Ahlan ya colleagues, Welcome to the Arabic K-12 Bulletin, a biweekly resource for elementary, middle, and high school Arabic teachers, administrators, and researchers. We are looking forward to starting up the Bulletin again for the new school year with... a new editor! I am a high school Arabic teacher in Massachusetts, and I'm excited to take over Steven's responsibilities. As always, if you would like to reach us please send a message to arabick12@gmail.com. Lucy Thiboutot, Editor |
The Arabic K-12 Teachers Network consists of more than 1,000 educators, administrators, and researchers interested in the Arabic K-12 field in the U.S. It is a free membership provided by the National Capital Language Resource Center's Arabic K-12 Project. Recent issues of the Bulletin are archived here: http://bit.ly/10KRZi3 . All members are welcome to submit posts in English or Arabic and may do so by e-mailing their content to arabick12@gmail.com specifying their content for the listserv. This listserv is focused on elementary, middle, and high school Arabic teaching. Job openings at the university level can be found on the AATA's website . |
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES NEW RESOURCES FOR YOUR STUDENTS AND CLASSROOM GRANT OPPORTUNITIES AND JOB ANNOUNCEMENTS NADA'S WEBSITES: "GeoBeats" BELAL'S ACTIVITIES: "Gambling Game" MEOC BOOK RECOMMENDATION: "Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City" CURRENT RESEARCH: "Preparing Students to Deal with Boring Instruction in College" FOCUS ON LEARNING: "Fort Lee Board of Education Rejects Proposal for Arabic-Language Sunday School" |
Workshops and Webinars Google has announced a free, self-paced course (http://bit.ly/18Ba8T6) on how to use Google Maps in your classroom, for teaching, to support your students, etc. The course features video and text tutorials to help you use Google Maps, Google Earth, and similar programs. It's possible to earn a certificate through completion of projects. Concordia Language Villages is offering Qatar Professional Development Workshops this fall with full scholarships, substitute teacher reimbursement, and travel stipends for current and future teachers of Arabic, October 10-13. These workshops will bring together K-16 Arabic language teachers from across the United States to explore innovative instructional strategies. All Arabic language teachers are invited to apply for one or both of these workshops. To register: http://bit.ly/Xm0v7y . The Center for Advanced Study of Language (College Park, MD) is interested in seeking participants for a study on how learners of Arabic understand and decipher cultural allusions in Arabic. Participants who are native speakers of English, at least 18 years old, not native or heritage speakers of Arabic, and have completed at least 3 years of university-level Arabic courses are welcome to apply. Each participant receives $25 cash after right taking the test. Testing will be conducted at a convenient location near the participant. Contact kburk@casl.umd.edu for more information. Professional Conferences The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) conference will be held November 22-24, 2013 in Orlando, FL. ACTFL is dedicated to the improvement and expansion of the teaching and learning of all languages at all levels of instruction. Book your hotel by Aug. 27 to receive a discounted rate. Register online by Oct. 30. For more information: http://bit.ly/12dLiY5 . Call For Proposals and Papers The 17th National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages is scheduled for April 24-27, 2014, at the Westin Chicago Northwest, IL. Proposals are solicited for individual papers, colloquia, and poster sessions to be presented at this conference. Submissions should fall broadly within the conference theme, "Collaboration and Internationalization: Enhancing and Sustaining Quality Outcomes for LCTLs." The deadline for receipt of proposals is September 9th 2013. If you have any questions regarding proposal submission, please contact the NCOLCTL Secretariat at: secretariat@ncolctl.org or Tel: (812) 856-4185. The Foreign Language Association of Virginia (FLAVA) will be holding its annual conference October 3-4, 2013 at Williamsburg, VA. FLAVA is seeking papers, panels, and workshops on teaching Arabic L2. Last year we had eight sessions on Arabic that where well-attended by teachers of Arabic, French, Spanish, Chinese, and more. School teachers as well as college professes are strongly encouraged to share their teaching and research with teachers of other languages attend this annual meeting. For more details: http://bit.ly/Xf3aBL . |
American Councils for International Education coordinates the U.S. Department of State's FLEX, YES, and A-SMYLE programs, where students from the Middle East and other areas of the world have competed against their peers and earned a scholarship to come to the U.S. for a full academic year. The students live with an American host family, attend school and become a part of the family. Anyone interested in hosting an exchange student for a period of two months to a full academic year, and the ability to provide a safe, supportive, English-speaking environment is welcome to contact the programs for more information. For more information: http://inbound.americancouncils.org . The Peace Corps offers the World Wise Schools website, with cross-cultural learning resources including lesson plans, videos, publications, an online game, and more. Take advantage of these free resources to develop your students' global competencies and prepare them to be engaged, 21st century global citizens. Connecting With Teachers Connect with hundreds of Arabic teachers in America and from around the world on the Teachers of Arabic Language K-12 (TALK12) page on Facebook. Teachers can chat, swap ideas, and give each other advice: http://www.talk12.org . Arabic teachers from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut: the New England Association of Arabic Teachers has been supporting K-12 Arabic teachers since 2008 with workshops, material and resources, and regular meetings. To join, contact Steven Berbeco berbeco@bu.edu. |
Stay tuned for more grant opportunities in the fall! Job Openings Military and Global Leadership Academy at MG Davis (Charlotte, NC) is seeking a full-time elementary school Arabic teacher for the 2013-2014 school year. To apply, contact the school's principal, Ann Laszewski <Ann.laszewski@cms.k12.nc.us>. Boston Arts Academy (Boston, MA) is seeking a part-time high school teacher for Arabic 1 or Arabic 3 for the 2013-2014 school year. To apply, send a resume and cover letter to Joy Bautista, Academic Dean, jbautista@bostonartsacademy.org. For more information or to receive a copy of the full job announcement, contact Joy Bautista at (617) 359-3243. |
Nada Shaath (Bell High School, CA) suggests: GeoBeats (http://www.geobeats.com). This online video network provides an easy and powerful way for your classroom to add high quality video guides to portfolios for students and teachers. |
Belal Joundeya (Renaissance Academy, UT) suggests: Gambling Game. Make 10-15 flashcards with a number on the backside and a picture of a vocabulary word on the inside, and another number that can be positive or negative (the point value). Divide the class into 2-3 groups. Each group takes a turn to choose a numbered flashcard. They gamble whether to keep it or give it to their opponents (not knowing the point value on the other side). The teacher asks them to either use the vocabulary in a sentence or define the word. If the students get it right, then the points go to whichever team they decided before flipping over the card. |
The Middle East Outreach Council (http://www.meoc.us) recommends the young adult book Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City by Guy Delisle (Drawn and Quarterly). Jerusalem is a graphic "novel" that gives an account of daily life in contemporary Israel by an outsider who is unsentimental but drawn in, bemused but empathetic. Delisle, a Canadian, sees and wonders at the complications, absurdities, and joys of living in East Jerusalem, and explores other communities in Israel and the Occupied Territories. He came with little knowledge and few preconceptions, but while on the ground, he provides a map for students, teachers, and readers for what it's like to live and travel in this complex region. His drawings are informative and entertaining. They will draw students in and delight teachers. |
Preparing Students to Deal with Boring Instruction in College
By Kim Marshall | Marshall Memo #497, August 12, 2013, http://www.marshallmemo.com In this troubling Education Week article, Mark Bauerlein (Emory University) addresses a troubling paradox: high-school students whose teachers work hard to jazz up classes with engaging activities may be unprepared to survive poorly-taught, boring classes in college. "Usually, when students start college, they have to take freshman composition, a course universally dreaded by 18-year-olds," says Bauerlein, who teaches freshman comp. "Few of them enjoy grammar exercises or paragraph development or the revision process. And chances are they don't easily relate to the readings… Many also have to take a math or other quantitative-skills course – subject matter irrelevant to students interested in the arts and humanities. Often, too, they face a U.S. history and civics requirement covering events and texts 200 years old and thoroughly alien to their job ambitions and leisure activities." And many courses are taught using the lecture method, which is likely to put students to sleep. No wonder the on-time graduation rate is only 59 percent in four-year colleges and 31 percent in community colleges, with boredom and irrelevance cited as the major reason for early departure. Bauerlein's conclusion: high-school graduates need more than academic skills to survive the general-education courses they must take in college before plunging into their major. They need a range of "soft" skills that will help them finish work they find boring, poorly taught, and irrelevant. Somehow, high-school teachers need to teach these skills, and Bauerlein worries that when high-school teachers bend over backwards to make courses relevant and interesting, they're giving students the following message: "If you're not interested in a course, there's something wrong with it, and you needn't bother." His conclusion: "Boredom is not always something to be avoided. It is to be accepted and worked through." [Is Bauerlein implying that high-school instructors should teach badly to prepare students for bad teaching in college? Surely a better conclusion is that students and their parents should demand better teaching in college before shelling out tens of thousands of dollars for tuition. K.M.] "Boredom's Paradox" by Mark Bauerlein in Education Week, Aug. 7, 2013 (Vol. 32, #37, p. 31). |
Fort Lee Board of Education Rejects Proposal for Arabic-Language Sunday School
By Svetlana Shkolnikova | NewJersey.com, August 2, 2013
Source: http://bit.ly/14Thst8 The Board of Education's Buildings and Grounds Committee opted to quash a proposal to host an Arabic-language Sunday School on July 15, citing overcrowding issues and space concerns. The school is the brainchild of the Arab American Community Development Network (AACDN), a parents group that formed last year to help integrate residents of Arabic descent into the Fort Lee community. Last month, the group asked the district to consider opening its high school on the weekends for Arabic language and history classes. "We're offering this service to everybody," said Hesham Orabee, the principal of the proposed school. "We think it will have a great and positive impact on the city of Fort Lee." Assistant Superintendent Sharon Amato, then the schools chief, expressed interest in introducing the initiative this fall but the board's three-member committee on facility and ground use felt the timing was wrong. "Right now, we don't have the means to support [it]," said member Charlie Luppino, calling the proposal a "great idea" nonetheless. Overcrowding remains a source of worry and anxiety in the district, particularly in the wake of the borough's recent development boom. Several board members last month took their concerns to the mayor and council last month, arguing the district could not handle an influx of new students. To find out what the future holds, and whether it will have to include a new referendum for property purchases or infrastructure improvements, the district plans to order a $3,800 update to a demographic study it last performed for the 2011-2012 school year. That year's data showed that enrollments in all six schools are "close to, or in most cases, exceed capacities." By the 2016-2017 school year, the number of total students in the district will jump by 277, with the greatest increase in kindergarten through sixth grade, according to the study. The need to address these numbers is immediate, according to officials, while providing an Arabic Sunday School is not. Orabee could not be reached for comment on the decision. |
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