The Cardinal

Debbie Varga, Spanish Teacher, Revere High School, OFLA Secondary Language Learning committee

This summer, I had the wonderful opportunity to be a participant at the OWL (Organic World Language) East Coast Boot Camp,  led by founder Darcy Rogers, in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts.  The theme for the week was “Inspire Motivation:  Teacher as Learner, Student as Teacher” and provided a tour de force of information and hands-on experiences that guided me to reframe my classroom practice on a daily basis. During my experience, I was able to connect and collaborate with teachers who are passionate about creating an authentic language experience in their classrooms.  Many terms have now become a part of my pedagogical lexicon:  acquisition vs. learning, modeling, post-planning, ownership of the language, text types, organic learning, threads and progressions, level checks and probes, personalization, and planning “days”, not “lessons”.  As I reframe my lessons and approach,  I rethink everything I plan in terms of proficiency.  I now ask myself, “Is this proficiency-based?”. Continue reading →

How the Humble Sport of Lawn Bowling has Revolutionized Shannon Hodge’s French Program

Kirsten Halling, Associate Professor of French, Wright State University

After many years of playing amateur petanque matches with her French students on special occasions, Shannon Hodge, French teacher at Bellefontaine High School, was introduced to the world of competitive petanque in 2013 and has never looked back. Pretty much everything about Shannon’s story is surprising and unlikely: first, she teaches in the small town of Bellefontaine, with some 13,000 residents; second, the club she belongs to, the Petanque Club of Zanesfield, is located in an even smaller town of some 200 people; third, hers is the only official petanque club in Ohio to belong to the FPUSA (Federation of Petanque USA); and fourth, Shannon’s club is the only one in the entire US to hold a juniors’ tournament and, as such, has become a model for petanque clubs throughout the country. Continue reading →

My renewed teaching philosophy

Cécile Lainé, Wyoming City Schools, cecilelaine.wordpress.com

Wow! So many changes have happened in World Language education over the past few years that it is high time we all reflect on our teaching philosophy and/or teaching style. To explain why I am a “mutt’, here is mine…I cannot wait to read yours! Continue reading →

Cortney Bird, Spanish Teacher, Olentangy Liberty High School
Past President of AATSP-Buckeye Chapter 2014-2016

What is an Ohio OWLer?

Ohio OWLers is a group of enthusiasts who utilize Organic World Language, or OWL, which is a revolutionary teaching methodology that focuses on student-empowerment, kinesthetic engagement, and community to fuel second language acquisition. Continue reading →

A unique service-learning opportunity for students of Spanish

Gregg O. Courtad, University of Mount Union, Professor of Spanish and Co-President of the Ohio Chapter of Amigos de las Américas

With or without the hyphen (and it does seem to be written both ways), the buzzword in today’s education is service learning. As educators strive to find new ways to cultivate a sense of global citizenship within their students, many have found that service learning is a highly effective tool for teaching students that we are all part of the human community.  Over the past decade, increasing numbers of institutions have been exploring ways to incorporate service learning into their curricula. What many of them may not know is that the answer has been around for about fifty years, under the auspices of a program called Amigos de las Américas. Continue reading →

Kristina Carson, Ohio University French Club President 2012-2014

On November 25th, 2013, 120 high school students and teachers from Athens, Alexander, and Vinton County High Schools gathered at Ohio University for the French Immersion Day event hosted by OU’s French Club.  As everyone arrived, university student volunteers mingled with the high school students, welcoming them to campus and playing a game about French around the world.  The day’s events consisted of a few words of welcome, five different stations centered on the theme “La Francophonie,” a lunch with conversation in French, and a quick wrap-up and goodbye.   Continue reading →

Lucas Hoffman, OFLA Executive Vice-President

Three years ago, I started “dabbling” in the world of Integrated Performance Assessments.  There is a learning curve, for sure, on the part of both students and teachers; my students were certainly patient with me as I discovered a new and more authentic way of testing. While I had always been using performance assessments, which make up only part of an IPA, I was not integrating the skills, nor was I always using authentic interpretive texts.  However, properly used IPAs are so much more rewarding. Continue reading →