February- Carnaval

February 12 3:30-4:30 IS room 184 (Diana's classroom)

Agenda:

10 minutes- Announcements:  China travel and Lunar New Year shout out, Latin American garden, Edu Novela-Giovanna, French elective questions, questions for Antonietta about Veracross for next meeting, anything else?

15-20 minutes- GPAC discussion: Please review two documents before our meeting:
Discussion October 2019
GPAC 11 Projects 2019-20

30 minutes- February placements in teams

Faculty and Student Carnaval- February 27th!
We will have our annual Mid-Year celebration during lunch (11-1) in the WL office. Please sign up on the Sign Up Genius to bring a dish to pass.  The students from the TLC (The Language Center) are also planning a cultural celebration the same day during lunch/conference at the tables.

Resources to Peruse:

2020 Happiness Calendar in all languages
Action for Happiness


REFRESH
WaySide Publishing:

Revisit some of our most popular blog posts from this past year and get tips & ideas that will help you refresh and renew your teaching practice in 2020. 

4 steps for refreshing your teaching & starting strong in 2020
By Elena Spathis
Teaching often seems like running a marathon—we train and prepare, we push ourselves, and we keep going no matter what the circumstances. Reaching the end-of-year “finish line” to winter break gives us the opportunity to pause, reflect, and recharge.

The power of authentic resources
By Ed Weiss
When there is a real task involving real materials for a real purpose, students discover the purpose and need for learning a language and subsequently staying with that language throughout their secondary years. 

Helping students overcome their fear of mistakes
By Elena Spathis
In order to see our students really use the language successfully and authentically, we must encourage risk-taking in our world language classrooms. 

Activities that help create a safe classroom space
By Angelika Becker
Investing the time early in the school year fosters a sense of community that helps with partner and group activities throughout the school year.

How fewer, intentional goals will make you a happier, better language teacher
By Meredith White
Less guilt, less stress, less sense of imposter syndrome, less to keep track of —fewer goals that are more specific and intentional end up being less to keep track of and think about.


Teach Vid - https://www.teachvid.com/
All languages (Latin too!)

Teach any video 

Spanish and me- https://www.spanishplusme.com/how-to-use-music-in-the-classroom

Using music in the classroom

Blog- Staring out the new year! 

https://marishawkins.wordpress.com/2019/12/28/activities-to-start-off-the-new-year/

PD Opportunities:

Introduction to Design Thinking: Student-Centered Learning Experiences

In this 1.5 day workshop, taught by Katie Krummeck, Educational Designer, learn how to leverage design thinking to create engaging, student-centered, real world problem-solving exercises that support the development of creative confidence in students while preparing them to be effective leaders in the new economy and changemakers in an increasingly complex world.  This workshop will be held in at The Baldwin School's campus in Bryn Mawr, PA June 22 & 23.  Find more information and register here.  Here is a flyer that you can share with others about this event.

GOA

Upcoming Courses and Programs for Educators

We're offering two online courses soon: Rethinking the Roles of Students and Teachers (January 27-31, 2020) and Rethinking Time and Place (February 24-March 1, 2020). Online courses are free for educators from GOA member schools.

Our in-person conference, the Learning Design Summit, will be at Episcopal High School near Washington D.C. from June 28 through July 1, 2020. Early bird registration ends March 31. Register soon!

Competency-Based Learning: From Theory to Practice is a NEW four week program beginning July 27, 2020, is now open for registration. You can learn way more about the program and download the syllabus here. Register early. Space is limited.

Please post/circulate 2020 CARLA Summer Institute Program for Language Teachers It is time to sign up for a CARLA summer institute! Join the more than 6,300 language educators who have participated in this acclaimed professional development program. Register by April 24 to save $50. CARLA offers a wide range of institutes targeted at foreign/world language, ESL/EFL, heritage language, and immersion educators from a variety of teaching levels and contexts. Each institute is highly interactive and includes discussion, hands-on activities, and networking. Check out the full line-up of CARLA summer institutes below or online. Online Institutes Transitioning to Teaching Language Online—Online course June 22–July 20, 2020 This intensive four-week online course provides language teachers with the experience of being an online learner while exploring the basics of creating a successful online language class. Instructors: Claudine Boucaud, Ritu Jayakar, Marlene Johnshoy, and Frances Matos Using the Web for Communicative Language Learning—Online course June 29–August 2, 2020 In this five-week online course, participants will discover ways to use online tools to promote student language comprehension and production by motivating their participation and collaboration in the target language. Instructors: Florencia Henshaw and Marlene Johnshoy  Using Technology in Second Language Teaching—F2F course with online option July 20–24, 2020 Participants will learn how to use technology to facilitate student use of the target language and get hands-on practice in using computers to promote students' interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational communication skills. Instructors: Adolfo Carrillo Cabello, Marlene Johnshoy, and Dan Soneson Institutes Offered at the University of Minnesota Secondary Dual Language and Immersion: Achieving the Promise of Continuation Programs—New! June 22–24, 2020 During this three-day institute specifically designed for the secondary dual language and immersion context, participants will explore the what, how, and why of secondary continuation programs. Instructor: Cory Mathieu Assessing Language Learners' Communication Skills via Authentic Communicative Performance Tasks July 13–17, 2020 After learning how to design communicative tasks, develop rubrics, and evaluate student performance on a variety of tasks, participants will create their own standards-based Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA). Instructor: Donna Clementi Creativity in the Language Classroom: Fostering Student Learning Through Creative Language Experiences July 13–17, 2020 This fun institute is designed for second language teachers who want to promote creativity in their classroom while simultaneously improving learners' target language proficiency. Instructors: Anne Cummings Hlas and Amy Young Foreign Language Literacies: Using Target Language Texts to Improve Communication July 13–17, 2020 Participants will learn how to use target language texts (such as movies, infographics, poetry, music videos, magazine articles, and podcasts) to develop students' communicative abilities, critical thinking, intercultural competence, and language awareness. Instructors: Mandy Menke and Kate Paesani Using Technology in Second Language Teaching—Online option July 20–24, 2020 Participants will learn how to use technology to facilitate student use of the target language and get hands-on practice in using computers to promote students' interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational communication skills. Instructors: Adolfo Carrillo Cabello, Marlene Johnshoy, and Dan Soneson Critical Approaches to Heritage Language Education July 20–24, 2020 Participants will learn how to create powerful learning environments to support the unique needs of heritage language learners in the classroom. Instructors: Jenna Cushing-Leubner and J. Eik Meaningful Portfolio Implementation: Using Goal Setting, Reflection, and Thinking Routines to Enhance Student Proficiency—New! July 20–24, 2020 After examining reflective practices and portfolio use in the world language classroom, participants will design their own learning scenarios that promote higher-order cognitive and social engagement for learners. Instructors: Stephanie Knight and Julie Sykes Culture as the Core in the Second Language Classroom July 27–31, 2020 After gaining a deeper understanding of how language-culture-identity informs their teaching, participants will learn how to integrate culture and language learning in their classrooms. Instructors: Martha Bigelow and Kaishan Kong Teaching Language Through the Lens of Social Justice—Back by popular demand! July 27–31, 2020 Participants in this institute will learn how teach for and about social justice in the foreign language classroom. Instructors: Cassandra Glynn, Beth Wassell, and Pamela Wesely Teaching World Languages and Cultures in Elementary Settings July 27–31, 2020 In this institute, participants will gain proficiency-based lesson design and assessment skills necessary to teach world languages and cultures at the elementary level. Instructor: Leah Shepard-Carey Information and Registration Find detailed information about each institute on the CARLA Summer Institute website. Register NOW! The summer institutes are co-sponsored by the University of Minnesota's College of Education and Human Development and College of Liberal Arts.

Photo Credit: Todd Balfour The sixth annual Bread Loaf Translators’ Conference is a weeklong program, based on the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference model, that is designed to provide training and community to beginning as well as experienced translators in the pursuit of translating literary texts into English. The conference offers small, genre-based workshops coupled with lectures and classes focusing on the art of literary translation. Workshops are limited to 10 participants so that each manuscript will receive individual attention and careful critique. All participants also meet individually with their workshop leaders and sign up for one-on-one or small-group meetings with guests from the publishing, literary, and translating worlds. Each summer the Bread Loaf Translators’ Conference welcomes a group of over 60 participants and celebrates a variety of source languages. Manuscripts have included literary works in Amharic, Arabic, Czech, Dutch, Farsi, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Greek, Hebrew, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Mandarin, Norwegian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Tsalagi, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese, Yiddish, and more. Dates and Location: Wednesday, June 10 to Tuesday, June 16, 2020, on Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf campus in Ripton, Vermont Faculty: Kareem James Abu-Zeid, Jennifer Croft, Karen Emmerich, Jody Gladding, David Hinton, and Achy Obejas Special Guest: Madhu H. Kaza Guest Agents and Editors: Sarah Coolidge, Associate Editor, Two Lines Press; Markus Hoffmann, Co-owner, Regal Hoffmann & Associates LLC; Tynan Kogane, Editor, New Directions; Carolyn Kuebler, Editor, New England Review; Albert LaFarge, Agent, the LaFarge Agency; Anni Liu, Editorial Assistant, Graywolf Press; Brian Sneeden, Managing and Senior Editor, World Poetry Books; and Chad W. Post, Publisher, Open Letter Ways to Apply: • The Translation Manuscript Workshops are intended for students who already have sufficient foreign language skill and have a translation sample that they would like to submit for critique. These workshops are ideal for translators who are still honing skills as well as intermediate and advanced translators who have undertaken a project and are looking for feedback. • The Introductory Workshops are ideal for those who are interested in literary translation but are still acquiring sufficient proficiency in a foreign language, those who do have some language skills but do not yet have a translation sample to submit for critique, students of literature and creative writing, and teachers who are interested in learning how to incorporate translation into the classroom. • Auditor slots are available in both the introductory and manuscript workshops for those who do not feel ready to participate fully in a workshop but would like to explore and become part of the growing community of literary translators. Application and Acceptance: Rolling admissions through February 15; apply early, as space is limited. Fees: Participant with a manuscript, $2,450; auditor without a manuscript, $2,086; $20 application fee. Financial aid is available, including a new full scholarship with a travel stipend of $500, made possible by The Rona Jaffe Foundation, awarded to a woman in early career. For more information: Visit Bread Loaf Translators’ Conference or write to us at blt@middlebury.edu.

In the Potomac News:

BRINGING POTOMAC SOME TLC

This week, The Language Center (TLC), a student-led initiative begun by Ariston Zhou ’21, came to the Upper School. Students skilled in all four of the languages the US offers (Chinese, French, Latin, and Spanish) volunteered their services as tutors to their peers during lunch and conference periods. Mrs. Page served as faculty advisor.

A CONCERT BY JAVIER FARIAS On Monday, February 3, renowned Chilean composer Javier Farias came to the Upper School to present A Long Walk, a set of original songs and instrumental pieces for classical guitar. Mr. Farias, who was inspired by Kate Evan’s graphic novel Threads: From the Refugee Crisis, composed music related to the book’s topics; among them are refugees, migration, immigration, and human rights. During the concert, Mr. Farias challenged his audience to imagine “what it must be like to feel homesick for somewhere it is not safe to be.” It was an emotive and beautiful presentation, reflecting how the arts can intersect with complex, contemporary issues.

HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR On Wednesday, students in Ms. Liu’s and Ms. Larsen’s Chinese classes hosted an informative and entertaining Lunar New Year assembly for the Upper School. The program featured an overview of Lunar New Year traditions, and Grade 11 Dean Julie Wong and Louis Zhang ’20 made remarks about their own family customs. Afterward, performers from Tai Yim Kung Fu presented a lion dance that earned a standing ovation from the Upper School – even those students who ended up showered with “chewed up” lettuce, a symbol of good luck. Thank you to student emcees Jay Gollob ’21, Justin Jen ’20, Brandon Potts ’21, and Jack Stoody ’20. Happy Year of the Rat! HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR! Last Friday, seventh and eighth grade Chinese language learners celebrated Lunar New Year. The students sang traditional Chinese songs – and the Chinese version of “Baby Shark.” The audience learned about how people in Asia celebrate Lunar New Year with authentic cuisine such as spring rolls and dumplings. The students also received red envelopes, which symbolize good luck and fortune. Happy Year of the Rat! Gong xi fa cai! Click here for a photo gallery. GRADE 7 SPANISH STUDENTS READ TO FOURTH GRADERS The 7th grade advanced Spanish prepared stories in past tense from wordless picture books. They wrote them and practiced them orally to present to the 4th grade Spanish group. The group met for a cozy reading time in the Arundel Library this past Tuesday morning. The 7th grade group was impressed with how the 4th grade used their language strategies to figure out the story in Spanish.

 .
  

Fieldwork Around the World

Take a visual tour of fieldwork happening on our four campuses around the world, from cheese making to art explorations. 

Read more

Travel Grant Opportunities

We have long provided stipends to faculty and administrators from Member Schools to assist in their visits to one or more of our campuses in session. In recent years, we have increased the amount and number of grants we offer to allow more campus visits. If you'd like to learn more about this opportunity, please click the link below to email President Tom Hassan.

Inquire here

Teaching Positions

As we have since SYA’s beginning in 1964, we hire teachers of English and mathematics to work at our SYA campuses. We have faculty openings for the 2020-2021 academic year, as many of our U.S.-hired faculty are with us for a year and need to be replaced. You can find the online job posting by clicking on the link below.

Learn more

Summer Symposium: June 21-26, 2020

Travel to Cádiz, Spain with SYA this summer to explore some of the major themes in the 400-year history of "Spain in America" with an eye toward understanding how this history has influenced American views of Hispanic culture. Register by January 31 to receive the early registration discount in addition to the Member School faculty and staff discount. 

Learn more