Meeting 07 •24 April 2012 • Tuesday

Version:
4/26/12

People (√ = present; strikeout = absent; e+strikeout = excused absence): √Fischer; √Chapman; √Choate; √Couture; √Hinsinger; √Hunter; √Idrissi; √Looney; √Moore

Today

(X') = anticipated time in minutes (to total 100 minutes + 10-minute break)
(0001) etc.=item in document collection (will be explained in class)
Key to notes added AFTER the class meets:
√ = topic / activity that was adequately dealt with during the class
+ = topic was begun but needs more attention & will be resumed at next / subsequent meeting(s)
- = a topic / activity that was proposed but not carried out - will be taken up later
Struckthrough text like this = a topic / activity that was proposed but is not going to be taken up after all
Italic green text like this = comments after the meeting

Week 1: Main Topic(s): Introduction to the Course, of course; our group; What is 'CBI'? Adjusting this year's version to SpeakEasy

materials:
scoring guide for the course; the "Humboldt Project", the Humboldt SINQ course (winter 20102), and its earlier versions, FLL 399 (2006W) and GER 427/527 (2006F); also my PSU 19th Century Cluster SINQ presentation about the Humboldt Project (October 2008);
Project work samples (on your disk): #1 - 0706, 736; #2 - 0707, 737; #3 - 708, 738
examples of actual activities (travel programs, etc.) to which a CBI-trained language teacher could add a language-learning module: 0716 (PSU business & sustainability), 0718 (renting apartment; various leisure activities)
examples of other courses and projects elsewhere: the "Big Book" activity for middle-schooler FLES (#0407); new efforts to teach reading better in PPS (#0796); a college course that combines third-year German with hydraulic engineering (0712)
Project 1: a single CBI lesson

(10') group continues to generate specifications for Projects 2 (extended CBI module) & 3 ("Big Idea" for an entire CBI course. Last meeting you named your own possible content areas. Now let's relate them to P2 and P3.

(10') CBI topic to fit the season: income tax replaced by "My Pet", the subject having come up rather urgently in Prof. Fischer's home.

(10') Some other small-to-medium ideas: see above, resources 0716 & 0718subjectwe used 0718-1 "Se renta apartamentos" and the little add for "Canoe Island French Camp"

(10') The "Pizza Lesson": outline & questions for the discussion - check whether we've thought it through.

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(10') Some other math-related ideas for a Project 1: a) ethnomathematics; b) statistics. Besides math, which content areas might these address?

(10') Break: Go get your coffee or your snack.

+

(20') The "Humboldt Project" - could include language modules (as Project 1 or maybe 2, but probably not 3).

-

(20') Sources of lesson plans - see "schedule" page; here's an example for math, from Thirteen Ed Online; or how about an art contest for Endangered Species Day?

(10') upcoming: see section immediately below, especially about what to do in the rest of this course (besides projects); if time: group drafts the scoring guide for the reflection


Upcoming class meeting(s) (#8 26 April 2012)

1) Continue Stryker/Leaver

2) Look at the work samples for projects from earlier years.

3) See "schedule" page for links to sources of lesson plans for various subject areas.

4) CBI as related to Team-Based Learning.

5) What do we want to do in the rest of this course (besides discussing project ideas in class and working on them outside class)? I'd like to spend as much as an hour determining this during meeting #8. Below are CBI-related topics that have come to my mind. I'd like the group's sense of which should be selected:

thematic units; assessment & scoring guides; exploring the range of content areas (science, etc.); history of CBI (to see what has been attempted and achieved); teaching literature in a CBI way; K-12; learner motivation, styles, strategies; teaching culture; changing the curriculum; business as a particular CBI topic; portfolio assessment; grants; more "case studies" in CBI (ex 00176 Spanish for med; also special topic of environmentalism / sustainability).

Below here are notes for myself; read them at your peril!

••how to assess CBI activities (the projects; in general); SE course SG; Hypothesis: If the CBI activity is designed properly, and you then assess the student's performance according to how well the CONTENT was learned, that will also indicate how much LANGUAGE was learned.

••Portland Public Schools "Recommendations for the Second Language Minimum Performance Standards" (#0010a)

••Drake

I think we need a discussion about what we (ourselves, our learners) want language teaching and learning to accomplish, so that we can examine the pros and cons of CBI (and other teaching methods or tools). Example: Some people prize language courses for what they contribute to the development of students' intellectual rigor (logic, clear thinking, understanding of system, rules, principles); such people may also say: "…especially Latin" or "…but of course they can get the same things from a stiff geometry course". To what extent is that view / goal compatible with CBI? What if the students' goal is to… [name several different goals]?

Teaser: OK, we've talked about turning study of literature into CBI. Now what about that other beloved subject-area of our foreign-language programs, C/culture?

Pep talk: how proficiency-oriented teaching/learning and CBI support each other (0181 checklist for daily progress)

SPeakEasy problem: How to convey to newbies the company's "culture", expectations, and general way of operating. Importance of clear goals (and the right ones), group work, asking questions, creativity, active participation. Suggestions: intake surveys of aptitudes, experiences, personalities. Create an advisory atmosphere. Have newbies apply to departments. Linguistic issues: concept of "agency" - determining who does what (can include many grammatical & lexical features. How to convey comprehensible input (importance of authentic materials - but not sufficient in themselves).

Upcoming assignment(s)

This section offers a PREVIEW, not activated assignments. Assignments are made, with announcement of their deadlines, both in class and on the "schedule" page.

Announcements

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Misc.

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