The Cardinal

Teaching for social purposes

Paulina Montaldo, Ursuline High School Spanish teacher.  Youngstown State University Adjunct Faculty

With the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, students compare and contrast so many differences among the Spanish-speaking countries. Although they all speak the same language the diversity in the culture only enriches each other by making them so unique and equal at the same time.

The differences between every single Hispanic country and every country around the world can separate us, create controversy or conflict, but at the same time, for us, foreign language teachers can be a valuable tool to create a more just, tolerant, and respectful world.

When our students register in our classes and decide to study a foreign language, most of them due to a requirement, they must leave our classroom with a more open and tolerant mindset that understands that diversity only enriches them and makes them a better person, a citizen of the world.

While LEP (limited English proficiency) students who lack bilingual programs struggle, native English speakers also miss out. Our students can help repackage and win this decades-long debate, putting the pro-monolingual attitude behind us. 

Katherine O’Keeffe-Swank, Spanish Teacher, Wickliffe High School with Emily Krizner, AP Spanish student

There is no better time than now to promote the undeniable benefits of increasing Bilingual Education programs in public schools: it’s the fifth anniversary of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), and the U.S. Department of Education is holding its ongoing Equity Summit Series. 

Not to mention…the pandemic has accentuated the need.

María I. Ortiz, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Educator of Spanish, University of Cincinnati

Abstract

Inquiry-Based Learning was the pedagogical framework integrated to gear students into research, in order to effectively achieve a more sophisticated proficiency level, contextualized within the cultural background of the language as the frame for exploration, inquiry, study, and learning for a Composition and Conversation Intermediate Spanish course. Planning and development of this pedagogical application will be shared on this short paper.

Continue reading here.

Using Readers in the World Language Classroom

Jessica Rhoades, South-Western City Schools

One of the hardest things about teaching is there is always more. There are always more ideas you could implement, more activities you could add to a unit and more things you could purchase to improve your classroom. As building funds are often limited and rarely stretch to cover our whole teacher wishlists, I am incredibly grateful to have won the OFLA grant this past spring to help me accomplish my more. Here is how I plan to spend the grant money: 

Mary Townsend, French Teacher, Kettering Fairmont High School

French teacher Mary Townsend represented Kettering Fairmont High School at a dinner presentation sponsored by the French Embassy and the Consul Général of Chicago to discuss language immersion education.

Madame Townsend joined educators, university faculty, elected officials and school board members from across the Dayton/Miami Valley region for the Memorial Day dinner.

Among the discussion points were the importance of possessing excellent communication skills and a working knowledge of a second language and culture.  The French language is a 21st Century skill for students, presenting global opportunities for growth and change in international policies and commerce, travel and trust in our ever-changing world.

Mary Townsend, French Teacher, Kettering Fairmont High School 

Congratulations to Fairmont High School’s French Program, which has been awarded Exemplary with Honors status by the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF) for the eighth consecutive year.

In conferring the award on Fairmont High School, the AATF cited an increase in enrollment in French language courses, language learning opportunities for middle school students, AP and IB language courses and credit flex and immersion opportunities as some of the reasons the program has been selected for this prestigious honor.

Likewise, Fairmont French students have received national recognition in the AATF Video Contest, Essay Contest, Poetry Contest and Travel Scholarships. The school participates in the AATF National French Contest, with dozens of students receiving national laureate status, and the KFHS French program inducts students into the National French Honor Society annually.

French teachers, Mary Townsend and Michele McCarty, were also recognized for their leadership involvement in AATF and their innovative and creative teaching methods that are preparing their students for the challenges of living in our global world.

Congratulations, Madame Townsend and Madame McCarty!

HAPPY SPRING TO ALL OF YOU!

Cheryl Johnson, OFLA President 2020-2021
Instructional Technologist for the Dept. of Modern Languages, Denison University

I would like to thank everyone who helped to make the 2021 OFLA Mini-Conference on April 23 and 24 a great success. We could not have done it without our fabulous presenters and all of our volunteers. They all deserve a HUGE thank you! And finally, thank you to all of you who attended the event! We really enjoyed seeing all of you online and sharing ideas with you.

Congratulations go to our raffle winners. Na Li and InSook Kim each won a 1-year unlimited teacher subscription to Voces Digital and can add an unlimited number of students to use the online platform as well. Elizabeth Blosser and Hui Chen each won 10 conversation credits (1 credit is good for 15 minutes of conversation) to Boomalang. I wish to thank these 2 vendors for providing us with these raffle items.

If you missed the event, you can register to get access to the video recordings of the presentations until May 31. After watching the recorded sessions you can request a contact hours certificate for your professional development.  Here is the link for registration: https://ofla.wildapricot.org/event-4290420 Happy watching 🙂

Finally I wish all of you a summer that will allow you to rest and recharge. You greatly deserve the down time.

Lesley Chapman, OFLA Immediate Past President
French Teacher, Sycamore Community Schools

If you are anything like me, you were not aware that there is a museum dedicated to the appreciation of the world’s languages, their beauty, and what makes them unique. The idea for such a museum originated in College Park, MD, in 1971, when Dr. Amelia C. Murdoch helped organize a public language exhibit, sponsored by the National Security Agency (NSA). Dr. Murdoch’s dream was to eventually create a stand-alone museum dedicated to languages. By 1997, this idea grew into the National Museum of Language (NML), and a brick-and-mortar museum took shape in 2008. The NML went on to host exhibits celebrating language diversity, such as “Writing Language: Passing it On” and “ Emerging American Language in 1812.” 

Lucas Hoffman, OFLA Executive Treasurer
French/Spanish Teacher, Sylvania High School

There are many reasons to join a non-profit organization, be they to connect with other like-minded professionals, to support other colleagues, or to advance the profession.  

During this past year, your membership dues have been just as important as ever.  Even though the way we connect as colleagues may look very different from a few years ago, OFLA still has the task of advocating for our profession at the local, state, and national levels.  Together, as an organization, OFLA has the network and the funding to make a larger impact that individual teachers likely can.  

So how does OFLA help advocate for our profession? Along with the very familiar opportunities to advocate for better world language teaching and learning (like our annual conference which should return next year!), OFLA has several other projects.  Do you know about any of them?