News

Commodity Wars – Best of FLAVA Ideas for Latin Teachers

[caption id="attachment_1446" align="alignleft" width="300"] Benjamin Cory Holec[/caption] In my presentation at FLAVA this year I led participants in playing a large scale strategy game that I have created over several years. The game is similar to Settlers of Catan, Risk, and Monopoly but is much larger...

Turn Students into First-time Authors

[FeaturedArticles_PRO id="654"] As language teachers, we have included projects in our teaching for years before the expression “Project- Based Learning” made its debut in educational articles. We understand the value of projects, but we also know how time consuming they can be. Who wants to...

FLAVA Workshop: “Making Technology Have Relevance in the Language Classroom: Moving Towards Proficiency”

The Foreign Language Association of Virginia (FLAVA) presents webinar workshops during the school year, and I was able to attend the one whose title is above, presented by Dr. Kathryn Murphy-Judy, founder of BOLDD (Basic Online Language Design and Delivery) and a professor of French...

2014 FLAVA Conference

The 2014 FLAVA Conference takes place Sept. 25-27, a great time to share ideas and get inspiration for the whole school year. Growing attendance has sent us to a larger hotel - the DoubleTree by Hilton in Williamsburg. Over 100 years old, FLAVA remains one of the most active and vibrant foreign language associations in the nation, and our conference is a big part of the reason why. You can propose a session through April 18, and you can now register and book your hotel.

Virginia Beach Schools Celebrate World Languages

Virginia Beach Public School's discovery language committee has worked together annually to provide resources and support to help the district celebrate and educate the community on the benefits of foreign language. In recent years they have created a resource handbook for promotions during Discover Languages month...

Is This for a Grade? – FLAVA Session Pitches PBL as a Motivator

Educators, don’t tell me you’ve not heard this question. [caption id="attachment_1793" align="alignleft" width="150"] Laur Warren[/caption] And what if the teacher said, “No”? Teachers, what do you think the students’ reactions would be? “Then why should I do it?” some would say. Or the more belligerent, “I’m not doing it.”

FLAVA Sponsors Poster Contest for Language Students

This new contest is open to all language students, K-12 and post-secondary, whose teachers are members of the Foreign Language Association of Virginia. A cash prize of $50 will be given to the k-12 winner(s). A free year’s membership will be awarded to the college/university winner(s). The deadline for submissions is September 15, 2014; however, participants are encouraged to submit their entries before the end of this school year.

Concours de Français Held in Norfolk

[caption id="attachment_1868" align="alignleft" width="300"] Jennifer Carson with student Abigail CENNAME of Warwick High School in Newport News, who played the viola at the closing ceremony[/caption] It was my honor and pleasure to serve as Director of the 22nd annual Concours de Français, sponsored by the Alliance...

Can Students Learn While They are Tuned in to Music?

"Can we listen to our music?" How many times have we all heard this request after giving students a task to complete independently? How many times must I tell them “No” for them to believe me? Apparently they have not heard it enough; my “No” is always followed up with ,“But Mr. ________ lets us or Ms. ___________ always says it is okay.” This request has only increased as BYOD has taken over our school, and students have their devices in hand as they enter and exit the classroom or walk down the hall. How many times have I walked down a high school hallway and noticed multiple students working independently in different classrooms, all with ear buds firmly in place? Is it that all these students are slackers? Are all the teachers allowing them to listen to music too lazy or ineffective to get them to focus? I consider myself a professional with some knowledge about how children learn. Have I been letting my own generational bias affect how I think students learn best? Thinking through some of these questions, I decided to generate some data in my Spanish 3 classes. As we began a new unit on food and cooking, I divided the targeted vocabulary into three lists, seven words each. I expected to prove that student performance decreased when they were allowed to choose the music they heard while studying. Instead, I was surprised to discover that student choice did not impair learning at all, and might have helped their memory later.