The Times They Are a-Changin’

Teri Wiechart, OFLA President 2013-2014

Dear Colleagues,

Happy New Year!

As you look at the New Year’s resolutions you have considered, let’s see what OFLA can and can’t help you with.

We can’t help you eat better.

We can’t help you exercise more.

We can’t help you be kinder to the people in your life.

We can’t help you take better care of yourself.

BUT, we can help you with your professional resolutions, so you will have more time and energy for your personal resolutions.

We can help you bring your classroom into the 21st Century.

We can show you ways to stay in the target language 90%+ of the time.

We can teach you how to write student growth measures that show actual proficiency levels.

We can guide you in the use of rubrics to determine those proficiency levels in the 3 communicative modes.

We can inform you on the difference between proficiency and performance and why that matters.

We can give you the tools to set up your gradebook to show student’s proficiency.

We can offer things that will help you on your next OTES evaluation.

We can give you information so that you will become the expert in Second Language Acquisition in your school.

We can provide you will some of the best professional development, close to home and affordable on many of the topics currently affecting your teaching life.

Look inside to see what is available for Regional Professional Development in March and what is available during the conference.  Go to http://www.ofla.memberlodge.org/Default.aspx?pageId=1756206 for more information, for example: guests, sessions, workshops, letter to administrator, the schedule, the link to the hotel, and much more.

The Times, They Are a-Changin’, whether we want them to or not.  So, we can become the driving force of change, become the experts who effect the change and make it work, or have it forced upon us.  The choices are up to each of us.