Meeting 18 • 31 May 2012 • Thursday

Version:
5/31/12

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

(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 9: More about the projects; special presentations; further examples

new materials:
handout: nothing today

(05') warmup: "Why I'm so good at language(s)…" (But what does THAT mean?)

(30') Discussion of projects - hope people have brought something to the table.

I haven't forgotten the request for videos of CBI in action.

(10') Wrapup of the discussion about the @#$% rice cultivation / science ed articles (0725, 0082). Outline units for STEM (see 0436 on disk / handout) & social studies. Relation to Reaching for PASS (1995) project, model thematic unit / course about "Discovery / Encounter".

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

(30') Continue designing the 12 June presentation to colleagues from WLL, SBA, School of Ed, Sustainability. Determine near-final form of timeline and start mapping it onto people and content. What (Whom?) are we selling, and to whom, and why? Perhaps role-plays to anticipate the behaviors of guests. Decision: this, or something else (hspvq sfqpsu)

(10') Update about the possible NCLB/USP proposal; a similar grant - US DOE CFDA 84.016A Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Programs RFP. See handout for previous meeting for draft abstract.

(10') If time (see next topic first): General discussion on what, if anything, languages can add to a person's/ citizen's/ nation's/ civilization/s education, cultivation, employability, pleasure, decency, hope for salvation. See below, paragraph beginning "I think we need a discussion…"

(5') If time: more about grants - COFLT Mini-grants; little/medium grants that might support the Humboldt Project or similar (see especially Wells Fargo)
Upcoming class meeting(s) (#19/#20 • 5/7 June 2012)

1) Finish Stryker/Leaver

2) The culminating event: if we're doing it, then let's get on with the serious planning. Or let's agree to go with the backup plan (hspvq sfqpsu)

3) Proposed next major topics of general discussion:

a) specific examples of CBI on the level of thematic units (=Project 2); suitable reading: 0176 Lear, "Spanish for Working Medical Professionals" & 0815 "Pet talk: To meet a growing demand, more veterinarians trying to learn Spanish" (example of missing the point: 0813, "Scrubbing In: It's critical to speak patient's language"; 0356 Bueno, "Creating Community…A Content-Based Approach" (art & film); 0436 Armengol, "Developing the Language of Mathematics"; 0115 "Designing a Standards-Based thematic Unit"; 0304 "Integrated Thematic Unit: House"; work samples 0707a, 0707b

b) assessing our professional development, including but not limited to CBI; useful reading (copies distributed at previous meeting: 0070 Olsen, "A Plea to Graduate Departments"; 0056 "Reaching for PASS: Proficiencies, Indicators, Experiences, Assessment")

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

grant info: ••PSU grants; ••small-/medium-scale external grants & a sample application; ••large-scale external grants & a sample application; ••conference ideas & sample proposals

••how to assess CBI activities (the projects; in general);

••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]?
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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