Martha Halemba, OFLA Professional Development Chair
Spanish Teacher, Hudson High School

Hopefully you have all recuperated from the holidays!  It’s time to get back into the swing of school and professional development.  We have a workshop offering coming up entitled “Differentiating Instruction in the World Language Classroom.” The presenter is Dr. Bryan Drost, OFLA Technology Integration Chair. It will be held at the Twinsburg Public Library on Saturday, February 14, 2015, from 10:15-1:15. Registration is available at ofla.memberlodge.org.

One of our requirements for OTES is to engage all learners and differentiate, so this is a very timely workshop.

We also have two conferences coming up.  OFLA, April 16-18, and CSCTFL, March 12-14, will provide many PD opportunities for you to renew your licenses.  Ashland credit of fifteen hours is available upon completion of the workshop and submission of a reflection paper.

I would like to suggest a good read for tapping potential in students; Mindset: The New Psychology Of Success by Carol Dweck.  It is interesting to read that there is a fixed mindset and a growth mindset.  The fixed mindset is the idea that the basic qualities like intelligence, talents and abilities, are just fixed traits and there is no changing them. The growth mindset is the belief that even basic talents and abilities can be developed over time through experience, mentorship, and so on.  This mindset allows us as teachers to not put students in categories but allow them to grow and take chances.  Dweck explains “why praising intelligence and ability doesn’t foster self-esteem and lead to accomplishment, but may actually jeopardize success.”  In my opinion, this concept may hold the key to motivating students which is one of the biggest struggles I hear in our profession. I hope you enjoy the book.