Resources for teacher professional learning and teacher support
Welcome to our 2019-2020 School Year!
We are excited to kickoff the new school year and welcome all of our World Language teachers (Foreign and Dual Language) at the Learning Engagement Institute.
Please see the date, time, and location information below:
Location:
Location: Pine Mountain Middle School
2720 Pine Mountain Cir, Kennesaw, GA 30152
Date:Friday, January 3rd, 2020
Time: 8AM - 3:30 PM
Direction: Click here to get directions from your location
Schedule:
Sign in starts at 7:30, our main session will start at 8AM.
Session information is available at the CPanel app where you can sign up to attend the Learning Engagement Institute and verify attendance on Friday 1/3.
Click HERE for a list of East and West schools and make sure you sign up for a session for each time slot.
Parking:
We highly encourage you to carpool with colleagues. Please arrive early to secure parking. Park in the areas indicated below (Yellow) and enter via the main office (Red arrow). Additional parking is available at Hayes Elementary School located at 1501 Kennesaw Due West Rd NW, Kennesaw, GA 30152.
Check your email for additional information or contact us at 678-581-7415 if you have any questions.
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District Collaborative Communities
Cobb's District Collaborative Communities allow every Cobb World Language teacher to actively engage in participating in a content specific Collaborative Community no matter of their school location. Teachers are highly encouraged to participate in one of the district wide language specific CCCs based on your language and level. Each language team has a common repository of resources, chat platform, and a meeting platform. This resource allows teachers to communicate synchonously through Skype or asynchronously via chat.
Click on the on the language group’s name or following the hyperlink to access your specific team (Cobb Teachers only)
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The World Languages Department Classroom Instruction Feedback tool provides teachers and administrators with a series of products and processes that can be used to enhance the effectiveness of world language teachers. This tool is based on the Teacher Effectiveness for Language Learning Project (TELL) and it has been aligned locally to the Georgia DOE Teacher Keys Effectiveness System (TKES).
The table below provides an alignment of the Teacher Assessment on Performance Standards (TAPS) from the Teacher Keys Effectiveness System (TKES) and the Teacher Effectiveness for Language Learning Framework Project (TELL Project). Each area of the TKES-TAPS Domains (left) is align to the TELL Project Domains (right).
The TELL Project tools are an excellent resource for teachers and administrators alike and its framework can be used in multiple ways:
- Pre-conference talking points
- Self-assessment
- Goal setting and professional learning plan
- Peer coaching and feedback (mentor/mentee)
- School/Team PLC
- Administrator Feedback, etc.
TKES - TAPS Domains |
TELL Project Domains |
Planning |
Planning: Criteria | Self-Assessment | Further Reading |
Instructional Delivery |
Learning Tools: Criteria | Self-Assessment | Further Reading The Learning Experience: |
Assessment of and for Learning |
Performance and Feedback: |
Learning Environment |
Environment: |
Professionalism and Communication |
Collaboration: Professionalism: |
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Welcom to all Cobb County World Language teachers to the November Learning Engagement Institute.
Please see the date, time, and location information below:
Location:
North Cobb High School - 3400 Old 41 Hwy NW, Kennesaw, GA 30144 - Click here to get directions from your location
Schedule:
Sign in starts at 7:30, our main session will start at 8AM.
Session information is available at the CPanel app where you can sign up to attend the Learning Engagement Institute and verify attendance on Wednesday 11/6.
Click HERE for a list of East and West schools and make sure you sign up for a session for each time slot.
Parking:
You can park in the front parking lot, and head straight to the theater in the highlighted box as directed by the arrow.
Location:
Location: North Cobb High School
3400 Old 41 NW
Kennesaw, GA 30144
Date: November 6th, 2018
Time: 8AM - 3:30 PM
Check your email for additional information or contact us at 678-581-7415 if you have any questions.
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Wall posters can not only help us set the environment for our classes, but they are an useful tool to present and reinforce important language concepts (and bring some fun into the classroom).
Click HERE to learn more about poseter ideas you can use in the classroom and FREE resources you can use to create your own materials!
Thank you to our WL School Leader at Griffin MS, Mrs. Engle for sharing her ideas!
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Language Teams Collaborative Communities
The language teams are Collaborative Communities (PLC) where language teams communicate and collaborate in the sharing and development of curriculum documents and instructional resources. .
Click on each of the headings below to access the corresponding Microsoft 365 Team site.
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American Sign Language |
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Arabic |
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Chinese |
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French |
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German |
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Japanese |
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Latin |
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Portuguese |
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Spanish |
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How does language learning influence economic growth, cultural diplomacy, the productivity of future generations, and the fulfillment of all Americans? What actions should the nation take to ensure excellence in all languages as well as international education and research, including how we may more effectively use current resources to advance language attainment?
The excerpts below are just a few of the reason to support and promote language learning programs. Excerpts are from the AMERICA’S LANGUAGES Investing in Language Education for the 21st Century report from the Commission on Language Learning at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Click HERE to obtain a copy of the report and related information.
- "The ability to understand, speak, read, and write in world languages, in addition to English, is critical to success in business, research, and international relations in the twenty-first century"
- "The study of a second language has been linked to improved learning outcomes in other subjects, enhanced cognitive ability, and the development of empathy and effective interpretive skills. The use of a second language has been linked to a delay in certain manifestations of aging."
"For business:
Almost 30 percent of the U.S. business executives who participated in a 2014 Coalition for International Education commissioned study reported missed opportunities abroad due to a lack of on-staff language skills, and nearly 40 percent reported that they had failed to reach their international potential due to language barriers. Business leaders are beginning to recognize that they are missing opportunities at home as well, especially in negotiations to attract foreign direct investment in the U.S. workforce, nearly 70 percent of which was channeled to the manufacturing sector in 2015. Several U.S. cities associated with the Brookings Institution’s Global Cities Initiative are now examining the strategic value of local language capacities in attracting such investment, and researchers are now finding evidence that businesses across the country will offer higher salaries to bilingual employees."
"For science and technology:
- Language barriers impede the progress of science just as they impede business interactions. In one of the more startling recent examples, U.S. and other English-speaking scientists were late in recognizing the severity of the 2004 avian flu epidemic because the initial research on the disease was published in Chinese-language journals."
- "This commitment was, in part, a recognition that the nation’s competitiveness in scientific and technological innovation would be improved if researchers were able to communicate and translate their findings internationally and to account for the work of scientists who reported their findings in non-English journals."
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The Foreign Language Association of Georgia (FLAG) is the official professional organization for World languages in Georgia. Cobb County's World Languages Department sponsors teachers to attend the conference every year (number of attendees will depend on available funding).
When: Friday, March 3 and Saturday, March 4, 2017.
Where: Renaissance Concourse Atlanta Airport Hotel One Hartsfield Centre Parkway Atlanta, Georgia 30354
For more information visit the FLAG website.
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In response to a bipartisan request from members of the United States Senate and House of Representatives, the Academy is creating a national commission to examine the current state of language education, project what the nation’s education needs will be in the future, and offer recommendations for ways to meet those needs.
The Commission on Language Learning will be composed of national leaders in education, scientific and humanistic research, business, and government. Their primary task will be to suggest a range of options for improving—and making more widely available—a set of educational approaches, services, and technological innovations. The commission will work with scholarly and professional organizations to gather available research about the benefits of language instruction at every educational level, and will help to initiate a nationwide conversation about the need for greater investment in languages and international education.
Support for the Commission was provided by a $220,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, a grant from the Luce Foundation, and resources from the Academy’s New Initiatives Fund.
Resources from the American Academy of Arts & Science:
- Language and the Fulfillment of the Potential of All Americans
Terrence Wiley, Ph.D., with Beatriz Arias, Ph.D., Jennifer Renn, Ph.D., and Shereen Bhalla, Ph.D., Center for Applied Linguistics - America’s Languages: Challenges and Promise
Richard D. Brecht
American Councils for International Education - The Contributions of Language to the Economic Interests of the United States
Prepared by the Joint National Committee for Languages - Language and Productivity for all Americans
Judith F. Kroll and
Paola E. Dussias
Center for Language Science
The Pennsylvania State University
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