Great Opportunities to Present a Talk -- Deadline April 15, 2014 -- Get Involved in State Activities!

Thank you, Anita Ratwik, for the following:

Central States Conference (on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) i.e. CSCTFL, will be in Minneapolis March 12- 14, 2015. 

It is co-sponsored by MCTLC. CSC is one of the five regional organizations of ACTFL. CSC's web address is www.CSCTFL.org 

We especially want to have sessions for German teachers and to have good attendance by world language teachers in Minnesota. This conference includes 17 states, and we expect close to 1000 participants. All right in our own backyard!

Please consider presenting a session. The website for proposals is http://www.web-reg.com/csc-prop/

The deadline for submission is April 15, 2014.  You can even do one presentation at the MCTLC conference in October 2014 and use the same one for CSC 2015 the following March!

This conference will also require many volunteers from Minnesota. I will send out information as that time comes closer. Please consider volunteering. It is one of the best ways to get to know other language teachers and networking. Participants and presenters to CSC come from all 17 CSC members states, plus many additional states.

This year's CSC conference is in St Louis, MO, March 20-22, 2014. In preparation for CSC 2015, we are responsible for an exhibit booth at this year's conference. We need volunteers to help staff that booth. If any of you will be at CSC 2014 in St Louis, please consider helping staff that booth for a couple of hours. No need to bring anything, but a smile and energy to talk with perspective attendees who might also want information about Minneapolis and Minnesota.

If you are willing, please contact Anita Ratwik, at ratwi001@umn.edu 

Lots to think about, many opportunities.

Thank you.

Anita Ratwik

CSCTFL 2015 Local Liaison

Thank you Mark for maintaining this list for us.

AATG Testing Program -- Oral Interviews and Awards Banquet Dates are Set

Dear All, 

I would like to introduce myself to you as the new AATG MN Testing Chair and thank Lisa Ohm for her help and support in making this transition as smoothly as possible. 

Please save the following two dates in connection with the National German Exam:

Oral Exams:

Saturday, March 8, 2014, 8:00-12:00 noon University of St. Thomas (Saint Paul Campus: OEC Classrooms)

 

Award Banquet:

Sunday, April 27, 2014 (12:00-3:00 pm +/-) University of St. Thomas (Saint Paul Campus: Woulfe Alumni Hall)

Campus Map: http://www.stthomas.edu/campusmaps/stpaul/

I will send out more information concerning the events soon, and of course will ask you for your support.  Most importantly, I would like to request your help with the oral interviews.

 Please feel free to email me any time with questions or comments.

 Looking forward to a great testing year.  Good luck to all your students.

Susanne.

 

Dr. Susanne M. Wagner, Assistant Professor of German & Program Director University of St. Thomas | Department of Modern & Classical Languages | O'Shaughnessy Education Center 320-H

651-962-5174 office | wagn9302@stthomas.edu<mailto:wagn9302@stthomas.edu> | Mail Box # 5027 | http://www.stthomas.edu/mcl/programs/german/

AATG/Goethe-Institut Mentor/Teacher Trainer, http://www.aatg.org Testing Chair, AATG Minnesota, http://mnaatg.blogspot.com

 

 

Online 5-Minute Survey: Your Use of Technology in Teaching Languages to K-12 Students

From Lee Abraham (Columbia University) and Lawrence Williams (University of North Texas):

___________________________

Dear K-12 Language Teachers,

We are writing to ask for your participation in a survey about technology and foreign language teaching.  

This is a very brief online survey for K-12 foreign language teachers, and it will take less than 5 minutes of your time.    We would really appreciate your help with this research project, and we will gladly share the results with all participants who provide their e-mail address in the online survey, which can be accessed by clicking on the following link:

https://unt.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_4P0JOW4aMSs5jNj

Thank you,

Lee B. Abraham

Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures Columbia University

For 8th Grade Teachers of German -- Please Help!

Dear Minnesota German Teachers,

An Amity Intern teacher from the Twin Cities German Immersion School is asking for volunteers to help gather information that is part of his master's degree. He explains his project in the email below and has created a survey he would like you to have 8th grade students answer. Please let him know and cc me so I know if he has enough or if I need to keep looking for more volunteers to help him. The survey is attached here.

Thank you very much for your help.

His email address is  Fabian Stein <steinfabian.fs@gmail.com> His land address is Twin CIties German Immersion School

1745 University Avenue West,

St Paul, MN 55104

My email address to cc  is ratwi001@umn.edu Thank you.

Anita Ratwik

From Fabian Stein--

In my thesis I would like to find out how  the perception of German culture differs between Immersion students, students with regular German classes and students without German classes. Besides TCGIS I am also going to evaluate another German Immersion class in San Diego.

I plan to evaluate the perception of German culture among eighth-graders, as they already have developed the necessary skills to reflect about a topic like this. Therefore I would be very thankful if you could find teachers that teach students in 8th grade, one class with German as a foreign language and one class without.