Nebraska Department of Education World Language Program List of Resources

Provides list of online courses, reference materials, tutorials, and authentic resources. List is ongoing and suggestions are welcome. Materials referenced must be completely subscription free, open educational resources.

ACTFL offers a free one-year membership and access to their materials which include professional development online learning modules, professional library of journals, an online community, and access to AAPPL Communication Builder. AAPPL CB is an online workspace in which teachers can assign tasks in all three modes of communication.

NCSSFL Resource Response to COVID-19 Crisis

NCSSFL leadership has gathered an extensive collection of resources regarding COVID-19, instructional methodology, authentic resources, technology resources for teaching online, and dual language learning online.

The following teaching positions were posted as of February 11, 2020 on the Teach in Nebraska website.

French
• French Teacher 9-12, Mount Michael Benedictine School, Elkhorn
German
• German Teacher 9-12, Bellevue Public Schools, Bellevue
Spanish 7-12
• Spanish Teacher 7-12, Elgin Public Schools, Elgin
• Spanish Teacher 7-12, Elwood Public Schools, Elwood
• Spanish Teacher 7-12, Guardian Angels Central Catholic School, West Point
• Spanish Teacher 7-12, Humphrey Public School, Humphrey
• Spanish Teacher 7-12, Morrill Secondary Schools, Morrill
• Spanish Teacher 7-12, Osceola Public Schools, Osceola
• Spanish Teacher 7-12, St. Mary’s Catholic School, O’Neill
Spanish 9-12
• Spanish Teacher 9-12, Cedar Catholic Jr.-Sr. High School, Hartington
• Spanish Teacher 9-12, East Butler High School, East Butler Public Schools, Brainard
• Spanish Teacher 9-12, ESU 5, Beatrice
• Spanish Teacher 9-12, Grand Island Public Schools, Grand Island
• Spanish Teacher 9-2, Kearney Public Schools, Kearney
• Spanish Teacher 9-12, Lincoln Lutheran Middle/High School, Lincoln
• Spanish Teacher 9-12, Scottsbluff High School, Scottsbluff Public Schools, Scottsbluff
• Spanish Teacher 9-12, Scotus Central Catholic, Columbus
• Spanish Teacher 9-12, Sidney Public Schools, Sidney
• Spanish Teacher 9-12, Skutt Catholic High School, Omaha
• Spanish Teacher 9-12, Wahoo Public Schools, Wahoo
• Spanish Teacher 9-12, York Public Schools, York
World Language
• World Language Teacher, Lourdes Central Catholic School (9-12), Nebraska City

The Nebraska chapter of the American Association of Teachers of French (NAATF) will offer a Mini French Convetion at Camp Carol Joy Holling on Saturday, May 2. Tentative times will be 8:00 to 1:00. Any Nebraska AATF Member teacher and students are invited to attend. The cost is yet to be determined. If interested in planning, assisting at the event, or bringing students, please contact NAATF President Cara Heminger at cheming@lps.org.

The Midwest and Plains Equity Assistance Center is offering a free workshop for district teams. In “Creating Caring Classroom Communities through Culturally Responsive Lesson Planning”, district teams will meet to examine characteristics of a caring community, deconstruct features of culturally responsive teaching, and initiate development of a district or school wide system of support for the design and delivery of culturally responsive and sustaining classroom instruction. The workshop will be March 27 in Lincoln and requires preregistration prior to March 13.

The Nebraska chapter of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (NAATSP) announces the opening of the 2020 Poster Contest. Chapter President Cathy Scurlock shared that the contest is open until March 20, 2020. In order for students to participate, the teacher must be a member of AATSP. Membership can easily be managed through the AATSP website at www.aatsp.org. Teachers will select the three best posters from each category (K-3, 4-5, 6-8, 9-12 hand-drawn, 9-12 digital to submit to Cathy Scurlock by email. Registration information and forms were sent out via Listserv. If you would like additional copies, please contact Cathy Scurlock directly at Catherine.scurlock@ops.org.

The Nebraska chapter of the American Association of Teachers of French (NAATF) is currently seeking nominations for the Vice President of the AATF. The AATF Vice President assists the President, attends executive council meetings, and facilitates development of resources for members. Nominees should have made significant contributions to the AATF on the chapter level, regional level, and possibly national level. The term begins January 1 of each year and runs for three years. To nominate, please be certain that the individual is willing to serve as the Vice President. Send the curriculum vitae of the individual and an accompanying letter of recommendation to the Committee Chair at vpnominations@frenchteachers.org no later than March 1, 2020.

The Nebraska Seal of Biliteracy measures college, career, and civic readiness through student proficiency in English and a language other than English. In order to earn the Seal, students must demonstrate proficiency through one of several possible avenues such as testing, transcripts, or another method.

Students who wish to apply for the Seal will need documentation such as testing results or a transcript. The student will then apply through the online application. The application process has no fee and can be found from the Seal website. The application requests the student’s contact information, an upload of proof of eligibility for English and for another language, school information, teacher name, and parent contact information. Once the form is submitted, an automatic response is sent to the parent to notify them that the student has submitted the application.

In April, representatives from the Nebraska Department of Education and the Nebraska International Language Association will meet to review the submissions. Once the documentation has been validated, the Nebraska Seal of Biliteracy will be awarded in the form of a certificate and a seal that can be attached to the high school diploma. The student may choose to pay for a medal of recognition.

The Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (CSCTFL) is coming to Minneapolis, March 12-14, 2020, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. CSCTFL offers high-quality professional development through activities, workshops, sessions, and a keynote presentation.

Nebraskans planning to attend CSCTFL are encouraged to sign up for the Cornhusker Contingent. This voluntary and loosely-organized opportunity offers a resource list of contingent contacts for the purpose of ride-sharing, finding a travel partner, or asking questions about the “best of” and other CSCTFL experiences. To sign up for the Cornhusker Contingent, visit the Cornhuser Contingent Central States 2020 Registration Form:  https://forms.gle/UWMdFBstYvNTjyzb9

Dr. Janet Eckerson, Ed.D., President
Assistant Professor of Spanish
University of Nebraska Kearney
eckersonjm@unk.edu

Janet speaks…Spanish.

How do you maintain your proficiency in the language?

I maintain my language proficiency speaking and interacting on social media with friends and family (including husband and in-laws in Argentina), reading books, news and websites, watching movies, listening to music and of course, teaching in the target language.

If you were involved in the standards revision, please share what you feel is a strength within the new standards.

The new standards provide specific guidance for each of the standards for educators working with students at different levels of proficiency.  This means that the new standards can provide a real foundation for curriculum, instruction and assessment in our classrooms.

How do you feel that NILA has helped you develop as an educator? What NILA experience has helped you the most?

NILA has provided a vehicle for me to meet and collaborate with outstanding educators around the state.  If I had not started attending NILA early in my career, I would never have met some of my favorite talented educators in this state; who have not only shared great ideas, but also tons of encouragement when I needed it most.

The University of Nebraska Omaha Department of Foreign Languages & Literature Masters of Arts in Language Teaching (MALT) 14^th Annual Colloquium convened Saturday February 8. Ninety educators attended the free event that featured sessions, a key-note, and a discussion panel. Presenter and participant Jamie Honke commented, “The Colloquium was very informative and transformative in our understanding of Transnational Awareness in immigrant youth, connections to intercultural competence, and holistic communicative language teaching. I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to present on Crenshaw’s idea of Intersectionality and how it pertains to intercultural identity and the Cultural Iceberg model to relate to Strand 2 of our revised World Language Standards.” More information about the Colloquium will be featured in our March newsletter.

The following teaching positions were posted as of January 15, 2020 on the Teach in Nebraska website.

• French Teacher 9-12: Mount Michael Benedictine School, Elkhorn
• German Teacher 9-12: Papillion La Vista High School, Papillion La Vista Community Schools, Papillion
• Spanish Teacher 7-12, Elgin Public Schools, Elgin
• Spanish Teacher 7-12, Guardian Angels Central Catholic School, West Point
• Spanish Teacher 7-12: Maxwell Public Schools, Maxwell
• Spanish Teacher 7-12: St. Mary’s Catholic School, O’Neill
• Spanish Teacher 9-12, Cedar Catholic Jr.-Sr. High School, Hartington
• Spanish Teacher 9-12, Fremont Public Schools, Fremont
• Spanish Teacher 9-12, Grand Island Public Schools, Grand Island
• Spanish Teacher 9-12, Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca Public Schools, Syracuse
• Spanish Teacher 9-12, Wahoo Public Schools, Wahoo
• Spanish Teacher 9-12: East Butler High School, East Butler Public Schools, Brainard
• Spanish Teacher 9-12: Falls City High School, Falls City Public Schools, Falls City
• Spanish Teacher 9-12: Scottsbluff High School, Scottsbluff Public Schools, Scottsbluff
• World Language Teacher: Lourdes Central Catholic School (9-12), Nebraska City

The Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) at the University of Minnesota has provided high-quality professional development for language teachers for over two decades. Launched in 1996, this internationally known program reflects CARLA’s commitment to link research and theory with practical applications for the classroom. Each institute is highly interactive and includes discussion, hands-on activities, and networking. CARLA summer institute participants—more than 6,300 to date—have come from every state and from countries all over the world. They have included foreign/world language, ESL/EFL, heritage language, and immersion educators at all levels of instruction, as well as program administrators, curriculum specialists, and language teacher educators.

The 2020 session includes three online institutes with varying costs. Courses may offer college credit. Registration is open now at www.carla.umn.edu/institutes.

The Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (CSCTFL) is coming to Minneapolis, March 12-14, 2020, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on the Nicolett Mall, in the heart of the city’s lively walking district. This year’s conference offers more than 250 workshops and sessions by nationally recognized and regionally respected presenters. The keynote speaker, Dr. Katy Arnett, will focus on inclusion both in her formal address and in two additional workshops. Learn new ways to make room for everyone at the world language table!

New this year, there will be an informal learning center in the exhibit hall called Grand Central. From tech tips and informal discussions to opportunities to meet the national Teacher of the Year and the keynote speaker, our informal learning center will provide a more relaxed and interactive professional development experience. Some activities are simply designed to meet the needs of the whole person. Be sure to put morning yoga sessions, 15-minute “chair yoga” breaks, massage, and artistry stations on your convention itinerary… and don’t forget the Thursday evening Exhibit Hall Opening Gala and the new Friday TGIF (5:00 – 6:30, in the exhibit hall).

For a complete run-down of workshops, sessions, and activities, check out the Preliminary Program at https://csctfl.wildapricot.org/. Registration is available online as well. Questions can be directed to Anne Nerenz, Executive Director, at csctfl.exec.director@gmail.com.

Four host families for three girls and one teacher from France are needed February 8 -28. Michelle Schermer, Coordinator of Hosting Programs for Language & Friendship Inc., is looking for Nebraska host families. This exchange group is from a school near Lyon that concentrates on English study. Students are expected to attend school with their hosts while in Nebraska. Host schools will have to give permission for exchange students to be on campus. There are no planned group activities. For more information, contact Schermer at 952-215-3867 or michelle@languageandfriendship.com.

The Education Office of the Embassy of Spain has partnered with renowned universities across Spain to offer three masters and nine courses at very affordable prices during the summer of 2020. These activities are specifically designed for US and Canadian educators and administrators seeking to update their language skills, teaching methodologies or even to get to know Spain and its wonderfully diverse culture. In most cases, prices include registration fees and full board accommodation.

Courses include Spanish Language and Culture, Varieties of Spanish as a Heritage Language, and the Teaching and Learning of Spanish Language and Culture. Programs are offered at universities in Madrid, Alicante, Castilla-La Mancha, Duesto-Bilbao, Granada, Huelva, Salamanca, Santiago de Compostela, and Vigo. More information can be found at: https://tinyurl.com/w46udo9.