,” advocates the study of both world languages and computer science as essential but not equivalent skills. These statements will serve as references for educators and legislators alike as these topics are discussed in state legislatures.

Thanks to all of our department members who made it possible for eighth graders to travel over Spring Break.

Latin- Sara Matey
French- Kabahita
Spanish- Christine V, Alex Thomas, Daniel Shannon and Tricia Crowley

OPI Summer Institute Registration Open Four ACTFL-sponsored OPI workshops have been scheduled at four convenient locations around the country. These workshops introduce the ACTFL rating scale, the structure of the OPI and techniques of administering and rating the OPI. Participants observe and conduct live practice interviews across all proficiency levels. Learn more about the workshops and the languages offered.  San Diego State University4-Day OPI Assessment Workshop June 6-9 Portland Public Schools (Oregon)2-Day MOPI and 4-Day OPI Assessment Workshops June 26-27, June 26-29 Washington & Lee University (Lexington, VA)4-Day OPI Assessment Workshop June 27-30 Glastonbury Public Schools (Connecticut)2-Day MOPI Assessment Workshop July 17-18

IS FRENCH STUDENTS CELEBRATE MARDI GRAS 

You didn't need to be in New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras last Tuesday! IS French students paraded around campus in festive garb before enjoying a feast prepared by parents. The students sampled classic crêpes made fresh on site and also enjoyed a king cake. Eighth grader Natalie Moosher became the queen of Mardi Gras after finding the "baby" in her piece of cake. Thank you to all of the parents for their hard work organizing this celebration.

Any Summer Curricular grants??

NOBIS

A few of our teachers (Christine and Tricia) have done this program that integrates language and service learning. Reach out to a colleague if you are interesting in knowing more.  Here is there website:

http://nobisproject.org/Nobis_World