Fall, a Busy and Reflective Time

Debbie McCorkle, Unioto High School, OFLA Secondary Language Learning Committee

The fall is a busy time for the Secondary Language Learning Committee! During this season, members of the Committee will be field testing a Principals’ Evaluation tool. The Committee was tasked by past-president Teri Wiechart to create a tool that Ohio principals could use to evaluate Ohio World Language teachers. What should a World Language classroom look like? This question guided our design. Therefore, the tool reflects what constitutes best practices in the classroom, but in language that mirrors the evaluation rubrics that principals are using for the Ohio Teaching Evaluation System (OTES). The tool and feedback will be showcased at a session at the Ohio Foreign Language Association’s annual conference in 2015. A resource will also be available in the form of a “tool-box” to give teachers ideas to achieve the “skilled” or “accomplished” rating on the rubric/tool.

As a World Language teacher, this fall has me thinking about my teaching practices. What could I do to up my game? I am exploring two methodologies to add to my arsenal. First, Organic World Language (OWL). You can read about it at http://www.owlanguage.com/ and, secondly, AIM Language Learning, at http://aimlanguagelearning.com/. Both methods are providing me with food for thought and ways to improve what I do in the classroom…a quest that is never ending for World Language teachers!