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31 March
Text of my email of 31 March:
Hello All,
I'm getting our first meeting ready while revising a grant proposal that has to go in within a few days. By late tomorrow morning the website should have the outline for that first meeting, but I wanted to get some news to you late this evening. CBI is a new course, so there's a lot to put together.
I've ordered, on my own credit card, 7 copies of the book "Content-Based Instruction in Foreign Language Education." I didn't want to go through the bookstore, with the price markup and uncertain number of participants, and I couldn't even order this way until the middle of this week, when it appeared that the course would be offered even with low enrollment. The books shipped yesterday, and probably will arrive late this week. In the meantime I'll photocopy a chapter or two for you.
On the schedule for first meeting: Obviously we'll do the customary introductions, but I also want to establish an atmosphere of group-work and an emphasis on doing things that really promote teaching, rather than just "academic" tasks and arbitrary standards. An important characteristic of language teaching (perhaps as contrasted to literary scholarship) is how teachers work together, and across language boundaries. So I intend for there to be regular activities such as shared note-taking, reports about secondary reading, and - this is much more important - team projects. But, yes, early on I want us to help each other out even on the daily stuff.
At our first meeting we'll need to explore the basic concept of "CBI" (including where we think we've encountered it before). I'll have a handout about that, and will run the class from a laptop/ projector, using the course website:
http://web.pdx.edu/~fischerw/courses/advanced/408_508_CBI/html/default.html
(Or start at my faculty website
http://web.pdx.edu/~fischerw/
and go from the obvious link.)
I do have in mind a basic structure for the course, and the topics, and the assignments, but I want it to emerge as well in group deliberation. Still, we have only ten weeks, and there are some external factors that I think you will find inspiring rather than stressful.
Let me explain a little. Sure, there is an "academic" ingredient to the learning here - some books and articles to read, some core knowledge and concepts to be acquired. But much of what we do will be aimed at projects where CBI could/can be implemented. Some of those projects already exist, because of course I do CBI, not just talk and teach about it; and because other people to whom I have access are also doing it. Other project can emerge from your own ideas - I'll try to balance encouraging you to get involved with my projects with encouraging you to think up your own projects. Since showing an existing project can be done faster than thinking up a new one, tomorrow I'll show a couple of mine: the German business simulation / emerging student corporation; the "Humboldt Project" (too complex to summarize here); and a drama-staging/ performance course.
I'll have some reading set up to start in on tomorrow (core printed text but also many on-line sources) - including an article about various simulations, and another about staging a play in a beginning college Italian class, and maybe even another about "Big Books" in middle school FLES programs.
Some bits and pieces: We'll need to collect contact and schedule info, not just so people can do team activities in general, but so that we can also schedule at least two fields trips: to the PPS Japanese Magnet Program, and to Humboldt School in NE PDX. We'll try to make those trips during regular class-meeting times.
Got to get back to the grant proposal. Here are the Federal Register RFP (request for proposals) and my working abstract:
29 March
The website for this course is in its earliest stages. Many links lead to content that has not yet been updated. Please be patient.
CBI will meet TR 1640-1830 in NH 343
On 27 March I ordered, on my own credit card, 7 copies of Stryker/Leaver Content-Based Instruction in Foreign Language Education, for delivery in a week or so. Cost per copy, including S & H, will be $30. After we see who's in the course for sure, we'll order Kasper, Content-Based ESL Instruction. During the first week of classes we'll use temporary photocopies / PDFs of a chapter of Stryker/Leaver, while we also investigate other secondary literature.
The course will be largely project-based. That is, we will create sample materials for CBI. There will be a range of options for such projects:
1) individual independent modules and outlines for courses (examples: art for FLES; drama production for second-year college language course)
2) group projects, closely coordinated (examples: partnerships with local / regional museums to add multilingual signage; compilation of multilingual pedagogical vocabulary for CBI)
3) individual and group participation in some of my on-going CBI projects ("SpeakEasy" business simulation and emerging student-run company; the "Humboldt Project", primarily Spanish, French, German, ESL, for essentially all core subject areas of K-12)
Many of these activities involve outreach to and partnering with other learning communities, via both conventional communication (email, etc.) and distance-learning technology (two-way video). Early in the quarter we will initiate contact with various programs and institutions (PSU School of Business, "Humboldt" schools in PDX, Canada, Latin America, Germany) to explore collaboration.
The projects will also involve efforts to secure outside funding. Early on we'll start looking for grants, for development of projects and for their presentation at conferences. The grants we target will range from small-amount short-terms ones (ca. $1000, decisions within the quarter) to much larger ones ($20K) that will be decide only after several months, and which could provide support for their applicants after the end of the course.
We have only TEN weeks. As usual, there has to be a quick learn about the topic right at the start. This is especially important in our course because the projects will require much innovation and followup. Early on I'll also be presenting SpeakEasy and the Humboldt Project, both so that people can see concrete examples of CBI and also can decide whether they want to do projects there, or as standalones (or both). Then we'll get busy on the various projects while advancing our knowledge of the secondary literature.
23 February
The website for this course is in its earliest stages. Many links lead to content that has not yet been updated. Please be patient.
As for actual news: the course is now available for on-line registration. It will meet TR 1640-1830.
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