Click here for more information about Houston World Affairs Luncheon.

Please follow this link to register for the Spring Conference 2012. Membership log in is required.  Online registration will close at 5pm on Friday, March 16, 2012.

Please be aware that the following Internet browsers are supported for this registration.

Windows OS: Internet Explorer
Mac OS: Firefox

Other browsers *may* work as well.

Helpful Links

• Conference Details
• forgot your username/password?
• check your membership status

FAQ:
Q: Can we register on site?
A: Perhaps.  Each site has limited space.  Temple has the capacity of 100 members and Plano has 175 seats.  At the end of the online registration, we will post the availability.  We will accept checks at the on-site registration.  We will not be able to accept cash or credit card.  On-site registration will be $40 per person, including lunch.

Q: Can an administrator register multiple teachers?
A: NO.  Each teacher MUST register themselves.  And every teacher needs to be a member of TFLA.  Each teacher MUST log-in as themselves.  DO NOT SHARE your log in information.  HOWEVER, if there is going to be one PO for all teachers, they can all put the same PO # in the registration form.

Q: On the second page, there is no Check/PO payment option.
A: Please use the pull-down payment menu.  See more details here.

The mini one-day conferences will be held this spring 2012, on Saturday, March 31st.  The theme at the two confirmed sites is: Creating an Environment for Language Learning.  The one-day conferences will begin at approximately 8:00 a.m. and end at 3:30 p.m.  As part of the $35 registration fee for the day, refreshments and lunch will be included. Membership is not included in the $35 registration fee, and all participants must be current members to attend.

Temple, TX
Nella Spurlin, German teacher at Temple High School, will host the mini conference in Temple, Texas.  Nella is recruiting presenters who annually present quality presentations at TFLA.  If you have questions or would like to provide input, please contact Nella Spurlin at nspurlin@hot.rr.com, or by phone at school (254) 215-7179, before 9:20 a.m. or after 4:00 p.m.

Scheduled sessions in Temple include, but are not limited to the following:

• Building Artificial Realities –learning grammar by simulating the cultural setting
• Building Lesson Plans Around Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Art for Language’s Sake — integrating art across languages and levels
• Creating a High Energy Classroom — using Rassias techniques to engage student learning
• Little Games for the Language Classroom — presentation of a variety of simple-to-make games
• Learning with Stories — a brief introduction to TPRS  (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling)

Tentative Schedule
8:00-8:30–Registration
8:30-10:15–DVD with discussion
10:15-10:30–Break
10:30-11:55–1st break-out session
11:55–12:30–Lunch on site (cost of box lunch included in registration)
12:30-1:55–2nd break-out session
1:55-2:05–break
2:05–3:30–3rd break-out session

Plano, TX
Greta Lundgaard, Coordinator for Languages Other than English in Plano ISD, will host a second site at Plano West Senior High School, 5601 W. Parker Road, Plano, Texas 75093. Sessions will be offered that focus on three strands:

• 21st  Century Environment (technology applications, creativity/innovation, global connections)
• Learning Environment (classroom management, target language teaching; feedback & formative assessment)
• Instructional Environment (High yield instructional strategies; performance assessment; student-centered instruction & AP strategies for the new AP exams in French and German)

Tentative Schedule
7:45 – 8:30  Registration
8:30 – 8:50 Welcome
9:00 – 10:15 Concurrent Sessions Round 1
10:30 -11:45 Concurrent Sessions Round 2
11:45 – 12:25 Lunch Break (cost of box lunch included in registration)
12:30 – 1:45 Concurrent Sessions Round 3
2:00 – 3:15 Concurrent Sessions Round 4

Greta Lundgaard can be contacted at greta.lundgaard@pisd.edu.

Registration for the one-day mini sessions is available on this page. Information for the hotel accommodations for Friday evening is also online.  The number of attendees at each site is limited, and therefore, early online registration is highly recommended.

Please contact any Board member below for additional information:
Pauline Sayers:  paulinetsayers@katyisd.org
Sharon Deering: sadeering@sbcglobal.net
MayDell Jenks: maydelljenks@katyisd.org

1. Japanese Language Education Assistants Program (J-LEAP)
This two-year program is designed to pair a currently teaching K-12 Japanese language teacher with an assistant teacher from Japan. These young, assistant teachers have training in teaching Japanese as a foreign language and are eager to work with teachers in the U.S.  Application deadline is January 24, 2012.  For more information, please see our website http://www.jflalc.org.vhost.zerolag.com/jle-j-leap.html.

2. JET Memorial Invitation Program (JET MIP) for High School Students
The JET MIP program provides 32 high school students with the opportunity to go to Japan for two weeks as a group to meet Japanese students, experience Japanese culture, and study the language. It was created in 2011 in memory of the two beloved American teachers of English who lost their lives in the earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011: Taylor Anderson (Ishinomaki, Miyagi) and Montgomery Dickson (Rikuzen-Takata, Iwate). The program is open to 11th and 12th graders who are currently learning Japanese, and it seeks to honor the principles which Taylor and Monty valued during their lives.  For more information, please see our website http://www.jflalc.org/jle-12-jet-mip.html.

In Temple

Hotel Information:
La Quinta Inn Temple  (right across from THS)
1604 West Barton Ave
Temple, TX 76504-2457
Phone: 1-254-771-2980
Fax: 1-254-778-7565

Quality Inn
1610 West Nugent Ave,
Temple, TX, US, 76504
Phone:  1-254-770-1100
Fax:  1-254-770-1500

In Plano

Hotels nearby:
Hyatt Place Dallas/Plano  www.dallasplano.place.hyatt.com
Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Plano www.hiexpress.com
Residence Inn Dallas Plano  www.marriott.com
Hampton Inn  www.planonorthdallas.hamptoninn.com

Spanish Summer Language Institute for High School Teachers! Southern Oregon University offers an intensive summer program designed specifically for Middle School, High School, and Community College Spanish teachers taught in beautiful Guanajuato, Mexico. Obtain the most up-to-date second language acquisition theories and methodologies while improving language proficiency and cultural understanding. Option to obtain your Master of Arts in Spanish Language Teaching over three summers. For more information, visit our website at www.sou.edu/summerlanguageinstitute, or email sli@sou.edu.

Kindly submit articles for the 2012 Spring Edition of the TFLA Journal
Members only are eligible to submit articles.
Please follow the guidelines listed here.
Deadline: December 1, 2011
Maximum 1,000 words
Format:
New Times Roman 12 point
No headers, footers, page numbers
Title:
1. Topic
2. Your name
3. School /University
Single space-no pure indentation
Note that submission does not guarantee publication
Send articles to: editor@tfla.info

National Foreign Language Week was inaugurated in the Spring of 1957 by Alpha Mu Gamma. Sister Eloise Therese, the National President of Alpha Mu Gamma from 1956 to 1960, discovered that such a week had never been officially celebrated in the United States as a whole, although foreign language had receive recognition by different educational institutions at various periods of the academic year. Inspired by her the National Council of Alpha Mu Gamma began to formulate plans to make the United States aware of the need for and importance of foreign language study through the celebration of NFLW. The first celebration was set for the week of February 17 to 23, 1957. Each year since then the National Executive Council of AMG has set a week for this event. In recent years it has become the practice to have NFLW during the first full week of March.

On December 12, 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent a telegram endorsing the celebration, and each succeeding president has added his support. An even greater contribution to the success of NFLW was made by the posters of the late Bruce Russell, who received not only the Pulitzer Prize but also recognition from President Eisenhower for his efforts toward greater world understanding through his timely cartoons. He offered the Society a cartoon each year until his death in 1963, and even left one finished drawing and an unfinished sketch that were used in 1964 and 1966 respectively. These posters have been distributed each year throughout the United States and are available for sale to interested bodies.

The chapters of Alpha Mu Gamma, now spread through over forty states, took the initiative in organizing activities during the Week with the purpose of making the American student aware of the vital necessity for foreign language study. Typical projects were newspaper articles, radio and television programs, foreign language films, festivals of foreign music and plays, the singing of foreign songs and lectures open to the public. Soon other universities, colleges and schools were also celebrating NFLW.

Every year a NFLW poster with a new theme is printed. It is distributed free to all AMG chapters and is available for sale to the public. Normally the posters size is 24″x19″, and are printed in two versions – one with the official date for the Week and one without. The cost, at present, per poster is $6 and shipping & handling is $6 (for 1-5 posters). Shipping is free for orders of 25 posters and above. They are mailed out in solid mailing tube by US Priority Mail.

National Foreign Language Week

Celebrate with Your Students

The Official Theme for the year 2012 is

“You’re Connected … Now Communicate!“

NFLW will be celebrated   March 5 – 11, 2012:

Please reserve your space now for the upcoming FREE workshop on using RFI for teaching & learning French. Attached is a flyer for the event. Lunch will be provided. Please note that the location has changed: the session will now be held at Kinkaid.

WHAT? Free workshop entitledRadio & Internet: Using Technology in the Classroom to Improve Listening Skills.

WHERE? Kinkaid School, 201 Kinkaid Drive, Houston, TX 77024 (http://g.co/maps/9vgku).

WHEN? Saturday, November 12, 9am-5pm.

HOW MUCH? Free & lunch is provided!

HOW DO I RESERVE? Emailadjoint.culture@consulfrance-houston.org asap!

Cheng & Tsui Superstar