COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS

VOLUME 31 NUMBER 3

August 2012

Affiliated with the Southwest Conference on Language Teaching, the Central States Conference and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

A letter from the Presidents

Summertime is for the 3 Rs: Relax, Renew, Refresh. As we face cuts and difficult economic times in our schools this summer time is critical, and we hope youve taken full advantage of those 3 Rs. Hopefully, youve taken that time to breathe, reflect, and decide how to move forward. CCFLT becomes even more important as your support, your opportunity to grow and contribute. CCFLT is our organization, maintained by members and supported by members. Anna: My past five years on the CCFLT Board have given me tremendous support in my work as a teacher and coordinator. This organization has given me hope and belief in the power of us together. The connections that I have made through CCFLT have kept me going and kept me fresh. I have received new ideas, new ways to look at instruction, and most importantly support for language education in our state.

Presidents Letter Page 1 Board

In This Issue
of directors Page 2

ef ad Page 3 President eLect articLe Page 4 sPring conf. ad Page 5

sPring session ProDebbie: I have to echo Annas sentiments about serving on this Board. My past 5 years have taught me so much. I PosaL have met and worked with wonderful, professional and just plain fun people. From rafting with the Board, to ACTFL in Page 6 Denver, to the Air Force Academy for the Spring Conference--this year has had multiple highlights and many memories. I was looking forward to being past president, but I think being co-president with Anna will be even better! Past President articLe As we look to this coming year there are some changes in CCFLT. Our President-Elect, Rebecca Schwerdtfeger, has Page 7 resigned as her family made a move to Missouri. Our loss is Missouris gain. So, the Executive Board offered to remain in place: Anna Crocker, Past-President, Debbie Cody, President, and Cristin Bleess, President-Elect. We presented to the 2012 sPring conf. Board that Anna and Debbie would remain as co-presidents and Cristin would have her year to learn and understand Page 8 the presidents role. The Board voted to support this structure. Now on October 13, at the Fall Conference (returning to the Air Force Academy), members will be asked to ratify this structure for one year only. awards 2012 Page 9 The second change is in the schedule for the Spring Conference (February 21, 22 and 23, 2013). In an effort to accommodate teachers time and offer more sessions we will have the following schedule: Video taPe Thursday, February 21 sPeaking contest Pa ge 10 2 simultaneous sessions 5:00 7:00 pm Wine and cheese reception 7:00 pm Friday, February 22 student essay contest Exhibit Hall Open Page 11 7:30 Continental Breakfast 8:00 11:30 am sessions a word from the 11:45 am Awards Luncheon committee Page 12 1:15 5:15 pm sessions 5:15 7:15 pm Exhibitors toy articLe Reception Page 13 Saturday, February 23 why serVe? Exhibit Hall open Page 14 7:30 am Continental Breakfast techarticLe 8:00 10:15 am sessions Page 15/16 10:30 11:30 am Keynote Speaker open to all 11:45 am Immersion Luncheons (Chinese, French, German and Spanish) announcements Page 17/18 1:15 5:15 pm sessions

The Conference will be at the Embassy Suites in Loveland, CO. Information for registration and hotel booking can be found on our website: www.ccflt.org. Register early and get a price break!
We hope your school year starts off great and we look forward to serving you throughout this year. Please take advantage of everything CCFLT has to offer: newsletters, great website, conventions and workshops, networking with colleagues, professional support, and, oh yeah, fun! Anna & Debbie /Co-presidents

uPcoming conferPage 21
ences

COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS www.ccflt.org

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Board of Directors 2012 2013

Officers Debbie Cody, Co-President, South High School .......... codydebbie@hotmail.com Anna Crocker, Co-President, Jeffco ............................. acrocker@jeffco.k12.co.us Cristin Bleess, President-Elect ..........................................bleessccflt@yahoo.com Elementary/Secondary Representatives: Greg Breitbarth, Littleton Academy..........................................greg_tegu@yahoo.com Lisa Bloomer, Pine Creek High School.................................. lisa.bloomer@asd20.org Amy Flynn, Bear Creek High School.......................................aflynn@jeffco.k12.co.us Elisabetta Kaufman, South High ......Elisabetta.Kaufman@pueblocitycityschools.us Diana Noonan, Denver Public Schools.............................diana_noonan@dpsk12.org Michael Verderaine, Doherty High School........................................verdema@d11.org Becky Loftus, Oberon Middle School......................................rloftus@jefco.k12.co.us Katie Lorimer, Highline Academy................................klorimer@highlineacademy.org Post Secondary Representative: Courtney Paige Fell, CU Boulder.....................................Courtney.Fell@colorado.edu

The Newsletter of the Colorado Congress of Foreign Language Teachers

Published 4 times yearly: August, October, January, April http://ccflt.org

Valerie Cody, Editor valcody7@yahoo.com

Have a question about dues? Please email Jennifer Marglin CCFLT Executive Secretary execsec@ccflt.org

Advertising rates and policies: You are invited to advertise in the CCFLT Newsletter. Commercial ads, which support the mission of CCFLT At-Large Representative: and are of interest to the Stefan Betley, Holyoke High School..............................................betleyst@hcosd.org profession, including tour and Grace Koda, Littleton Academy....................................................gkoda@lps.k12.co.us book ads, are accepted a the following rates: Size of ad Charge Size of Non-Voting Appointed Members: Copy Jennifer Marglin, Executive Secretary. ................................. execsec.ccflt@yahoo.com Full Page $250 7 X 9 Valerie Cody, Editor .................................................................... valcody7@yahoo.com Half Page $125 7 X Susan Murray-Carrico, Web Master.......................................susan.murray@asd20.org 4 Half page $125 3 X 9 CCFLT website: http://www.ccflt.org Page $75 3 X 4 CCFLT Listserv E-mail Address: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CCFLT/ Use this address to send a message to the Listserv after joining Prices indicate a one-time To change the email address to which your CCFLT Listserv email is sent, go to: http://www.ccflt.org/listserv.pdf and follow the instructions.

www.regonline.com to join, renew, or register for conferences.

submission in the newsletter. If you have questions regarding appropriate software or design files for ads, contact the Editor at valcody7@yahoo.com Advance payment is appreciated. Make checks payable to CCFLT and send to: Jennifer Marglin CCFLT Executive Secretary P.O. Box 12 Wheat Ridge, CO 80034

Questions on advertising costs, email execsec@ccflt.org

COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS www.ccflt.org

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COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS

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A Letter from the President- Elect

A WORD FROM THE PRESIDENT-ELECT Its the end of June as I write this article. I have spent a good share of the last week planning my upcoming trip to South America. Twenty years ago when I planned a trip, I would go to a travel agency to buy my plane ticket, and then buy a travel guide for the country Id be visiting. Id study the travel guide and then show up in the city and have a taxi take me to an area with a number of possible hostels mentioned in the guidebook and walk around with my backpack until I found a place with a bed. Oh, how times have changed. Last week, I started my search at the public library by picking up some travel guides for Argentina and Uruguay (well after tickets were purchased online). When I got home, I started to look at the books, but then quickly put them aside and opened up my laptop to start searching online. Even though I had three really good guidebooks sitting right next to me, I preferred to go online and do my planning there. I researched the must sees and dos of the cities Id be visiting. I looked up hotels (I am past the hostel stage of my life!) and was able to read reviews from people who had stayed there as recently as last week. I looked at maps that showed me where the hotels were located in relation to the places I wanted to make sure to visit. I found a couple of tours that got high praise from former visitors. I even booked my ferry tickets from Buenos Aires to Montevideo from the comfort of my couch. The main reason for my trip to South America is to participate in a teacher exchange program in Uruguay. In preparation for my visits to various Uruguayan schools, Ive created a Google Site that includes videos my students made to share with the Uruguayan students, a PowerPoint about my school and all the resources for the workshops I will be presenting. More importantly, I have been able to communicate with my exchange partner not only via email, but also on Facebook and Skype. How technology has changed my world in such a short time. However, this changed world is what our students have always lived in and we need to make sure we are including the most up-to-date uses of technology in our classes to meet our students needs. As we start to prepare our lessons for the upcoming year, we need to think about tomorrows technology today and use technology to allow our students to do what they really want to do when studying a languagecommunicate with the world! Cristin Bleess bleessccflt@yahoo.com

COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS www.ccflt.org

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COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS

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JNCL-NCLIS Report
As your president, I had the privilege of representing CCFLT at the annual meeting of the Joint National Council on Languages held in Washington, DC in May. I was amazed at the organizations represented at that meeting. All of of AATs, professional World Language groups, regional and national bodies and more were in attendance. The discussions and issues raised were eye-opening and beyond educational. On the second day, our task was to visit our state senators and representatives in their offices on Capitol Hill. Some talking points were pre-arranged, but others were left to our discretion. Even though I was nervous and intimated, I can say I was well-received and felt my agenda was heard. I visited the offices of Senators Bennet and Udall and Representative Polis.

These are the points I made for Colorado, specifically: 1. We want World Languages to be named in Race to the Top and in the reauthorization of ESEA 2. We need federal funding for WL programs so districts cant unilaterally decide to wipe out programs (cite Eagle and Pueblo). We know sometimes they feel they have no choice, but federal funding would help stop that from happening 3. We need you to support and work toward a state-wide graduation requirement 4. We want you to make a statement about the importance of foreign language study on your website that we can use on ours. For Colorado and the country: 1. Lang Flagships (DOD) Double this budget and focus on the k-12 program 2. StarTalk (NSA) Double this budget; expand beyond critical needs languages; expand beyond summer programs 3. NSLIY (Dept. of State) Support Presidents request to continue funding this program 4. FLAP and Title VI Did you know that the fed govt eliminated funding for FL programs in 2012? This program was small and could have been reduced, but was cut completely. Please work to reinstate this funding. I have since followed-up my visits with letters and have checked the Senators and Representatives websites, but have found no statements regarding the importance of World Language study. I will be contacting them again... I came home with a larger vision for the governments role in our classroom, and a new appreciation for our responsibilities as constituents. Ive been schooled on the necessity of advocacy! Thanks, CCFLT, for this amazing experience,

Debbie Cody
codydebbie@hotmail.com

COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS

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Go to www.regonline.com/ccflt

COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS www.ccflt.org

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GRANTS AWARDS - SCHOLARSHIPS

Every year the Colorado Congress of Foreign Language Teachers honors those individuals who have contributed extensively to foreign language education. Check out the Grants, Awards, Scholarships and Contests. Start planning on who you will nominate!

FALL 2012
DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 30, 2012 FALL INNOVATION GRANT OF $500.00 FALL INNOVATION GRANT OF $250.00 New Teacher Conference Scholarship to attend the Fall Conference

SPRING 2013
DEADLINE: DECEMBER 1, 2012 The Genevieve Overman Memorial Service Award: Presented to a world language educator for dedicated and long service to the teaching profession, as well as commitment and leadership in serving CCFLT. The Excellence in Teaching Award: Presented to a world language educator who has excelled in classroom instruction. The Program Leadership Award: Presented to a world language educator who has provided exceptional leadership and innovation in programs beyond the classroom level. The Kris Wells Memorial Creativity Award: Presented to a world language educator who has demonstrated exceptional creativity and innovation in the field of world languages, whether in teaching, administration, or materials development. The New Educator Award: Presented to a world language educator in the first five years of teaching, who exhibits a great deal of potential in developing ideas for world language education. The Friend of Foreign Languages Award: Presented to an individual or group from outside the world language teaching profession who has made significant contributions to the teaching and learning of world languages.

New Teacher Conference Scholarship: To attend the Spring Conference MONETARY GRANTS:
If you have an idea for a project for your classroom, please consider applying for one of the following grants: Ronald W. Walker Memorial Grant ......$1000 Spring Innovation Grant .........................$250 Spring Innovation Grant .........................$500

COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS www.ccflt.org

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12th Annual Videotaped Speaking Contest

A fantastic opportunity for students of CCFLT members to create 90-second video/digitally-taped conversation based on the new Colorado Academic Standards for World Language. Standard 1: Communication In Languages Other Than English, focused on verbal communication. Students may participate in any of the following: express needs, tell stories, obtain and convey information, explain concepts and procedures and/or persuade. Students will focus on conversational mode versus purely presentational (such as an advertisement). This contest is open to all students at all levels. All submissions must be received by December 1, 2012. Visit the CCFLT website at www.ccflt.org (contests, grants, scholarships tab) for rules, requirements and information.

COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS www.ccflt.org

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17th Annual CCFLT Student Essay Contest

CCFLT is seeking student essays in English for its annual essay contest. Winning essays will be posted at the CCFLT Spring Conference and will be shared at the local, state, and national levels with representatives and senators to make them aware of the voices of their young constituents. Students are our best voices for world language education! Each sponsoring teacher must be a current member of CCFLT. Each teacher may only submit up to three (3) essays. The elementary and middle school winners will receive $25, while high school and university winners will receive $50; K-12 winners also receive a plaque commemorating their accomplishment. The teachers of the winning students will be invited to attend the Spring Conference Awards Luncheon to accept the award on behalf of their students. The essay topics reflect the theme of the CCFLT 2013 Spring Conference, Back to the Future: 21st Century Technology Today Topics are as follows: Elementary and Middle School:
How has technology helped me to learn another language?

High School and University:

As social media continues to skyrocket, how can I use this technology to help me learn another language?

Deadline for submissions is December 1, 2012.

Length and presentation:

One page maximum, word processed, double spaced. Times New Roman font, 12-point font size Written in English with attention to the rubric below Cover sheet to include: o Students name o Students grade level (i.e., French, Level 1; 3rd grade) o Students age o Students address, phone number o Sponsoring teachers name
o o Name of school School address

Send essays to: o Anna Crocker: acrocker@jeffco.k12.co.us o Essays must arrive by 5 pm December 1, 2012
By entering the contest, all participants acknowledge that CCFLT has their permission to edit and use their entries as deemed appropriate to the purpose of the contest.

COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS www.ccflt.org

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A Word from the Outreach Committee:

For over sixty-five years CCFLT has fulfilled its purpose of promoting a sense of community between those involved in language teaching across Colorado as well as provide those interested in language in academia with an opportunity to communicate with others who share their passion. As a member of the CCFLT, you have the opportunity to expand your current knowledge of language teaching as well as explore new techniques for the classroom and beyond. Our mission is to provide you with the necessary skills to establish the highest standards of proficiency among students of foreign languages at the elementary, secondary, college and university levels. Membership gives you access to our two conferences held each year, during which recognized speakers present keynote lectures on language in academics and teaching developments in a changing world. Not only will you be able to attend these lectures, but you will also have the opportunity to participate in our language workshops that focus on the most current issues in the advancement and teaching of world languages. Many scholarship and grant opportunities abound for CCFLT members. Share this with a friend.

CCFLT Membership is online!!

You can now easily manage your CCFLT membership. Do you need to renew your membership or update personal information? Have a colleague or friend who would like to become a CCFLT member? Then go to: www.regonline.com/ccflt
If you are a member, go to the website, click the join now button, put your email address in the boxes on the next page and click the already joined link which will take you straight to your membership information. Here you can update your contact info or renew your membership. When your membership is close to the expiration date, you will receive an email from Regonline indicating the date your membership is due to expire. Keeping your personal info current is the best way to ensure communication from CCFLT. Also, please check that your computers filter does not bounce out emails from Regonline or CCFLT. If you have colleagues or friends who would like to become members, they will start the process by clicking on the join now button, putting in the email address, and then continuing through the rest of the process. If you have any questions, please contact Jennifer Marglin at execsec@ccflt.org. COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS www.ccflt.org August 2012 Page 12

Noah Geisel, TOYCCFLT & SWCOLT

Noah

FROM OuR TEAChER OF ThE YEAR

On the morning of science fiction master Ray Bradburys death, I had the bigness of ideas and innovations on my mind when I read an article about computer scientist Luis von Ahn. Even if youve not yet heard of von Ahn, this young man has impacted your life. He helped invent CAPTCHA, better known to you as the stretched sequence of letters and numbers that you type into web forms to prove you are human and not a spam bot. As important as his product is, von Ahn was just getting started with big ideas and he is doing it by looking for novel and innovative solutions to our big problems.

If Ray Bradburys passing reinforced for you the importance of digitizing historical texts so they can never be lost or destroyed (e.g. book burning in Fahrenheit 451), know that thanks to von Ahn, you have probably already been unwittingly aiding in the effort as part of an enormous crowdsourcing project that is utilizing free labor from millions of people, ten seconds at a time. Hundreds of thousands of web sites now present users with two CAPTCHA codes: one is still the Turing Test to ensure you are a person and the other is a word that Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software was unable to read when attempting to digitize historical texts. In other words, people are quickly and easily solving problems that computers cannot and it is doing good for the world.

In June, von Ahn and his team made their latest project, Duolingo.com, available to the public. In this effort, they are attempting to kill two birds with one stone. Duolingo is seeking to translate the web into major languages by teaching millions of eager language learners a new language and using their learning to crowdsource the translation. So far, the efficacy of the language learning is based on anecdotal evidence but the beta users are excitedly tweeting about their learning. We should note this education is FREE and therefore solving another problem by making language learning available to anyone with an internet connection. Von Ahn estimates in his TED Talk that Duolingo users will be able to translate every English language Wikipedia entry into Spanish in just a few weeks.

As an educator, I am thrilled about the spread of knowledge inspired by these big ideas. I am also given pause as I question how, amidst the focus on high-stakes testing and publishing teacher ratings, we are preparing our students to generate big ideas for the unknown problems and solutions that will require abstract thinking. Your students are capable of joining Luis von Ahn in dreaming tomorrows big solutions today. How are your world language classes and schools helping to prepare them for this future?

Preparing students to generate the big ideas for the unknown problems and solutions that will require abstract thinking.

COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS www.ccflt.org

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Why Serve on the CCFLT Board?

The Board of Directors positions, which last for two academic years, give members the opportunity to: Practice Communication skills in at least two languages Promote Connections at state, regional, and nations levels Make Friendships all over the state Gain Leadership and professional growth opportunities Share Teaching tips, experiences and concerns The responsibilities include: Serve for two academic years (beginning the May after you are elected) Attend monthly meetings from August to May Attend Fall retreat in August (2 days, 1 overnight) Work at the Spring ConferenceServe on a minimum of two committees; one Standing and one Spring Conference committee Chair a committee in your second year Reimbursements and benefits include: Up to twelve hours CDE recertification credit All phone calls Mileage at 25 cents per mile Spring Conference registration and two luncheon meals Fall Conference registration Certificates for volunteer hours Easy to nominate yourself Build statewide networking connections

2013 CCFLT Board Candidates

Visit www.ccflt.org to run for the Board. Voting will take place at the CCFLT Spring 2013 Conference . Hope you decide to join us!

COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS www.ccflt.org

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Tech Tools for Back-to-School

Looking for some useful tech tools as you start off the new school year? Here are some to get you started!

Product

Notes

Social networking for education Students can post and share in the target language Network with other teachers in your subject area Share links and embed projects from other sites
Edmodo
www.edmodo.com

Quiz and poll classes Attach documents and work with Google Docs Grade book, library, calendar features Mac, PC, iPad, iPhone, Android friendly Private and secure. Parental access codes. Go paperless! Free! Note taking, sharing, collaborating, planning. Take notes on one device and be able to access those notes from your account anywhere!

Evernote
evernote.com

Add photos and audio Mac, PC, iPad, iPhone, Android friendly Free, with tiered options available School accounts available Online & cross-platform Digital poster

Glogster
edu.glogster.com

Attach/embed text, images, photos, videos, audio, power points Embed in blogs or edmodo to share and reflect Collaborate through Glogster site Free, with tiered options available School accounts available Use for oral presentations Listen when you want

Google Voice
www.google.com

Your own Google voice phone number Students can call and text that number Easy to do speaking assessments this way Use as a backchannel during presentations or videos Free!

COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS www.ccflt.org

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 Uses cell phones as clickers to respond to questions

Poll Everywhere
www.polleverywhere.com

Students can share cell phones! Text in answers Can respond via web Free! Online flash card maker

Quizlet
quizlet.com

Vocabulary games Searchable; share, embed Free! Load and share power point presentations Search available presentations Free! Write, share, collaborate Class accounts available Short, art inspired stories Fun and easy to use Free! Simple audio recordings

Slideshare
www.slideshare.net

Storybird
storybird.com

Vocaroo
vocaroo.com

Share link or embed Very easy to use! Free! Online audio reflection & collaboration. Mac, PC, iPad, iPhone, Android friendly

VoiceThread
voicethread.com

Put up a picture and let students comment Students can do reports with this Students can talk and/or write Free, with tiered options available School accounts available

This is by no means an all-inclusive list, but perhaps there is something here you can try this school year. Visit the sites. Explore what they have to offer. Play. Practice. Imagine the possibilities! Susan Murray-Carrico

COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS www.ccflt.org

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University of Northern Colorado WORLD LANGUAGE DAY April 17, 2013

THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN COLORADOS DEPARTMENTS OF MODERN LANGUAGES AND HISPANIC STUDIES HOST WORLD LANGUAGE DAY This daylong event includes competitions, workshops, cultural presentations and many other language immersion activities in which high school students throughout Colorado and Wyoming may participate. UNC has sponsored World Language Day for over 40 years and last year they welcomed over 1200 students and teachers. Competitions are scheduled for high school students in grades 9 through 12 in Spanish, French, German, and Chinese while cultural activities and entertainment are open to all attendees. The University of Northern Colorado will also award Outstanding World Language Teachers in recognition of their language teaching accomplishments. These awards will be presented at the teachers luncheon by the Departments of Modern Languages and Hispanic Studies to honor professional excellence among teachers of world languages in secondary schools.

Please visit the WLD website at http://www.unco.edu/wld for additional information and to view photo galleries and videos of previous events. COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS www.ccflt.org August 2012 Page 17

Oprima dos for better cognition

May 8th 2012, 18:36 by R.L.G. | NEW YORK

MANY people report feeling like different people when they speak a foreign language. Ive been sceptical of these claims, since many of them seem to line up too neatly with national stereotypes: I feel warmer and more relaxed in Spanish, German makes me reason more carefully and the like. But a new study seems to show that people really do think differently in a foreign languageany foreign language. Namely, people are less likely to fall into common cognitive traps when tested in a language other than their mother tongue. The study is The Foreign-Language Effect: Thinking in a Foreign Tongue Reduces Decision Biases by Boaz Keysar, Sayuri L. Hayakawa and Sun Gyu An in Psychological Science (unfortunately behind a paywall, but written up by Wired here).

Writers like Daniel Kahneman, Richard Thaler, Cass Sunstein, Dan Ariely and others have written extensively about our propensity for flawed reasoning. Mr Kahneman, in particular, has focused on loss aversion: peoples willingness to take irrational risks (mathematically speaking) in order to avoid suffering a loss. But this effect, it seems, disappears when subjects are tested in a foreign language. One group of native Englishspeakers who also spoke Japanese was divided into two. One half was given a version of Mr Kahnemans loss-aversion game in their native language (English). The second was given the same test in their foreign language (Japanese). The tendency to take risky, irrational bets to avoid losses nearly disappeared for those tested the foreign language (Japanese). A second test, of Koreans who speak English, found the same thing: the Koreans made more balanced, cautious choices in English. This fits Mr Kahnemans thinking nicely. He posits two general systems of thinking: System 1, intuitive and quick, good for most purposes, but prone to those pesky cognitive traps; and System 2, deliberative and slow, better at higher reasoning but effortful to activate and keep active. The brain, which minimises effort where it can, leans on System 1 wherever possible. But modern life presents many problems better suited to System 2. The hypothesis behind the foreign-language effect is that speaking the foreign language activates System 2 in advance of tackling the tricky questions. This would not have been obvious from the outset, though. Another possible result might have been that using the foreign language tires the brain, and that this fatigue might make people more, not less, prone to mistakes. Mr Kahneman, after all, describes ego depletion leading to bad choices in other studies. But in this study, the effect of priming System 2 appears to have been stronger than any fatigue effect. Yet more reason to learn a foreign language, dear readers. Yet an irony emerges: if the hypothesis is correct, the better cognition should only obtain when people are using their foreign language with some effort. If you become so fluent that you are nearly a balanced bilingual, would the effect disappear? More research awaits, but Johnson certainly hopes that this result wont discourage anyone from polishing up their foreign languages. Peoples introspection on their own thinking and language-use is often unreliable. Nonetheless, this study seems to indicate that theres something there. So a question: do you think differently when using different languages? And if so, how? Submitted by Pam Centeno, Cheyenne Mountain High School

COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS www.ccflt.org

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Lt Col Richard Dabrowski, PhD richard.dabrowski@usafa.edu

DECORATING THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSROOM Given the opportunity, most foreign language teachers decorate their classrooms with travel posters, reproductions of paintings, maps, student artwork, and other paraphernalia to create an atmosphere that brings to mind locations and cultures where the target language is spoken. While this may create a more inviting space than sterile walls, little research has been done as to whether these efforts at decoration make any difference in learning outcomes. What if you could choose to decorate your classroom any way you wanted what would you choose to do, and why? A renovation project at the US Air Force Academy gave me this opportunity all the accumulated paraphernalia in our foreign language classrooms had to be removed so that workers could make necessary repairs. At the end of the renovation, all classrooms looked like Photo #1 [attached]: blackboards covered all walls, with 24 of white space between the tops and the ceiling. I had USAFA graphics create two murals: one a collage of photos of cadets who participated in study abroad programs in Spanish-speaking countries, and the other a colorful pattern of flags and maps of these same countries. I then conducted a simple anonymous survey to determine which one was more appealing to the cadets. Results Cadets strongly but not overwhelmingly chose the collage of photos of peers in study abroad programs as their favorite, with the flags & maps taking second place. My sense is the photos are particularly appealing because the cadets pictured are familiar to the students and theyre usually doing something active like horseback riding or surfing, which makes learning Spanish become a passport to something fun. Many cadets commented on this explicitly; for example, one cadet wrote: Pictures of past cadet trips is a great idea. It is encouraging to see the opportunities we can have if we do well. Others appreciated that there was something colorful where otherwise there might only be concrete

block walls painted white. A representative cadet comment: The classes do NOT have windowsso ANYTHING on the walls is a plus.

Conclusions What several cadets told me was that while they liked seeing peers doing fun things abroad, they had no intention of continuing to study Spanish beyond the minimum requirement and so for them the appeal of travel was not motivating. Indeed, less than half of our students study Spanish beyond the first year. These cadets reported that what would best motivate them was finding practical uses for Spanish right now within the Academy and local community, rather than in future study abroad programs or travel in which they were unlikely to participate. Theres room enough in each classroom for both local and study-abroad murals, hopefully providing motivation to a broader range of students and perhaps encouraging a few more to go beyond the Academys minimum foreign language requirement. What is key is talking to your students and finding out from them how they want the classroom decorated, and why. You might be surprised by what you find out!

COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS www.ccflt.org

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Photo #1: Before Photo of Spanish Classroom

Photo # 2: After Photo of Spanish Classroom [Photo Collage]

Photo #3: After Photo of Spanish Classroom [Flags and Maps]

Photo #4: Detail of Photo Collage Mural

Photo #5: Detail of Flags and Maps Mural

COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS www.ccflt.org

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THE CCFLT NEWSLETTER IS A PUBLICATION SERVING EDUCATORS OF ALL LANGUAGES AT ALL LEVELS
Do you have a great unit that you teach? Do you have some ideas for activities that address the Colorado Standards? Do you have some techniques that help students achieve proficiency? Or perhaps you have some differentiated activities or tried and true methods to motivate students. Are there ways you include culture in your teaching? How do you make connections with language to other contents; perhaps you coordinate with an art or social studies teacher. The CCFLT Newsletter would like to include articles about teachers and teaching in its publication so that we can benefit from one anothers expertise. Please consider sharing your successes in the classroom. Articles and ideas for submission should be sent via email to the president, Debbie Cody at codydebbie@hotmail.com. Articles and ideas should be in the form of an MS word.doc attachment. If you wish to submit photos, please submit them as jpg files and the submission should include a brief bio of the author.

Up-coming Conferences

Join us in Henderson, Nevada APRIL 4-6, 2013

SWCOLT

2013 Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages March 14 - 16, 2013 hilton Columbus Downtown Columbus, Oh

MultiTasks, MultiSkills, MultiConnections

2013 Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

The Southwest Conference on Language Teaching is a regional foreign language teachers organization that hosts an annual conference in partnership with state foreign language teacher associations. The participating states in SWCOLT are Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah.

COLORADO CONGRESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS www.ccflt.org

August 2012

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