It’s Great – When You Collaborate!

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Cardinal Editor

Art, English and Spanish Join Forces

Jennifer Coppolino, Immaculate Heart of Mary Grade School, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio/K-8 Spanish Teacher

ellen ofrenda gr7 2013 Continue reading →

Posted in OFLA News: Association, Vol. 52, No. 2 - Winter 2014 | Leave a comment

La Oruga Muy Hambrienta

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Cardinal Editor

Eric Carle en español

Anne Marie Anelli, Spanish Teacher, St. Angela Merici Elementary School

On Thursday, December 12th, and Thursday, December 19th students in the 7th grade at St. Angela Merici School had the opportunity to read to their 1st grade prayer partners in Spanish.  They read “La oruga muy hambrienta” (“The Very Hungry Caterpillar”) by Eric Carle.  Students had been practicing for several weeks on pronunciation, fluency, and using emotion while reading. Continue reading →

Posted in OFLA News: Association, Vol. 52, No. 2 - Winter 2014 | Leave a comment

Le Grand Concours 2014

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Cardinal Editor

Judy Bates, Ohio French Contest Administrator

Bonjour à tous!

With the new year upon us, now is a good time to ensure that you have taken care of the necessary steps for participation in Le Grand Concours 2014.  Please make sure that you have accomplished the following: Continue reading →

Posted in OFLA News: Association, Vol. 52, No. 2 - Winter 2014 | Leave a comment

Now Is the Time to Prepare your Elevator Speech

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Cardinal Editor

Carol Eiber
OFLA President 2011-2012

Happy New Year! If you do not have an elevator speech ready, I suggest you make it a New Year’s Resolution to prepare one. An elevator speech, a short, to-the-point verbal paragraph, promotes your idea.  One never knows when the opportunity will arise to advocate for our profession.  One must be ready to respond to parents, administrators, board members, to anyone who is not yet a believer in learning a foreign language. Continue reading →

Posted in OFLA News: Association, Vol. 52, No. 2 - Winter 2014 | Leave a comment

Letter from the President

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Cardinal Editor

The Times They Are a-Changin’

Teri Wiechart, OFLA President 2013-2014

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/bob+dylan/the+times+they+are+a+changin_20021240.html

TeriWThe lyrics from 1964 are still pertinent today, though those of us who remember them from the first time around believed that we invented the idea.  I suspect the message is timeless.

Embrace the Changes…

As the leaves turn from green to gold, and we are swamped with SLOs, IPAs, OTES, and others in the alphabet soup of education reform, it is a good time for self-reflection.  As we think about how we might embrace the changes, we can look to see how we might become better teachers, and how we might help our students know and love the languages we love and teach. Continue reading →

Posted in Executive News, Letter from the President, Vol. 52, No. 1 - Fall 2013 | Leave a comment

Awards

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Cardinal Editor

Richard Emch, President Elect

It is time to think of those outstanding teachers and administrators who are deserving of recognition of OFLA for their “above and beyond” contribution to the world language community in Ohio and beyond.  The Ohio Foreign Language Association’s Awards Committee is accepting nominations for awards in the categories described below.  All submissions must be sent electronically and received by:  November 1, 2013.  Awards are not necessarily made each year in each category.  If you wish to nominate a deserving colleague for a specific award, please use the official nomination form found at http://www.ofla-online.org/index.php/awards/4-awards. Continue reading →

Posted in Awards, Vol. 52, No. 1 - Fall 2013 | Leave a comment

2014 Election News Nominating Committee Members

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Cardinal Editor

Roz for OFLA 2011-2012 V2Roz Terek, Immediate Past President
French Teacher, Poland Seminary High School

As I begin my final year as a member of the OFLA Board’s presidential track, one of my duties is to chair the Nominating Committee whose task is to seek candidates for the annual OFLA election. In late summer, I invited Martha Castaneda, Carol Eiber, Richard Emch, Mark Himmelein, Cheryl Johnson and Fred Toner to serve on the 2013-2014 Nominating Committee. Each member of the committee has served on the OFLA Board and has continued to provide the strong leadership that is so valuable to our members. Continue reading →

Posted in Executive News | Leave a comment

Advocacy Updates

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Cardinal Editor

sarahshackelfordSarah Shackelford, Advocacy Chair

Under legislative directive, the State Board of Education convened a special committee this past summer to consider revisions to the current high school graduation requirements. The ODE world language consultants alerted OFLA leadership in the event the organization wanted to participate in this discussion since it afforded a unique opportunity to reacquaint the committee members with the recommendations of the 2007 Foreign Language Advisory Committee’s report that was developed under the auspices of A.S. Senate Bill 311. Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, Vol. 52, No. 1 - Fall 2013 | Leave a comment

The Benefits of Membership

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Cardinal Editor

JulieJulie Frye, Lexington High School/Membership Chair

If you are reading this issue of the Cardinal, you are one of our valued active members, and we thank you! You understand the benefits of belonging to the Ohio Foreign Language Association. Almost 300 of you have attended the Understanding Proficiency and IPAs workshops offered around the state these past two months. Congratulations on being at the forefront of the changes being implemented in our field of expertise. Continue reading →

Posted in Executive News, Vol. 52, No. 1 - Fall 2013 | Leave a comment

Lurking on the OFLA Listserv and Feeling Proud

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Cardinal Editor

Martha_CastanedaMartha Castañeda, OFLA Executive Vice-President, Miami University

In online culture and etiquette, lurking is the action of observing but not necessarily actively participating in an online discussion (Bishop, 2007).  I have observed with admiration as my colleagues discuss on the OFLA listserv ways to present information and assess students to meet the Student Learning Objectives (SLO) goals and requirements.  As a university faculty member, I can’t help but link the practices my colleagues discuss online to the theoretical underpinnings of each method or activity presented on the OFLA listserv.  I “listen” as my colleagues talk about and provide resources for best practices in language teaching. Continue reading →

Posted in OFLA News: Association, Vol. 52, No. 1 - Fall 2013 | Leave a comment