Meeting 08 •26 April 2012 • Thursday

Version:
5/8/12

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; 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)
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)

Handout included DSAP newsletter about Kochabend

(20') group reports progress & problems with projects. While we do this, let's keep the Big Picture in mind: 1) You must show that you can produce a single lesson, an extended learning unit, and an entire course. Those entities can be offered as entirely separate projects, or as facets of one super-project, BUT: 2) You must also show that you can do CBI in not just one, but at least TWO distinct subject areas. If you can fit those two subject areas into one super-project, that's fine. Otherwise, there has to be a separate project that demonstrates the second subject area, and there has to be for each of the two subjects a one-meeting lesson.

(20') CBI topic for discussion: the Deutsche Sommmerschule's "Kochabend" (part of larger article, see pp. 10-11; pictures of the event, see p. 7) and a similar example from a high-school French program

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(10') Some other small-to-medium ideas: a) see above, resources 0716 (PSU abroad and capstone programs); b) how a CBI person could take a non-CBI activity (the weekly foreign film showing) and add a truly CBI language dimension.

(10') Some other math-related ideas for a Project 1: a) ethnomathematics; b) statistics. Besides math, which content areas might these address? What if someone wanted higher-level math from the pizza activity?

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

(10') group advises about topics for the rest of the course (see list below)

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(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?

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(05') comments - sorry about the delay - about the week #1 reflective writing

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(10') If time: The "Humboldt Project" - could include language modules (as Project 1 or maybe 2, but probably not 3). Note the list of grant possibilities and think what you could do with grants of: $250 (COFLT) or $500-$1000 (PSU CAE).


Upcoming class meeting(s) (#9 1 May 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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