Central States 2011
Tue 08 Mar 2011 11:58:21 | 15 comments
I just returned from the Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages with my good friend Marge Mandl and my new good friend Suzie Martin. The conference took place in Indianapolis, and it was a nice drive of about six hours, with a stop at Win Shuler's in Marshall, MI for dinner.
On Thursday I crashed the Delegate Assembly, and I'm glad I did. I spent a very pleasant three hours with Anne Violin-Wigent, our MIWLA President, and Angelika Kraemer, our Second Vice-President. Also sitting with us was a lovely young Spanish teacher from Plymouth, Erin Parris, who had also come to the meeting just to see what it was about. Keep an eye on her, people, I see a potential leader and committee chair for the MIWLA. The workshop was conducted by Todd Bowen from Illinois and included several activities for advocating world languages. Also speaking were Steve Brock, CSC Board Chair; Lisa Lilley, 2010 ACTFL Teacher of the Year, and Brett Lovejoy, Marty Abbott and Howard Berman from ACTFL. (No, I did not partake in the traditional Ice Cream Break; I was a good girl!)
Friday's activities began with the Keynote Speech, by Yong Zhao. I thought the speech was very good, but there were times when he pushed the envelope on education. Maybe that's a good thing. One thing I did understand from his speech--he stated, as he discussed America's standing in world education (and I got this off his blog) "I worry that in the push for accountability we lose what has made America’s higher education system the best in the world: diversity, autonomy, and academic freedom." I kept thinking "Blueberry Story" throughout the whole speech. For those who don't know what that is, Google it. Every teacher should know about it!
As I was exiting the hall after the keynote, a young Latino man came up to me and introduced himself as Alejandro. I immediately looked at his name tag and recognized him as Alejandro Diaz-Andrade, who had presented a session at CSC 2010 in Minneapolis called "The Calendar Method", a system for teaching different tenses at the same time. He introduced me to his co-presenter and wife, Ginna Shultz. I thought the session was brilliant, so I blogged about it when I talked about last year's CSC Conference. Alejandro had read the blog--it seems that some of his students found it on the Internet (I guess students Google their teachers all the time!) and showed it to Alejandro! Alejandro, thank you for your kind words. I know that your session was well-attended this year, and may you and Gina keep up the good work!
Best session of CSC this year? Well, I have two, and they were the last two sessions on Saturday. I'm so glad I stayed! I attended Anne Violin-Wigent's session on French bread (she is a baker's daughter!) in Michigan and learned so much. In Michigan, Anne presented the session in English, so that all teachers could enjoy and learn about how French bread is made and what to look for in a good (and bad) loaf of French bread. In Indianapolis, Anne, a native of a small town in the French Alps, presented in French. Now, I have never taught French, but it is my minor (though I am not highly qualified to teach it anymore). I was able to follow the session sans probleme, and I enjoyed it so much more! Anne's enthusiasm for her culture is contagious. Anne, you rocked it and hit it out of the park!
Speaking of rock stars, Laura Terrill is one when it comes to World Languages. I attended Laura's session on grading entitled "Does It Count?" during the last block of the conference. Laura is one of those presenters who makes your brain hurt from thinking so hard. You question everything you do. You don't always agree with her, but it challenges you to make what you do in your classroom even better. I am delighted that Laura is coming to the MIWLA Conference in October and will present a keynote speech and a workshop.
Indianapolis is a wonderful city. The Hyatt is a centrally located hotel with a nice health club (which I made time to use) and great service and food. Get the business plan if you go--your breakfast and Internet are included. There are a lot of things to do downtown and many shops and restaurants. We had two great dinners at the Weber Grill and Harry and Izzy's before coming home on Sunday. (No, I did not have dessert at Palomino's with Marge and Suzie!)
So, will I see you in Milwaukee next year?
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