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This week in The Crescent, I have a challenge for you. Take a moment from your day to stop, breathe, and just gaze at the stars. What do you see?  constellation If you are a realist, you may say, “Obviously, I see stars, a night’s sky, some trees, and a constellation”. To my wonderful realists, I cannot deny that truth. You are, in fact, interpreting one correct and very logical answer. However, I challenge everyone: Look again. You may see a BUSINESS TIE or, thinking of the cold winter weather, an ICE SCRAPER FOR YOUR CAR. Step back and take a look from a different angle. You may notice that other stars embellish the formation which starts to look something like this:  "" What do you see now? When I look at this picture, I reflect on my summer as a volunteer for a camp in Maine… What do I see? I see a bunch of claws from my first time hauling for LOBSTER.
My brother, on the other hand, would tilt his head and see the antennas of the EVIL GRASSHOPPER in his favorite childhood movie, A Bug’s Life.
Look again, You may see a WARRIOR WITH HIS ARM RAISED.  What is in his other hand? Is it the HEAD OF A LION, a SHIELD or is he wielding an ARROW?
If you are an astronomer: You may know this to be the constellation Orion, with the three recognizable stars across the center known as “Orion’s belt”. If you are a mythologist: You would tell me that Orion was a celebrated hunter in Greek mythology. If you are a linguist: You would mention one of the stars in Orion’s belt is called “Alnilam” in Arabic, meaning that it is not a belt, but a string of pearls. You may also remind me that in Spanish the three stars of Orion’s belt are called “Las Tres Marias” or, in places like the Philippines and Puerto Rico, “Los Tres Reyes Magos”. “We all look at the same stars and see different things”. Based on your background in Astronomy, the language you speak, the stories from your culture or your past experiences, we all saw different images in the stars. How does this apply to the classroom? Just like we, as teachers, bring our culture and experiences to the classroom, each child brings a set of experiences with them. It is important to understand why students think and feel the way they do, what struggles they have in life and what makes them feel alive. Getting to know students’ experiences builds relationships and encourages student engagement. Most importantly, it expands our knowledge of the world, making us better listeners, better individuals, better educators. How to do it?
Why spend so much time gazing at stars? With new experience and new knowledge, our first glance can change over time to form something more elaborate, more beautiful. Sometimes we need to take a look and then... pause... to look harder. Why spend so much time gazing at the stars? Because, my sweet friends, with time our pupils are able to open to the night’s sky, then, and only then, can we see beauty in the dark and our skies are forever brighter. 
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Have you ever felt so overwhelmed that someone else's good news made you feel worse? I have. In fact, at times, I struggle with jealousy, both professional and personal. How does that teacher get so much done in one week? How do others get grades done so quickly? How does that person always look so put together when I just crawled out of bed? Doing work (or workouts) BEFORE school? Oh, how I wish I had the energy others had! Have you ever tried that new activity in your classroom and it failed miserably (the first time)? But you kept on revising and changing it so that it worked better and better the more you tried it? I have! In fact, I have failed many times in my life and career. I try to learn from my mistakes (they be but many) and keep on moving. Yes, I usually have a good cry, and sometimes my recovery time isn't as quick as I'd like, but something inside tells me not to give up because those kids, or now I think, those teachers, are just to important and they deserve another try. We can often be our own worsts critics, talking to ourselves in ways we would never talk to someone else. We beat ourselves up if we make a mistake or if we don't think we compare to others around us. If you are at all like me, you might need to remind yourself that it's okay. We all mess up, we all struggle--that's called learning. While you feel you are struggling, someone else is looking at YOU and wondering how YOU are so awesome and how YOU keep rocking every day. Recognize this feeling when working with students. School makes many students feel like failures, and they get discouraged and don't want to try anymore either. This video is not new, and many of you have probably seen it already, but I encourage you to take the six minutes to watch it again. It is a beautiful example of what listening to feedback and making revisions can do for our kids and for us. So, as we are ending one year and starting the next, please take some time to be proud of how you've grown from the difficult, uncomfortable times in your life. Reflect on the lives you have touched, the smiles you've put on faces, and continue to persevere! Keep going, keep learning, keep teaching and thriving. And remember, while you just might not be where you want to be yet, someone is looking at YOU and wanting to be where you are. This Crescent post will be discussing educational policy. While it may not be as visible in the day-to-day routine of teaching, language policy is the deciding factor in so many aspects that affect our careers as world language educators. Language policies can be the make or break when it comes to funding for classrooms, employment security and, most importantly, deciding student course opportunities. Recently, there has been discussion in legislation that would allow the study of world language to be substituted with computer coding. Below you can find the SCFLTA's official position statement on the matter. "The South Carolina Foreign Language Teachers’ Association (SCFLTA) stands with our national organization, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), against any legislation that would allow the study of a world language in the state of South Carolina to be substituted with computer coding". Learn more about being an advocate for world languages here. Please contact your legislators and encourage your network to do the same. It's a quick and easy search from this website. Click Greetings SCFLTA! For the first blog post of the 2019-2020 school year, I am thrilled to be sharing with you tech tips from your very own 2018 SCFLTA Teacher of the Year, Ms. Jessica Kelly! Feel free to comment below and tweet your questions @senorakellylhs ! Don't forget the SCOLT Professional Development Outreach Fund is available to bring your state TOY to your district. You can find more info here. I encourage you to take advantage of it.  Hello world language enthusiasts! It was a whirlwind experience as your SCFLTA 2018 TOY and am so thrilled to have been able to represent such a supportive community of amazing world language teachers! I have been asked to share with you all some of my favorite go-to tech activities for getting students engaged and taking risks with language proficiency while also providing an informal check-in on targeted structures for me. Without further ado, I present to you... GOOSECHASE and INSTACOMMUNITY! Goosechase is an online platform for virtual scavenger hunts where the teacher can create tasks for students to respond with either short videos, pictures or texts to prove successful completion of the task. Pros:
Interactive Activities with SeeSaw I got the idea for this next project when I started making a conscious effort to differentiate for honors level courses. I noticed that my CP students had more fun using the language because they were not as grade oriented, whereas, my honors students were less creative due to fear of making mistakes. I desperately needed a safe space for them to become more confident in the target language and to be willing to take risks. And so, the Instagram project was born. About the Instagram Project: Students assume the role of an Instagram influencer, all within the controlled environment of SeeSaw. They must pick a theme and stick to it the rest of the semester. Using their skills of persuasion and creativity, they must attempt to win over as many followers as possible. Within each curriculum unit, students were provided with a context that they had to adapt an Instagram post for. From there, the class would comment and like each other's posts. For more information about the specific tasks, how to modify it for different levels and different languages (shout out to Latin!) see my SCOLT 2019 Presentation! Thank you so much for taking the time to make it to the end of my ramblings! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask!
Sincerely, Jessica Welcome back to the second post of this summer's series Hot Topics. Last week I asked for guest submissions on how you or your colleagues incorporate technology in the classroom. This week we are highlighting a submission from Aymer Rojas, Spanish teacher in Lexington-Richland District 5 who will be discussing how he uses technology in the elementary classroom. Aymer submitted a beautiful paper that I will link below with research to back the claims. For the blog, I will be highlighting his list of technology, including virtual field trips! Please do take the time to check out his attached essay it has pictures of what these activities look like in the classroom! Using Technology to Engage your World Language Class in Elementary By Aymer Rojas Engaging students can be tough. The high performing students seem like they don't need it and the low performing ones need an extra push to be engaged. In truth, all students can benefit when we transform our classrooms into engaging environments. As Foreign Language teachers, we have a lot of content to teach, but we also have the responsibility to teach our students to be culturally competent and guide them to learn how to respect, be open-minded and enjoy another language. In my twenty years of experience, I continue finding that our students change every year and for that reason, I have created a list of activities and technology tools that my students enjoy. Voki Voki is an educational tool that allows users to create their very own talking character. This tool is created by Oddcast and is located in New York City. Voki characters can be customized to look like historical figures, cartoons, animals, and even yourself! Kahoot! is the oldest of the review games, launched in August of 2013. In a standard Kahoot! game, questions are displayed to students on a projector or display. Students respond on their own devices. At the end of a Kahoot, teachers can download the results. Quizizz takes the excitement of a review game and puts the whole experience in the students’ hands. Everyone sees the question and possible answers on the projector and answer simultaneously. Quizizz is different because the questions and possible answers are displayed individually on student devices. Skype in the classroom I used this technology to connect my students and fellow educators globally. We had collaborative projects where students worked with people in different countries and had virtual field trips. We Skyped a classroom in South America and the result was lots of engagement. The process was very simple and my students had the opportunity to practice Spanish with native speakers with the same age as them. Memes in the classroom Classroom Memes can be used to connect with your students. You can also have some fun exploring the meme generating sites - maybe create one or two with the class. While creating memes can be an exciting process, you need to be cautious as some meme-generating sites can be inappropriate. Virtual Field Trips I have been doing virtual field trips with my third through fifth- grade classes and these have brought fascinating experiences. My students have virtually experienced Angel Falls in Venezuela, Machu Picchu in Peru, and La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. To further enhance the experience provided by virtual field trips, you can also use 3D goggles. Padlet is another collaboration tool that teachers can use. Students can comment and interact with it as needed. Teachers can monitor all interactions that students have with the content and track engagement analytics. Edpuzzle It is a free assessment-centered tool that allows teachers and students to create interactive online videos by embedding either open-ended or multiple-choice questions, audio notes, audio tracks, or comments on a video. FlipGrid This tool allows to record the students and let then set up and decorate a background. This encourage quiet students to speak their minds without feeling intimidated and practicing their speaking skills. Animoto is a cloud-based video creation service that produces a video from photos, video clips, and music into video slideshows. Spark Video Sis part of the Adobe Spark suite. The application allows students to produce short, animated, narrated videos. Students can easily add photos, voice, as well as sounds to their video creations.
SCFLTA wants to hear from you!
What technology do you or your WL colleagues use in the classroom? In the next Crescent post, SCFLTA is featuring guest writers who are sharing how they apply technology in the classroom! I can't wait to share with you how one particular Lexington-Richland 5 Spanish teacher uses technology at the elementary level! Questions, comments, kudos for your tech-savy teachers? Comment below to get them featured! 2019 President: Heather Giles Hello! It is an honor and a privilege to serve as your SCFLTA president for 2019-2020. I am originally from Spokane, WA and live in Rock Hill, SC with my husband (Jeff), daughter (Annika), and son (Colton). We love our critter menagerie of seven cats and two dogs. In my spare time, I enjoy DIY projects, reading, kayaking, and anything multi-cultural. For the last 23 years, I have worked at Rock Hill High School, where I teach Spanish 2 and Spanish IB, and have also taught English as a Second Language in the past. I hold degrees from Eastern Washington University and Winthrop University, in addition to being National Board Certified since 2007. Between the SCOLT conference in March, the inaugural Bilingualism Matters conference hosted by USC, and numerous smaller workshops and meetings with colleagues, this spring has been a season filled with powerful conversations and exchanges of ideas. A common thread running through many conversations has been support and collaboration among language teachers in South Carolina. I am excited about the opportunities for growth with the Seal of Biliteracy along with other state and local initiatives. At the same time, many teachers and schools are facing challenges related to funding, curriculum, and enrollment. Continuing these conversations is an opportunity to forge new partnerships and share the wealth of ideas and resources with colleagues from all around the state. I would like to invite you to continue these conversations by responding to the short survey below. What do you most want to talk about? How would you like to take part in the conversations? SCFLTA Spring 2019 survey (link) Thank you in advance for your feedback, which will be used by the SCFLTA board to plan future workshops and professional development opportunities. Wishing you a smooth end to the school year and a summer filled with what you love most! 2019 President-Elect: Dr. Liza Speece I am so pleased to be the new President Elect for SCFLTA. I have been an advocate for world languages in South Carolina for many years, both as a member of SCFTLA and in a variety of other roles, such as non-profit work, consulting and teaching. I have been serving as the World Language Teacher Support Specialist and recently have been named World Language Coordinator in Lexington One. I have the honor to work with some incredible world language teachers every day. Before that, I taught third grade Spanish immersion, and prior to that I taught Spanish at Columbia College. I also currently teach graduate courses in the fields of language and literacy and ESOL. I am excited to plan the upcoming SCFLTA conference with my fellow board members, and to be of service to you in any way that I can. 2019 Past-President: Caitlin Howard ¡Saludos! I’m Caitlin Howard, SCFLTA Past President. I grew up in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, so I love the Browns, Cavs, Indians, and Buckeyes! I teach Spanish at Clover High School in Clover, SC.
I attended Universidad de Murcia in Murcia, Spain 2004-2005, earned my Bachelor’s in Spanish Education from Clarion University of PA in 2006, Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction from University of West Florida in 2013, and National Board Certification in Spanish in 2015. This is year 13 of teaching high school Spanish and I love it! I look forward to serving another year on the SCFLTA board and seeing what this year brings. Executive Director- Jason Bagley When asked to introduce myself for the SCFLTA blog, I suddenly developed writer’s block. I am not one to “toot my own horn”, and prefer to stay in the background.
My name is Dr. Jason Bagley, and I currently have the privilege of serving as the Executive Director for SCFLTA. I am also a high school French teacher, and work part time as a STAMP rater and International Baccalaureate (IB) examiner. On a personal level, I enjoy traveling, reading, sporting events, and the outdoors! If I had to discuss my type of leadership, I would certainly say that I am a servant leader. I enjoy doing for others, and have a passion for helping teachers become the best that they can be at their craft! I consider it my responsibility to go get information and bring it back to and share with my team. I enjoy staying current with things that are happening in our field, especially with technology and leadership. Currently teacher leadership is a big focus, and I believe that you do not have to have a title or be in an office to be a leader. Some leaders serve what may seem like small roles in their schools or departments while others may be at every conference sharing their expertise with colleagues. There is a place for everyone, and each and every teacher has a unique set of gifts and skill sets that makes them unique and valuable! I encourage everyone to self-reflect on what their strengths and talents are. Some may have the gift of making connections with everyone they meet, others may have great organizational skills, while others may be dreamers and have great ideas. When you put those talents together, great things can happen! If I can be of service to you, your department, school, or district, please don’t hesitate to contact me! On that note, please be aware of the following changes to contact information! Effective immediately, my email address is changing. Any SCFLTA related questions or contact with me will go to [email protected] Effective July 1st, 2019, my (and any SCFLTA mail or business) should go to: Dr. Jason Bagley SCFLTA Executive Director 25 Paddington Avenue Greenville, SC 29069 Thank you for all that you do for World Language Education and for the young people of South Carolina! In the next series for the Crescent, we will be introducing and celebrating our SCFLTA leaders. Before we get to that, I want to ask you your thoughts!
What makes a good leader? How do you (or someone you know) "Lead With Languages"? Who are the leaders that inspire you? (Let's recognize those people!) While it is impossible to list all the qualities of a great leader, SCFLTA has encountered countless leaders who: 1. Go above and beyond to spark interest in world language learners inside and outside of the classroom. 2. Recognize leadership potential in others by encouraging them to share their expertise. 3. Present best practices and share resources with others. 4. Recognize those strong colleagues and put them up for awards and recognition. 5. Advocate at district, state and national levels. See how to advocate here 6. Inspire future educators through mentorship and guidance. One way ACTFL challenges individuals to Lead with Languages is by funding college scholarships for up to $6,000 for future world language educators. Click here to see the Lead with Languages Scholarship Whether it is presenting at the 2020 SCFTLA conference, writing letters to your legislature, mentoring fellow language teachers or inspiring world language learners, SCFLTA challenges you to Lead with Languages. And, when someone has been an awesome leader, recognize them so that we can give them a shout out! Comment Below! What do you want to see in your SCFLTA Leadership? Who are the leaders that inspire you? (Let's recognize those people in the comments!) Language and how it shapes the way we see the world! Share and comment below on your experiences!4/8/2019 Salut mes amis! Welcome to the first blog post for the Crescent! We have made the switch from a newsletter to a blog and I am excited to hear what all you have to share! Today's post is one dear to my heart, but I am excited to hear about any submissions you may have! Share what is going on in your and your colleagues' classrooms! Any interesting news you want to push out? This blog is for you! Contact me to get featured/be a feature writer! "To have another language is to possess a second soul" These words, spoken by Charlemagne, have us all shouting "YESSSSS! Oui! Si! Ja!". A few years ago, I came across the article The Voice of a Translingual Memoir by Mary Besemeres where she begs the question: Do specific ways of speaking impact particular ways of feeling? Does living 'in' a language help to engender certain emotions? Since then, I have been fascinated by how the language we speak shapes the way the see the world. Take a look at bilinguals. What language do they express anger and frustration in? What about feelings of admiration? If language affects our emotions, how does it affect the way we see and hear things? Below is a great Ted Talk on the topic. Simple Activities to do with students to get them thinking about the impact of language:
Activity 1: Animal Noises -Give students a list of animal sounds in the language like "Coin Coin!". -Have students try to guess what animal the sound goes along with (They have a blast pronouncing the words out loud and trying to pair it with an animal!). -Discuss how the languages we speak affects the sounds we hear. Activity 2: Beliefs -Find an authentic blog about children's beliefs. You will find that many of children's beliefs are based off their native language. A French example is "perdre les eaux" vs. "perdre les os". These francophones believed that women lost their bones when giving birth because of the similarity in pronunciation of "os" and "eaux". -Have students categorize the beliefs into categories such as: religious, linguistic, cultural or media to discuss further. Make cultural comparisons to our own native and culture. Tell me your story! How do the languages you speak affect the way you see the world? Any interesting classroom activities to share on the topic? |
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December 2025
CategoriesAuthorWendy Rabago is a middle school Spanish teacher at River Oaks Middle School in Dorchester 2. 
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