COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS

VOLUME 31 NUMBER 2

April 2012

Affiliated with the Southwest Conference on Language Teaching, the Central States Conference and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

A letter from the President

As promised, this has been a whirlwind year! We started off by anticipating and preparing for ACTFL in Denver. Hopefully, you attended that highly successful event. It was so great to be among our colleagues from all over the world. Sessions, workshops and the key note speaker were instructional, inspiring and immediately useful. ACTFL was so pleased with Denver, they have promised to return. Not this year, though in November they are going to be in Philadelphia. Make plans now to attend. Check out www.actfl.org for more info. We elected many new members to the CCFLT board, and I want to personally welcome them all. They are dedicating their own time to serve you. Please thank them as you see them throughout the coming year. CCFLT could not do all it does without members willing to sacrifice their time and work on our behalf. We gave out many awards this year. Congratulations to our recipients! Unfortunately, a few went unclaimed. This year, make it a priority to nominate someone for one of our many awards, encourage your colleagues to apply for all our grants and awards, nominate yourself for an award or apply for a grant. Its easy to do. All grants and awards forms and information is in this newsletter and on our website at www.ccflt.org. This brings us to February. We got together again for our one-day spring conference on assessment. It was a full day in a beautiful setting at the impressive Air Force Academy. Between about a million ideas for assessment, rubrics and feedback, the information was plentiful and applicable to all of us. The low cost of registration was worth it for the lunch itself! I have quite enjoyed my year as president. I have been busy, but productive and always knew the board had my back. They were there with encouragement, help and a lively sense of humor (which I love!). Our membership is active, enthusiastic and eager to play a part in everything we do. Weve said it many times, but Colorado really does have a special organization of World Language teachers. We have a lot to be proud of at CCFLT. Thanks for allowing me to be a part of it. Debbie Cody President codydebbie@hotmail.com

In This Issue
Presidents Letter Page 1 Board of Directors Page 2 Ad Page 3 Past President Article Page 4 Spring Conf. Ad Page 5 Spring Session Proposal Page 6 CSCTFL Report Page 7 2012 Spring Conf. Page 8&9 Awards 2012 Page 10 Grants &Awards Info. Pa ge 11 Outreach Info. Page 12 Membership Info. Page 13 ACTFL/CCFLT Why join Page 14 Goodbye/ Hello Page 15 TOY Article Page 16 Board Info. Page 17 Ads Page 18 Tech Article Page19/22 Announcements Page 23/24 Upcoming Conferences Page 25

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Board of Directors 2011 2012

Officers Debbie Cody, President, South High School ................ codydebbie@hotmail.com Anna Crocker, Past-President, Jeffco .......................... acrocker@jeffco.k12.co.us Rebecca Schwerdtfeger, President-Electrebecca.schwerdtfeger@d51schools.org Elementary/Secondary Representatives: Greg Breitbarth, Littleton Academy .................................... greg_tegu@yahoo.com Lisa Bloomer, Pine Creek High School.................................. lisa.bloomer@asd20.org Leslie Davison, Brekenridge CO..........................................lesliejdavison@gmail.com Grace Koda, Littleton Academy ............................................. gkoda@lps.k12.co.us Aixa Maldonado, Pine Creek High School ................. aixa.maldonado@asd20.org Sarah Sexton, Fossil Ridge High School ....................... ssexton@psdschools.org Elisabetta Kaufman, South High ......Elisabetta.Kaufman@pueblocitycityschools.us Diana Noonan, Denver Public Schools.............................diana_noonan@dpsk12.org Michael Verderaine, Doherty High School........................................verdema@d11.org

The Newsletter of the Colorado Congress of Foreign Language Teachers

Published 4 times yearly: August, October, January, April http://ccflt.org

Valerie Cody, Editor valcody7@yahoo.com

Have a question about dues? Please email Cristin Bleess CCFLT Executive Secretary execsec@ccflt.org

Advertising rates and policies: Post Secondary Representative: You are invited to advertise Anne Becher, CU Boulder...................................................anne.becher@colorado.edu in the CCFLT Newsletter. Commercial ads, which At-Large Representative: support the mission of CCFLT Stefan Betley, Holyoke High School..............................................betleyst@hcosd.org and are of interest to the Lilliana Endicott, World Language Center....................................lmendicott@aol.com profession, including tour and book ads, are accepted a the Non-Voting Appointed Members: following rates: Cristin Bleess, Executive Secretary, Castle View H.S. ......... execsec.ccflt@yahoo.com Size of ad Charge Size of Valerie Cody, Editor .................................................................... valcody7@yahoo.com Copy Susan Murray-Carrico, Web Master.......................................susan.murray@asd20.org Full Page $250 7 X 9 Half Page $125 7 X CCFLT website: http://www.ccflt.org 4 Half page $125 3 X 9 CCFLT Listserv E-mail Address: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CCFLT/ Page $75 3 X Use this address to send a message to the Listserv after joining 4 To change the email address to which your CCFLT Listserv email is sent, go to: http://www.ccflt.org/listserv.pdf and follow the instructions.

Prices indicate a one-time submission in the newsletter. If you have questions regarding appropriate software or design files for ads, contact the Editor at valcody7@yahoo.com Advance payment is appreciated. Make checks payable to CCFLT and send to: Cristin Bleess CCFLT Executive Secretary P.O. Box 1703, Castle Rock, CO 80104

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Questions on advertising costs, call: 612-481-1798or email execsec@ccflt.org

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COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS

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A Letter from the Past-President

Dear CCFLT Colleagues, I am very proud to have served and to continue to serve on the CCFLT Board. It has given me the opportunity to get to know many teachers throughout our state. I believe that together we are moving our profession forward and making languages a primary 21st Century skill. We have had a remarkably successful year! The very successful ACTFL Convention in November challenged us as language professionals to continue to provide cutting-edge instruction and inspiration to our students so that they can be successful in a global world. Instead of working in isolation, we learned that we have support and connections worldwide. Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success. Henry Ford ACTFL has provided us with the beginning and the means to continue to progress and be successful. Thank you ACTFL! Adding to our year, our Spring Conference February 25, 2012 was also a great success. Over 100 participants came together to learn about assessments and to share their expertise and experience in the classroom. Debbie Cody, current President, and I presented the workshop we trained for at Central States last year (2011) and Toni Theisen presented classroom strategies for assessment. It was an invigorating day leaving us all renewed and with new tools in our toolbox. As we move into this next year, we do so with purpose and intent. Our purpose is to work together for our profession, to work smarter not harder, and to get our message out to all stakeholders that languages are important for success in the 21st Century. Our intent is to arm ourselves with the best practices we can so that students and all language learners can benefit from speaking and using 2 or more languages. I look forward to working with you in the coming year to learn, to support one another, and to together demonstrate the power of connection and collaboration. Sincerely, Anna Crocker, Past President (2010-2011) None of us is as smart as all of us. Japanese Proverb

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COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS

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CSCTFL Wrap-Up
Numerous world language teachers from Colorado attended the 2012 Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin March 8-10. This is the annual regional conference for states in the Midwest, including Colorado. For a few days, all the movers and shakers in world language came together. As great as our CCFLT conferences are, this is a way to expand ones network and see what is going on in the Midwest, said Anne Becher, CCFLT Board member and Spanish instructor at CU-Boulder. The conference consisted of workshops on Thursday and Saturday and sessions all day on Friday and Saturday. Twenty-six workshops were available on a widerange of topics, including workshops presented by Laura Terrill (on writing), Paul Sandrock (assessing language performance), and Helena Curtain (thematic planning). In addition to these well-known presenters, there were many other workshops offered from German and Spanish Immersion Days, visits to immersion schools (French, German, and Spanish), how to use films in class, how to stay in the target language, and familiarization of ACTFL OPI, just to name a few. Becher, who attended the OPI workshop, commented that by attending the OPI workshop, she feels she can better prepare her teacher candidates at CU-Boulder to score an Advanced Low or better on their OPI. Debbie Cody, CCFLT President and World Language Coordinator and French teacher for Pueblo Schools, attended the workshop by Helena Curtain on thematic units, said she came away with many great ideas and useful tools that will immediately benefit her and her entire district. With almost 200 sessions presented over two days, CSCTFL offers something for everyone. Some of the most popular are the Best of sessions. These sessions were presented at each states annual conference and voted on by attendees to be the best session of that conference. Mira Canion, Spanish and German teacher at Erie HS, represented Colorado with her session 7 Irresistible Activities that Connect Teens with Reading. Ana Martin-Mejia, faculty and World Languages Coordinator at Community College of Aurora, said that she was impressed with the solid methodology foundation of the sessions in which presenters established their framework at the beginning of their presentations. Martin-Mejas ah-ha moment during the conference came during a session on differentiated instruction presented by Emily Spinelli, AATSP Executive Director, Jackie Moase-Burke, and Anne Nerenz. During this session she realized that we tend to focus on covering everything in each lesson instead of ensuring that all students can perform the most important tasks in them. Martin-Meja believes that this realization will make a major impact on what she teaches and what she wants her students to really able to do. Codys favorite session was presented by teachers involved with the TELL Project (www.TELLproject.com). This session focused on characteristics and behaviors that effective teachers demonstrate to ensure student learning. During the session she realized that while none of us is perfect, we can do many things to constantly improve. Outside of the workshops and the sessions, the conference is a wonderful opportunity to network with teachers from around the Midwest. Meeting up with acquaintances and friends from other states, as well as meeting new people, is an integral part of attending a conference. Networking is possible during exhibitor breaks (the exhibit hall was full of companies with great tools, technology, and trips for language teaching!) or during evening events, such as the AATSP-sponsored poetry reading by Milwaukee poet Brenda Crdenas. If you have the opportunity to attend CSCFLT next year in Columbus, Ohio (March 14-16), you should go. The conference is a mixture of workshops and sessions that provide practical classroom tools, research findings, and national trends. Cody said it best: Hearing about national trends keeps us fresh and professional. If were not moving forward, well be left behind. See you in Columbusbut well see you in Loveland at the 2012 Spring CCFLT Conference before then!

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CCFLTs Spring Conference on Assessment

Air Force Academy, February 25, 2012
by Cristin Bleese

inform teaching, providing feedback that helps students grow, rubric design, and creation of performance assessments that involve all three modes of communication (interpersonal, presentational and interpretative). Assessment-according to this model--is an inherent and key element of the learning activity

Now that Colorado world language teachers are becoming more adept at teaching with our new model content standards, its definitely time to learn to design assessments that measure what and how we are teaching. At our Spring Conference held February 25, 2012 at the U.S. Air Force Academy, CCFLT President Debbie Cody, Past President Anna Crocker, and ACTFL President Elect Toni Theisen shared many very useful ideas for assessment with the more than 100 teachers in attendance. The topics they covered included using formative assessments to continually

itself--not just what we do after its over to assign a grade. We are grateful to our hosts at the U.S. Air Force Academy who provided us with a comfortable space and a delicious breakfast and lunch. Even if you were unable to attend the conference you can still access the powerpoints and many useful assessment-oriented resources via a wikispace that Toni has set up: https://ccflt2012.wikispaces.com/

WANT TO BECOME A MEMBER OF CCFLT? Need to renew your membership? Want to update your contact information? Its only a couple of clicks away at www.regonline.com/ccflt. Whether youre joining for the first time, renewing, or just updating your information, click on the Join Now button to begin the process!

CCFLT membership pricing (all memberships are valid for one year from date of enrollment):

Current teacher - $40.00 Retired or first-year teacher - $30.00 College student - $20.00

If you have any questions about membership, please contact CCFLTs Executive Secretary at execsec@ ccflt.org. COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS www.ccflt.org April 2012 Page 8

Spring Conference 2012

Passport to Success Assessment
Air Force Academy Saturday, Feb. 25

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2012 FALL CONFERENCE SAVE THE DATE!!! We are returning to the awe-inspiring
Due to popular demand, we are returning to: Air Force Adademy, Colorado Springs, CO !!

Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs Saturday, October 13 Details to follow

2012 Award Winners

(Presented during CCFLT luncheon at Spring Conference)

Toni Theisen, Lifetime Membership Award

Kristine Van Deraa, Embassy of Spain Scholarship Recipient with Rosario Outes, Embassy of Spain Representative Janine Erickson, Lifetime Membership Award

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GRANTS AWARDS - SCHOLARSHIPS

Every year the Colorado Congress of Foreign Language Teachers honors those individuals who have contributed extensively to foreign language education. Check out the Grants, Awards, Scholarships and Contests. Start planning on who you will nominate!

FALL 2012
DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 30, 2012 FALL INNOVATION GRANT OF $500.00 FALL INNOVATION GRANT OF $250.00 New Teacher Conference Scholarship to attend the Fall Conference

SPRING 2013
DEADLINE: DECEMBER 1, 2012 The Genevieve Overman Memorial Service Award: Presented to a world language educator for dedicated and long service to the teaching profession, as well as commitment and leadership in serving CCFLT. The Excellence in Teaching Award: Presented to a world language educator who has excelled in classroom instruction. The Program Leadership Award: Presented to a world language educator who has provided exceptional leadership and innovation in programs beyond the classroom level. The Kris Wells Memorial Creativity Award: Presented to a world language educator who has demonstrated exceptional creativity and innovation in the field of world languages, whether in teaching, administration, or materials development. The New Educator Award: Presented to a world language educator in the first five years of teaching, who exhibits a great deal of potential in developing ideas for world language education. The Friend of Foreign Languages Award: Presented to an individual or group from outside the world language teaching profession who has made significant contributions to the teaching and learning of world languages.

New Teacher Conference Scholarship: To attend the 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 Innovation Grant .........................$250 Spring Innovation Grant .........................$500 Student Contests: Video and Essay Contest will be back in the Spring of 2013!

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A Word from the Outreach Committee:

For over sixty-five years CCFLT has fulfilled its purpose of promoting a sense of community between those involved in language teaching across Colorado as well as provide those interested in language in academia with an opportunity to communicate with others who share their passion. As a member of the CCFLT, you have the opportunity to expand your current knowledge of language teaching as well as explore new techniques for the classroom and beyond. Our mission is to provide you with the necessary skills to establish the highest standards of proficiency among students of foreign languages at the elementary, secondary, college and university levels. Membership gives you access to our two conferences held each year, during which recognized speakers present keynote lectures on language in academics and teaching developments 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 that focus 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/ccflt
If you are a member, go to the website, click the join now button, put your email address in the boxes on the next page and click the already joined link which will take you straight to your membership information. Here you 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 indicating the date your membership is due to expire. Keeping your personal info current is the best way to ensure communication from CCFLT. Also, please check that your computers filter does not bounce out emails from Regonline or CCFLT. If you have colleagues or friends who would like to become members, they will start the process by clicking on the join now button, putting in the email address, and then continuing through the rest of the process. If you have any questions, please contact Cristin Bleess at execsec@ccflt.org. COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS www.ccflt.org April 2012 Page 12

New Member / Membership Renewal / Change of Address

To help us process your membership in the most efficient manner, please go to: www.regonline.com/ccflt. If you are not able to complete the process online, please, fill out the following form and mail it in to the address at the bottom of the page.

Name Address City School Email Address Home Phone ( ) Levels you teach or administer Work ( ) Language(s) State Zip

Membership: CCFLT membership is one year from your enrollment date. All memberships last for one year from that enrollment date. If your dues are not current, please mark your dues payment below: Professional: First-year teacher: Student:. Retired:.. $40.00 $30.00 $20.00 $30.00

Total payment: ...... $ Remit total amount due by check payable to CCFLT.

Please forward this form and payment to: CCFLT Cristin Bleess P.O. Box 1703 Castle Rock, CO 80104 Questions? Contact Cristin Bleess at: execsec@ccflt.org

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Why join CCFLT?

For more than sixty-five years CCFLT has fulfilled its purpose of promoting a sense of community for Colorado language teachers, as well as providing opportunities to communicate with others who share our passion. As a member of the CCFLT, you will have the opportunity to expand your current knowledge of language teaching and explore new techniques for the classroom and beyond. Our mission is to provide you with the necessary skills to establish the highest standards of proficiency among students of world languages at the elementary, secondary, college and university levels. Membership gives you access to our two conferences held each year, during which recognized speakers present workshops on the development of language teaching in a changing world. Additionally, you will have access to the abundant scholarship and grant opportunities offered to CCFLT members. If youre not yet a member but wish to become one, please visit www.ccflt.org and click on Membership and Renewal.

Why join ACTFL?

Membership in ACTFL shows you are a professional, plus saves you money, keeps you informed and opens up opportunities. Become a member of ACTFL and enjoy the following benefits: FREE subscription to The Language Educator (6 issues). FREE subscription to Foreign Language Annals (4 issues). FREE subscription to ACTFL SmartBrief (weekly e-newsletter). FREE subscription to ACTFL Connection (periodic e-mail). Member-only news and information. Member-only discounts on: ACTFL workshops ACTFLs Annual Convention and World Languages Expo ACTFL books and products Oxford University Press purchases Variety of insurances ranging from professional liability to international travel SCOLA Individual Subscriptions Present at the ACTFL Annual Convention and World Languages Expo. First-time attendee scholarship to attend the ACTFL Annual Convention and World Languages Expo. Join an ACTFL Special Interest Group (SIG). Recognition for your accomplishments through the ACTFL Awards program. Show you are a member of your professional national organization. Expand your horizons by connecting with colleagues from around the world. Be mentored and mentor someone else. Be a part of the solution by adding your voice as ACTFL speaks up for language education and receiving information and assistance from ACTFL when you speak up for languages. Be represented in the development of national guidelines, standards and frameworks. Become published in The Language Educator and Foreign Language Annals. Earn CEU, college credit equivalency and teacher certification. Apply for summer study-abroad scholarships. Receive an official rating of your proficiency. Become an ACTFL Tester or Trainer. Share in the development of the professions positions. To join on-line please visit http://myactfl.actfl.org/actfl_imispublic/ibc/signup.aspx

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CCFLT bids farewell to~ and welcomes~ Board members: Rebecca Schwerdtfeger Leslie Davison Aixa Maldonado Sarah Sexton Anne Becher Liliana Endicott New Board members: Cristin Bleess Lisa Bloomer Amy H. Flynn Becky Loftus Katie Lorimer Fawzia Ahmad

Who Will be our next Colorado teaCher of the Year?

is there a colleague in your department who is not only an excellent teacher, but a leader in the profession, a strong advocate for world languages, involved in the school and district in helping to advance language learning for all? do you have a colleague who presents and/or shares best practices to other colleagues either through school, district, state (such as CCflt) or regional (such as SWColt) professional development meetings? how about colleague who would be an excellent voice for our profession? Maybe You are this person? the deadline for the 2013 Colorado toY is fast approaching! Who can nominate? anyone! district supervisors, department chairs, colleagues, principals, parents. Can you self-nominate? absolutely! Whats the purpose of this award? to elevate those who dedicate their energy to World language advocacy and instruction and provide a greater public profile to our profession. it also recognizes best practices and excellence in the teaching and learning of world languages.

Deadline: May 30, 2012

Winner to be announced at the CCflt luncheon at the Spring Conference 2013
Please send your application and all required papers to Greg Breitbarth 229 West Jamison Circle #37 Littleton, CO 80210 COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS www.ccflt.org April 2012

To apply please go to www.ccflt.org to view the application and apply.

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COLORADO TEACHER OF THE YEAR NOAH GEISEL ON THE LOVE THAT FuELS HIM A MESSAGE FROM OUR TOY There was a lot of amazing sharing and learning at the ACTFL Convention that CCFLT hosted in Denver in November. One of the highest impact sessions I attended was the TOY Box presentation led by our very own Toni Theisen, along with several other ACTFL Teachers of the Year. They each shared a favorite activity for knocking it out of the park in the World Languages classroom. During the question and answer segment of their session, Toni and Ken Stewart answered a question about their grade books that has since transformed my classroom. They both said that rather than divide their grade book into homework, tests and participation, they place assignments in categories that correspond to the standards. Additionally, they do NOT grade homework! The justification is that homework serves as a formative assessment to let students and teachers know where students are and what adjustments need to be made. The summative assessments are what matter as they represent what students know and are able to do. The point on homework is an important one. I have long fretted over my grades, readily admitting that for many students they were not an accurate representation of their language learning. Because many students do not complete their homework, the zero grades add up and have a big impact on their overall grade in a class. As a result, the grade can represent not what students know and are able to do but rather how good they are at completing their work. I still think I have a long way to go in improving my grading systems but the changes I made this semester as a result of the TOY Box session are pushing me in the right direction. My new grading system looks like this: 60% Assessments of Communication Standard 20% Presentational Mode

20% Interpretive Mode 20% Interpersonal Mode

30% Participation 10% Bell Starter I still assign homework several times a week. Students know that it will not be graded (though we do go over it in class). I explained to them the rationales of formative and summative assignments as well as that of how zeros disproportionately impact grades. The one caveat I gave them is that to be able to re-take a summative assessment, they must have completed all homework assignments that led up to said assessment. Some have figured out that because I do not check their work, they can do it after getting a low test grade but these students are in the minority and it is a trade-off I can live with as they are still doing the skill-building work needed to succeed on the assessments. Fully 40% of my grades are still not based strictly on the state standards and I know that I need to improve in this area. But a month into the first semester, the new system is working better than the old. Students grades are a better reflection of their learning and by intentionally thinking about making my assessments standardsbased, I am creating better assessments. There is still a lot of work to be done but I am confident that I am on the right track to improving my instruction and students experiences in my class by focusing on backward planning and improved grading practices.

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Why Serve on the CCFLT Board?

The Board of Directors positions, which last for two academic years, give members the opportunity to: Practice Communication skills in at least two languages Promote Connections at state, regional, and nations levels Make Friendships all over the state Gain Leadership and professional growth opportunities Share Teaching tips, experiences and concerns The responsibilities include: Serve for two academic years (beginning the May after you are elected) Attend monthly meetings from August to May Attend Fall retreat in August (2 days, 1 overnight) Work at the Spring ConferenceServe on a minimum of two committees; one Standing and one Spring Conference committee Chair a committee in your second year Reimbursements and benefits include: Up to twelve hours CDE recertification credit All phone calls Mileage at 25 cents per mile Spring Conference registration and two luncheon meals Fall Conference registration Certificates for volunteer hours Easy to nominate yourself Build statewide networking connections

2013 CCFLT Board Candidates

Visit www.ccflt.org to run for the Board. Voting will take place at the CCFLT Spring 2013 Conference . Hope you decide to join us!

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Yves Saint Laurent: The Retrospectivetickets on sale now

Tickets are on sale now for the sweeping retrospective of designer Yves Saint Laurents 40 years of creativity. The exhibition opens to the public March 25. Get details about the Denver Art Museums Yves Saint Laurent programming, including YSL Pairings, Best Spring Break Ever: Design Days, Untitled #45 (Haute), Fashion Studio Demonstrations, and the members-only preview. http://www.denverartmuseum.org/

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10 WAYS TO USE TECHNOLOGY IN YOUR CLASSROOM

by: Sarah Sexton
Im always looking for new technology that I can try out in my classroom. It gets students energized and excited about practicing in the target language. Dont be afraid to try new ideas. Even people who are experts with technology sometimes have tech problems! Just let your students help you troubleshoot any problems. Here are 10 ideas for ways to use technology in your classroom. Try them out!

1. www.voki.com
DESCRIPTION: Students can create a talking avatar. Students can make a Voki that looks like them, or they can choose from a variety of characters. They can then customize it by adding their own voice. Students can use their telephones or a microphone to record their voices and add it to the Voki. When they are done, they can send it to you by email or upload it to a wiki or blog. I ask my students to embed the Voki in a wiki on Blackboard.

PROJECT IDEAS: Try using Voki to have students record a weather report or to sing songs that would help them remember verb conjugations or grammar points. They could also record a description of themselves or even recount a story about something that happened in the past.

2. www.makebeliefscomix.com DESCRIPTION: This is an online comic strip maker that allows students to choose characters with different moods, choose a variety of backgrounds and to write words and thoughts for the characters. Click on the Teacher Resources tab on the bottom for 21 different ideas for using the site.

PROJECT IDEAS: This is a great way to get kids to visualize a story and to show their comprehension of a text that they have read in the target language. Students could also write their own story and present it in comic strip form. This could work for any level even beginning level 1 students who could show COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS www.ccflt.org April 2012 Page 19

their understanding of greetings and introductions by writing a comic about two people meeting each other for the first time. In addition, you could use it to assess students use of preterite and imperfect. I have used it to have students retell the story in a song that we listened to and also to summarize a piece of literature we read in class. Students can print the comic when they are done, or copy and paste it into a document, wiki or blog.

3. www.blabberize.com
DESCRIPTION: Blabberize allows users to speak through a picture. It is similar to Voki, but students can upload their own photo and then animate the mouth to speak using their voice. Just like Voki, students can record using their phones or a microphone. Click on these links for some fun examples of Blabberizes in French and Spanish. PROJECT IDEAS: You could ask students to give a description of an object. Choose a photo of the object they are describing and then animate it to talk about the object. You could also use it to retell a story or give a book or movie review. Students could even choose a photo of a famous figure in history and give a biography of the person.

4. Windows Movie Maker:

DESCRIPTION: This is not a website, but free software that comes with Windows Me, XP and Vista. It is a video creating and editing software. Students can create effects, transitions, audio tracks (narration and/or music) and titles and credits. Students can use photos and add them into Movie Maker to animate them and make it look like a movie. They can also upload video into the program. They can use a microphone to record their own voices as narration. When completed, they can save the movie in multiple formats so that it can be played on almost any system. PROJECT IDEAS: I once asked my students to create a commercial for a study abroad company. They got to choose what types of programs the company offered whether they offered home stays, travel packages, classes, adventures, etc. Another idea is to ask students to create a music video for a song you are studying in class. My students have also created an ecological movie that talks about what people can do to help save our planet. (I asked them to use structures like if + imperfect = conditional). This type of a project could be uploaded to a wiki or blog, or turned in on a flash drive.

5. www.4teachers.org
DESCRIPTION: 4teachers helps teachers integrate technology into the classroom using 12 different resources. Teachers can use these resources to create their own lessons with technology, or they can search for lessons already created by other teachers. It includes rubrics, quizzes, Web lessons, classroom calendars and much more. Trackstar is one of these resources and it allows teachers to keep a list of websites that students can use to do a webquest. For each website, teachers can type directions or explanations for the students. Simply give the students the Track # and they can access all of the resources you have prepared for them. You can also browse by theme so you may be able to find a Track that is already created.
PROJECT IDEAS: Use Trackstar as an introduction to a unit. Let students research background information on their own and navigate their way through websites in the target language. You can also create a quiz for your Track to assess the knowledge the students gained from the webquest.

6. SMART boards
DESCRIPTION: If youre lucky enough to have a SMART board (I just got mine 3 weeks ago ), there are many activities you can use to engage students. Use the activities and games in the Lesson Activity Toolkit. There are numerous templates you can use to create quick activities for students to use to COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS www.ccflt.org April 2012 Page 20

practice new vocabulary or grammar. And dont forget to check out www.exchange.smarttech.com to borrow ready-made activities from other teachers. You can search by country to find SMART activities in the target language. Below is an activity where students have to rearrange the words to create a logical sentence. It is a great way to practice adjective placement. PROJECT IDEAS: Try creating a blank SMART notebook page with images of new vocabulary words. Underneath, type the names of each item in a text box. Allow students to drag the name of the item to the image. Then use the templates (games and activities) to do more activities with the vocabulary, for example, rearranging words to create a logical sentence, categorizing images or matching keywords. Some high school students are a little hesitant of the SMART board at first, but once they try it, they will be energized to come to the front of the room and try it out! Its a great way to assess students individually.

7. www.lyricstraining.com
DESCRIPTION: Lyricstraining is a great way for students to improve their aural proficiency through music videos and songs in the foreign language. Students choose a song in the target language, then choose easy, medium or hard. They will see a video of the song, with the lyrics underneath. In the easy category, the students have to type in one word of the lyrics every few lines (while listening to the song) and in the hard category, they have to type in all the lyrics! If they dont type fast enough, the song will pause until they catch up. PROJECT IDEAS: I often study songs with my students in class choosing a song based on a certain grammatical structure or on a theme. Try picking a song that is on Lyricstraining. The kids will have fun learning the lyrics of the song. They can even play it as a game and keep track of their high scores.

8. Google Maps, My Maps

DESCRIPTION: Im sure you have all used Google Maps to look up an address. You can also use Google maps to create your own maps. If you sign in using your Gmail or Google account, you can access the My Maps section of Google Maps. My Maps allows you to create and save a journey. You can map different locations, and for each location, you can upload photos, video and text. Check out this YouTube video that gives a great description of how to use it: http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=TftFnot5uXw. PROJECT IDEAS: While reading Around the World in 80 Days, I asked students to map the journey in the book. For each city the characters stopped in, students added a drop pin, then uploaded photos and videos. They also wrote short summaries (in the target language) of the events that happened in each city. Have you ever asked students to plan a vacation to a foreign country? Why not have them do that on Google Maps? They could map each place they want to go, write a description, and include pictures and videos.

9. www.wordle.net
DESCRIPTION: Wordle is a website that will allow you to create a cloud based on a text. The words that appear most frequently in the text will appear larger and the less frequent ones will be smaller. You can change the appearance of the cloud by changing the layout, the font and the color scheme. You can print them or save them in Wordles gallery. To create the Wordle, simply paste in the text, or paste in the URL and click create. Below is an example of a Wordle based on an article on the importance of learning a foreign language.

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PROJECT IDEAS: Wordles are great to use as an introduction to an article in the target language. Students will be able to see the most important vocabulary words before reading the passage. You could also ask students to bring in articles on current events and present a Wordle to the class based on the article before reading the passage.

10.

www.funtasticface.com

DESCRIPTION: Funtasticface is an online photo-editing tool. It allows you to upload a photo, or choose one from their database, and change it. You can add different noses, mouths, hair, eyes, accessories and much more.
BEFORE: AFTER:

PROJECT IDEAS: My students used Funtasticface to give before and after descriptions of people. They used to imperfect to describe what someone used to look like and the present to show what they look like now. My students wrote the descriptions, but you could also use it as an oral presentation to the class. Its a great way to practice adjective placement and agreement. My kids posted their photos and descriptions on a wiki in Blackboard, but they could also print it out or upload it to another online source.

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Language Technology conference on the Cu Boulder campus this April!

The Anderson Language Technology Center at the University of Colorado Boulder will be hosting the SOCALLT conference on April 13th and 14th , 2012. The South Central Association for Language Learning Technology (www.socallt.org) is a 6-state organization composed of K-12, college, and university language teachers, language/literature professors, language technologists, language lab staff, instructional technologists, faculty trainers, and administrators dedicated to technology integration in the foreign language classroom. This years conference theme is Success Stories in the 21st Century Foreign Language Class: Transforming Teaching & Learning with Technology. ALTEC invited two guest speakers for this occasion: Kathy Mills and Steve Thorne. Mills of Queensland University of Technology. Australia, is a former primary school teacher versed in the theory of multiliteracies who did extensive fieldwork in one classroom to gather data for her book, The Multiliteracies Classroom. Steven Thorne of Portland State University and the University of Groningen in the Netherlands will discuss pedagogical bridges between in- and out-of-school literacies and new social media education. Registration is $50 for both days or $25 for one day and $25 for students for both days. Register today at http://www.socallt.org/conf/2012-conference/registration/ We hope to see you there!

WORLD LANGUAGE DAY April 18, 2012

Mark your calendars for April 18, 2012 and come join the fun!
This daylong event includes competitions, workshops, cultural presentations and many other language immersion activities in which high school students from throughout Colorado and Wyoming may participate. UNC has sponsored World Language Day for over 40 years and last year we welcomed over 1200 students and teachers. Competitions are scheduled for high school students in grades 9 through 12 of 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. Visit the WLD website at http://www.unco.edu/wld for additional information and to view photo galleries and videos of previous events. If you have questions or would like additional information please contact the UNC faculty director: Melitta Wagner-Heaston at: melitta.wagnerheaston@unco.edu

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World Language Teachers Happy Hour!!

Got a case of early spring fever? Need some new ideas to get you through to the end of the year?
Let's get together, get inspired, get a coffee or drink, and share ideas at

Stella's Coffeehaus @ 1476 S. Pearl Street in Denver

Thursday, April 12, 2012 (5pm-7pm) Anne Gaspers (Spanish teacher at Thornton High School) has offered to do a tutorial on using Storybird and Glogster in the World Language Classroom. This gathering will also be an opportunity to share ideas, network, and talk shop in a relaxed environment. Just bring a laptop and some ideas to share!! Hope to see you there!! (Questions? email Anne at amcg28@yahoo.com)

Registration is now open for the second bi-annual International Forum on Language Teaching,
July 17-19, 2012 to be held in beautiful Breckenridge, Colorado! You can find all the details, registration information, travel info and more at ifltconference.org We are excited about a new format focused on Learning Labs and Experiential Learning Sessions. Youll be able to observe the best teachers using comprehensible input strategies-TPR, Storytelling, StoryAsking, Readers Theatre- to teach real kids from 1st grade to 12th. Featured presenters and speakers include: Dr. Stephen Krashen, Berty Segal Cook, Leslie Davison, Bryce Hedstrom, Kristy Placido, Carol Gaab, Jason Fritze, Ben Slavic, Linda Li, Annick Chen, Diana Noonan, Karen Rowan, Gayle Trager, Carmen Andrews, Laurie Clarq and many others. We hope you will be able to attend our iFLT conference this year in the mountains of Colorado! Diana Noonan, Leslie Davison, Jason Fritze, and Jan Coone, Co-Directors

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THE CCFLT NEWSLETTER IS A PUBLICATION SERVING EDUCATORS OF ALL LANGUAGES AT ALL LEVELS
Do you have a great unit that you teach? Do you have some ideas for activities that address the Colorado Standards? Do you have some techniques that help students achieve proficiency? Or perhaps you have some differentiated activities or tried and true methods to motivate students. Are there ways you include culture in your teaching? How do you make connections with language to other contents; perhaps you coordinate with an art or social studies teacher. The CCFLT Newsletter would like to include articles about teachers and teaching in its publication so that we can benefit 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 codydebbie@hotmail.com. Articles and ideas should be in the form of an MS word.doc attachment. If you wish to submit photos, please submit them as jpg files and the submission should include a brief bio of the author.

Up-coming Conferences

2013 Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

Join us in Phoenix, Arizona

Sheraton Crescent Hotel 2620 W. Dunlap Ave., Phoenix, Arizona 85021

March 14 - 16, 2013 Hilton Columbus Downtown Columbus, OH

APRIL 12-14, 2012

The Southwest Conference on Language Teaching is a regional foreign language teachers organization that hosts an annual conference in partnership with state foreign language teacher associations. The participating states in SWCOLT are Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah.

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