The Cardinal

Celebrating the Rich Heritage from the African Diaspora

Marcia Davis, OFLA Secondary Language Learning and Diversity Committee Chair
World Language Middle School, Columbus City Schools

February marks the celebration of Black History Month. This celebration was the brainchild of  Dr. Carter G. Woodson, known as the “Father of Black History,” and was founded the second week in February in 1926 as Negro History Week. Dr. Woodson chose February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The purpose of Negro History Week was to highlight the achievements and contributions of Black Americans because Dr. Woodson wanted to ensure that people were aware of the Black experience and its contributions to the overall society. In 1976, Negro History Week became the month long celebration we now know as Black History Month.

Ryan Wertz and Kathy Shelton
World Language Consultants, Ohio Department of Education

We’d like to begin this article with another expression of our heartfelt appreciation for everyone who has continued to persevere during the most recent challenges posed by the ongoing pandemic. As the omicron variant rages around us at the time of this writing, so many world language teachers have steeled their resolve and committed to getting past these most recent challenges.  Such dedication cannot go unacknowledged. Know that we at the Ohio Department of Education see and fully support you! 

Alondra Pacheco, Ohio Buckeye AATSP President 
Spanish Teacher, University School, Hunting Valley

AATSP is proud to announce our keynote speaker for the 104^th AATSP Annual Conference: Dr Maria Carreira, Professor Emerita of Spanish, California State University, Long Beach, and founder of The Heritage Language Exchange. Dr. Carreira is widely recognized as the preeminent specialist on heritage language learners. She will address AATSP members in person on Monday, July 11 at the Caribe Hilton, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

This past winter marked the first meeting of the Advocacy Leadership and Governmental Relations Task Force with Co-Chairs Israel Herrera (Indiana University, Bloomington IN) and TJ Troche (Spring Valley High School, Las Vegas NV). The Task Force aims to foster an ongoing network of professionals that collaborate to support, expand, and maintain Portuguese and Spanish programs across the US and abroad. Also, it looks to inform, educate, and become proactive stewards of Spanish and Portuguese programs across the US and abroad to celebrate linguistic and cultural diversity, as well as to establish strong partnerships with organizations and individuals who support the promotion, creation, and implementation of public policy in support of Spanish and Portuguese programs. 

The National Spanish Examinations announced the results of their newly elected representatives to the Leadership Council.  The elementary representative is Andrea A Nazelli; the middle school representative is Mirna Goldberger; the high school representatives are Lindsey McEwen, Rosa M. Bell, Alondra Pacheco, Claudia Adjemian de Kechkian; and the post-secondary representative is Kat Peters.  Congratulations to all!

Albricias, Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica’s student journal, now showcases student created videos on its YouTube channel. The student contributions can be viewed at AATSP’s official channel:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeXpcf1PYDfVB_nSdQMpM0g/videos

Dr. Roger Anderson
Assistant Professor of International Languages & Cultures, Central State University

French teachers know that they can practice their French in Paris, in Nice, or even in Montreal or Quebec City, but what about in locations even closer than that… say, even an hour drive away from Toledo!

Ohio is among the few states in the country with an international border, running through Lake Erie, with Ontario, Canada. While all of Canada is officially bilingual (English/ French), and the province of Quebec is officially monolingual (French), Canada’s most populous province, Ontario, boasts both French heritage as well as pockets of French-speaking communities across this vast, vast province.

My recently canceled flight to Quebec detoured me to Ontario, adventuring in search of French-speaking Ontarians, heretofore Franco-Ontarians. Although they may not receive much attention in French educational materials, these communities are real, to the degree that Franco-Ontarians celebrate their identity with a flag, distinct from that of Ontario’s. Like the Quebec flag, it too prominently displays the fleur-de-lis, or iris, which has come to symbolize la francophonie globally. It does so in green and white, not with Quebec’s blue and white. 

Lori Winne, Ph.D., Camp OFLA Program Director
Retired, Toledo Public Schools

Camp OFLA 2021 was a success with 67 campers learning Arabic, Chinese or Russian. The gift of a STARTALK grant made the experience free for campers. It also provided teachers and staff with guidance on best practices and several new ways of presenting camp, including better curriculum writing, more targeted language practice, use of authentic resources and intercultural activities.

The next STARTALK grant offering will be 2023. The Camp OFLA 2023 grant proposal has been submitted, again for Arabic, Chinese and Russian. Korean has been added. We await news of acceptance.

Meanwhile, Camp OFLA 2022 is in motion. The camp team has written proposals to over ten different foundations and companies and is awaiting replies. Requests are coming in through the www.campofla.org web site. Since this will not be a STARTALK year, the camp team has decided to offer once again French, German and Spanish. A new language, Korean, will be offered as well. Until we receive some response from donors, the cost for camp will be $500 per camper for the week. This includes room, meals, all activities and instruction. 

Cheryl Johnson, OFLA Immediate Past President
Instructional Technologist for the Dept of Modern Languages, Denison University

We all know incredible world language teachers in our buildings and districts who are instilling in their students a love for languages and cultures different from their own. We may also know individuals who are great supporters of our world languages programs. Please help us to identify and recognize them by nominating these deserving educators and world language advocates for one of the 2022 OFLA Awards!

Each year OFLA seeks nominations in fourteen categories: eleven for OFLA members and three for non-OFLA members. The categories are listed below.

Please see this page for more information, including complete descriptions of award categories, and a nomination form. A nomination letter explaining why your nominee is deserving of the award is due by January 15, 2021.

Kaleigh Baker, OFLA Executive Vice-President
Spanish Teacher, Butler High School

With so many schools making the decision to go remote or hybrid last year, many schools that decided to go in-person were very limited in the activities that they could do. In many Spanish classes, that included limitations celebrating and learning about the Day of the Dead.

If you are not familiar, Day of the Dead (or Día de los muertos), in summation, is a celebration of life through the building of altars, the decorating of tombstones/cemeteries, and remembering those that are no longer with us. In our classes, we should scaffold activities to allow both the activities and the information to progress with each level.  

Beth Hanlon, OFLA Executive Recorder and Editor of The Cardinal
Spanish Teacher, Oberlin High School

We have all had those days when we need something quick, easy, and engaging for our students that requires little to no prep.  Here is a list of some of my “go tos!”  Please note that my descriptions are what I do in my class, which might be a variation of the original idea.  I am providing the source of the original idea for your reference.  

1) The Marker Game (Mis Clases Locas: https://misclaseslocas.com/quick-tip-marker-game/) 

Materials needed: markers, list of questions (you can make these up on the spot)

Time needed: 10-20 minutes

This is a great review game!  You can divide your class into two teams to face off against each other, or you can divide them into pairs who only compete against each other.  I prefer the pairs and give them a Post It to keep track of their own points.  Each pair receives a marker that they put on the floor between them.  I read a statement about whatever we are currently working on in class.  If the statement is true, students want to be the first in their pair to grab the marker to earn a point.  If the statement is false, the goal is that students realize this and do not grab the marker.  If someone does grab it for a false statement, they lose a point.

Marianela Serrano, OFLA Professional Development Chair
Spanish Teacher, Hathaway Brown School

Below is the second part of my conversation with Dr. VanPatten. As I put together this final part of the conversation and after rereading the first part once more, I have gained a newly refreshed perspective for the beginning of this new school year. I hope you do too.

Editor’s Note:  Part 1 of the interview is available here: https://the-ofla-cardinal.org/2021/05/16/professional-development-4/ 

Q: Dr. VanPatten, where do you see the opportunities for the field of Second Language learning rising?

Dr. Bill VanPatten: The one that is always glanced over and missed, is the power they have to influence the nature of the materials they use. I do not think that teachers seize that opportunity.  They are, at best, reactive to what commercial publishers and people who produce materials give them.  Teachers have a lot of power that they do not think they have. They keep getting the same materials they get because those are the ones they ask for. I do not know how to get out of that cycle, but it is a huge opportunity for teachers.  That is to say: “I want different materials than the ones you are giving me.”

Let’s look at the teacher who is bound by grammar. What if that teacher had a set of materials that made sense to her that was not grammar-focused so that she could get her hands on it and go “You know,  I like doing this.” Because she is bound, she needs something to guide her. Maybe she is not the most creative person or has someone looking over her shoulder.  With a new set of materials that she can figure out how to use,  her teaching could be transformed and she can get away from what she did before because she has different materials to work with.

There are opportunities to get different materials from teachers.  That may be something that ACTFL, national organizations like AATSP, or local organizations like OFLA could do better.  They could help teachers get different materials and help them band together to push on publishers to get different materials.

My Search for Cultural Content

Lisa Howie, OFLA Executive Treasurer
Spanish Teacher, Smithville High School

As the newly elected treasurer of OFLA, I thought I would be required to submit an article about finances and I thought, ¡Qué aburrido! So I decided to talk to you about something that has been consuming me the last few years. Disclaimer: I do not work for nor am I receiving any remuneration from the publisher.

About six years ago, after having used the same TPRS materials for more than 10 years, I was kind of bored and wanted a change, for myself! I began looking for new CI materials, and I wanted something that included real cultural content and authentic materials. I looked around for a while until one day I saw an intriguing ad from Teacher’s Discovery in my inbox.