The Cardinal

Denise Broda, OFLA Scholarship Chair
Spanish Teacher, Wooster High School

I had the pleasure of getting to meet this year’s conference scholarship winners in April at our annual conference, and that experience left me feeling very optimistic about the future of our profession. This year’s winners were responsible, professional, and enthusiastic about attending workshops and sessions and networking with colleagues. When I saw dedicated young people multitasking while they studied or writing papers at the same time as they worked at the hospitality desk, I knew that they were well-suited to be educators, because multitasking is what we do every day. I am proud to introduce those young professionals: Continue reading →

Samantha Bremner, ELL Chair, Toledo

We’ve all been there. It’s time to teach a lesson about traditional cultures in your classroom. Break out the decorations, mix up or order the food, and settle on for another day to be discussed in World Language. For Spanish, it’s almost always Day of the Dead. It’s a valuable lesson from a beautiful culture. However, it is but one piece of the puzzle. There’s more to Mexican culture and the Spanish speaking world than this one holiday. Our job as teachers is to make the language come alive. In what better way can we do that than incorporating the beautiful cultures of the languages that we teach?

But how do we expand? Research. Google. Ask. Explore. Travel. Be curious. Continue reading →

Barbara A. Sposet, Ph.D., OFLA Teacher Education & Licensure Committee Chair
Baldwin Wallace University

As we conclude national Teacher Appreciation Week, there are several local and national events of note that have taken place over the first half of 2018 regarding the profession of teaching.
Avoiding a state-wide walkout of teachers, Arizona Gov. Ducy announced a plan in late April to raise teachers’ pay over a three-year period a total of 20% and called for restoring funding to schools. Earlier during the same month teachers in Kentucky and Oklahoma successfully took to the pavement in their respective state capitols and, after a strike of several days, were also succesful in getting a pay raise, albeit much lower than their Arizona peers. (www.cnn.com). Continue reading →