News/Announcements From CLASS Archived News |
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Feb 18, 2008 [back to top]
Fourth Annual Chinese Language Teachers’ Academy
Best Practices in Teaching and Learning the Chinese Language
Hosted by Singapore American School June 23-28, 2008 in Singapore
In Association with the International School of Beijing and Buffalo State University
Registration for 60 Participants only. Registration is on a first-come first-served basis, and completed payment reserves your place in the Academy. Comment from a school team of participants in last year’s Academy: “This Academy was a huge success. The instructors not only provided us with a great deal of new concepts and knowledge in Chinese teaching, but also provided great opportunities for hands-on practices. The opportunity to learn from teachers in other international schools was also an extraordinary part of this Academy. Our school’s team will be a much stronger team of teachers because of this Academy, and we hope to be able to return for next year’s Academy to learn more! Thank you!!!” Last year’s Academy was attended by Chinese Language Teachers from 18 different schools throughout Southeast Asia, and this year’s Academy looks to draw motivated teachers from within and outside the Southeast Asia region. This year’s Academy will provide opportunity for teachers to select workshops at their own level of readiness. Therefore workshops will be designed for Beginning/Intermediate Level Practitioners and for Advanced Level Practitioners. There will also be combined sessions that provide opportunities for all participants to learn together. Technology systems have been designed to enable all participants in this Academy to be connected in an ongoing network of communication and sharing after the Academy. In this way, the learning can continue well beyond the six days of the Academy!!! Principal Instructors for the Summer 2008 Teachers’ Academy:
Summer Academy Areas of Focus (each day’s session will run from 8 am – 4 pm):
Singapore American School will host a cocktail reception for all participants on Monday, June 23, 4:00-5:30 pm. Breakfast and lunch will be served each day of the Academy. Transportation to and from the designated host hotel will be provided each day of the Academy. Please complete the registration form and email to Suri at suri@sas.edu.sg. Download and complete the registration form: Registration Form For questions, call Suri at 65-6360-6305 or email suri@sas.edu.sg.
Curriculum Office
Accommodation Options For hotel accommodation in Singapore, please contact:
Dino Lim SAS Preferred Rate (Singapore $ rate/US $ approximate rate)
For more information on the hotel, you may look into website: www.yorkhotel.com.sg ** Round trip transportation to and from Singapore American School will be offered each day of the academy. TransportationTaxis are readily available at Changi Airport, and cost to hotel is approximately (S$20.00). Weather:
It will be hot outside so please bring light, comfortable clothes
but the air conditioning inside the buildings can get cool!
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Feb 18, 2008 [back to top] Useful Links for Learning Chinese http://chineselanguagelearninglinks.wikispaces.com/ The advantage of
using this Wiki format is that anyone who wants to can add links
themselves, and it is freely available to everyone. |
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Jan 13, 2008[back to top] The Third Chinese Bridge
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Jan 8, 2008[back to top] ReminderSubmission Deadline: January 11, 2008CLASS Sessions at ACTFL ConventionThe theme for the 2008 ACTFL Convention is Opening Minds to the World Through Languages. CLASS welcomes proposal submissions on topics relevant to the teaching and learning of Chinese at K-12 schools. This year, our First Vice President, Yuanchao Meng, is serving as the CLASS Conference Chair and Second Vice President, Shouping Li, is serving as the Program Chair. Please note that you must be a member of CLASS to give a presentation at the CLASS sessions. Please mark down the following important dates if you are interested in submitting a proposal to CLASS.Submission deadline: January 11, 2008Notification of acceptance: April 1, 2008Notification of date/time/location for accepted presentations: August 1, 2008Helpful Hints· The entire proposal submission procedure is on-line, and is done through the ACTFL website at http://www.actfl.org.· After you click on ‘Submit a New Educational Proposal,’ you must click on ‘Chinese Language Association of Secondary-Elementary Schools (CLASS).· On every page in the submission process, you MUST click “Accept and Continue” at the bottom of the page to save your work and proceed to the next page.· The size restrictions for fields in the submission process:o Title limited to 10 wordso Description limited to 50 wordso Content limited to 150 wordso Method limited to 150 wordso Benefit limited to 150 wordso Uploaded summary document limited to 500 words.· It is very important that you keep your personal contact information up-to-date since you will receive all notifications via the e-mail address you have provided. If you have any changes, please login and click on “Edit Personal Contact Information” on the Main Menu page to keep your file current. This information will be carried throughout into the final Program Guide so it is important that you keep it up to date.If you have any questions or experience any problems with the submission procedure, please send inquiries to the Conference Chair at classk12news@yahoo.com
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| Jan 1, 2008 [back to top] Happy New Year to CLASS Members! Best wishes for you all to be healthy, happy, and successful in 2008 As we begin the New Year, CLASS would like to thank you for your continuous support during the past year. We hope the following report will keep you informed on what CLASS has accomplished during the year of 2007. An Organizational Report CLASS 2007 in Review
January-FebruaryS CLASS became ACTFL Convention Co-SponsorCLASS Executive Director, Yu-Lan Lin, announced the breaking news at the 2006 Board Meeting that the proposal to include CLASS as one of the ACTFL convention co-sponsors was approved by a unanimous vote at the meeting of the ACTFL Executive Council on November 14, 2006. A call for proposal submission was sent out immediately via group e-mail announcement to all members. Yu-Lan Lin prepared a set of helpful guidelines to guide the proposal writing process. Janice Dowd provided editorial assistance through CLASS Proposal Submission Hotline. In January 12-14, CLASS officers held an executive board meeting in Connecticut to begin the planning for the first CLASS meeting at ACTFL Convention. Dali Tan was appointed to serve as the 2007 Conference Chair and Yuanchao Meng was appointed to chair the CLASS Program. Carol Chen-Lin was appointed as the event coordinator for the CLASS 20th anniversary luncheon. A Proposal Review Committee was formed. In February, Review Committee members, Dali Ta, Yuanchao Meng, Shouping Li, Gin-Chi Wuu, and Lucy Lee were trained by ACTFL to rate each proposal online and indicated whether it was accepted or rejected. The proposal review task was completed in February 28. Twelve sessions were selected from twenty-five proposals. Some presenters were graciously accepted the recommendation suggested by the Review Committee to share session with additional presenters. CLASS conducted a national survey in 2003-2004 to collect data on most commonly used textbooks and student enrollment information on Chinese programs at K-12 schools. Once again, in January of 2007, CLASS conducted the first online survey to its members across the country. By the end of February, there were 228 members completed the survey who also had received a $10 voucher toward their 2007 membership dues as a token of appreciation from CLASS. The preliminary results complied in March have shown an increase in enrollments to 21,580 students. There were 12,130 Chinese language students in high schools, 3,579 in middle school/junior high schools, and 5,873 in elementary schools. In addition, there were 6,000 students studying Chinese at K-12 levels in Chicago Public Schools. Among those 228 survey respondents, 59% said they have certification, and 44% of them were teaching their students in both traditional and simplified characters. More detailed survey report will be posted on CLASS website in the spring of 2008.
CLASS Leadership ConferenceThe 2007 CLASS Leadership Conference was held on March 24-25 at the Ohio State University in Columbus, OH. CLASS Curriculum Committee conducted a working meeting prior to the conference on Friday, March 23. CLASS elected board of directors, adjunct members of the board, and potential leaders from CLASS membership were invited to participate in the annual leadership conference to develop long and short term strategic plan for CLASS. Discussions included the celebration of CLASS 20th anniversary, summer programs for teachers and students, the design and layout for website, the results of national survey, recruitment of Chinese Bridge delegates, the establishment of an national Chinese examination, and guidelines for CLASS board members. The Board approved the motion to move the CLASS election to May prior to the end of school year. All board of directors was required to attend two board meetings in November during the ACTFL Convention. The conference attendees worked in small groups to develop timelines and job descriptions for various committees such as advocacy and outreach, membership, national student essay contest, national honor society, election and nomination, and CLASS website. They met with Dr. Galal Walker, Dr. Minru Li, and Kun Shi to learn more about three organizations relating to Chinese teacher training at OSU¡ªNEALRC (OSU National East Asian Language Resource Center), DEALL (the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures) and SPEAC (Summer Program East Asian Concentration). CLASS board thanked Dr. Walker and NEALRC for providing funding for the CLASS leadership conference and looked forward to working closely with NEALRC on joint projects.
The attendees of the leadership conference were: Carol Chen-Lin, Chris DeLucia, Janice Dowd, Haiyan Fu, Baocai Jia, Julia Kessel, Lucy Lee, Shouping Li, Yu-Lan Lin, Diane Mammone, Yuanchao Meng, Lili Pan, Chih Wen Su, Jeannine Subisak, Dali Tan and Ginchi Wuu.
2nd Chinese Bridge US High School Speech ContestThe first CLASS Chinese Bridge Speech Contest was held on May 7, 2005 at the Embassy of the People¡¯s Republic of China in the United States of America. The purpose of this event was to encourage more non-native speakers to learn Chinese language at the pre-college level, as well as highlight their outstanding academic achievement in learning Chinese. In collaboration with the Confucius Institute at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, CLASS co-sponsored the second Chinese Bridge Speech Contest with generous funding from the Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban). The finalists were invited to participate in on-site speech contest on April 28 at UMass Boston Student Center. CLASS thanked Dali Tan, Lili Pan, Jian Gao, Lin Liu, Nancy Yang, and Yong Li for serving as the judges. Congratulations to the following winners and their teachers.
2007 Student Speech Contest Winners
Reported by Lili Pan, Liaison of Student Speech Contest / Baifeng Sun, Director of Confucius Institute at UMass
CLASS/ACTFL China Delegation Yu-Lan Lin and Lucy Lee led a CLASS/ACTFL delegation to China on April 15 through April 20. The delegates from ACTFL were Rita Oleksak (ACTFL President), Bret Lovejoy (Executive Director), Marty Abbot (Education Director), and Paul Sandrock (ACTFL Past President). CLASS and ACTFL leaders visited the Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban) and had meetings with Madame Xu Lin (Director of Hanban), Mr. Wang Luxin (Chef, Division of New Initiatives, Mr. Yang Jincheng, (Chief, Division of Teachers¡¯ Affairs), and Ms. Mei Yehong (Assistant Chief, Division of New Initiatives). On April 19, Hanban, CLASS, ACTFL signed an agreement to assist U.S. schools to increase the opportunity for quality Chinese language education. The delegation met also with Olympic Committee and visited Beijing Normal University and Beijing Language and Culture University.
May-June CLASS ElectionThe 2007 CLASS Election Committee prepared a slate of three candidates in May for one vacancy of the board of directors. CLASS members in good standing were invited to vote via postal mail by June 11. Ballots were counted on June 16 at Choate Rosemary Hall at Wallingford, CT. Masako Chen, a non CLASS member was serving as the witness for the ballots counting with Election Committee chair Carol Chen-Lin (Past President) and Election Committee members Yuanchao Meng (second Vice President) and Jen Tang Lin (CLASS member). The results of election were announced at the CLASS general membership meeting in November. Congratulations to Baocai Jia for becoming a newly elected member of the CLASS Board. - Reported by Carol Chen-Lin, Election Committee Chair
2007 Chinese Bridge DelegationEver since the first US Educators¡¯ trip organized by CLASS in 2005, CLASS has been collaborating closely with Hanban to plan the subsequent trips to China. In collaboration with the College Board, the National Council of State Supervisors for Languages (NCSSFL), and the National Association of District Supervisors of Foreign Languages (NADSFL), CLASS, once again, exerted its major efforts in recruiting the US educators and K-12 school administrators, primarily focused on the districts most likely to start a Mandarin program in the near future. By June, CLASS has successfully recruited close to 300 US educators. On June 28, 2007, 800 educators from the US and 200 educators from South Korea gathered in Beijing for a grand opening at the Great Hall of the People¡¯s Congress for the 2007 China Bridge Delegation. Among the highlights of the activities held in Beijing were, first, the speech given by Prof. Xu Jialu. Prof. Xu addressed to the audience on the topic of Chinese culture: the essence of Chinese Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism. The second highlight was the symposium for the participants. One of the sessions at the symposium was jointly presented by CLASS President Lucy Lee, Past President Carol Chen-Lin, and Adjunct Board Member Janice Dowd on ¡°How to Initiate Chinese Program.¡± It was well received by over 100 US administrators and was the most well attended session. Based on the feedback form the attendees, they felt that this session was most informative and useful in starting up a program. This year, CLASS has mobilized its Board and dispatched members in leading eight CLASS-led regional groups. CLASS Board would like to thank Shouping Li, Gin-Chi Wuu, Lei Wu, Vicky Chang, Lili Pan, Janice Dowd, Carol Chen, and Lucy Lee for their time and efforts in providing professional service to promote the teaching and learning Chinese at K-12 schools. They led discussion topics among the educators in each regional group ranged from family relations, teen culture, and the national educational policy. One feedback that emerged most prominently from the US educators who participated in the 2007 Delegation was their realization that it was a critical importance to establish educational opportunities for our youth to understand the language and culture of China.
-Reported by Carol Chen-Lin, Chinese Bridge Coordinator July-August CLASS Summer Study Abroad Program in BeijingLed by Gin-Chi Wuu, CLASS Summer Study Abroad Program started on Monday July 2 at Beijing Language and Culture University. The summer program was funded by the Office of Chinese Language Council International. The overall purpose of the summerprogram was to offer professional development opportunities for K-12 teachers to gain better content knowledge and skills in teaching Chinese language and culture to elementary and secondary school students in the United States. Participants were selected from a nationwide pool of applicants. Sixteen participants received instruction from distinguished scholars and Chinese language teaching experts in China. They collected authentic resource materials, and visited schools and cultural sites in Beijing. Participants took Chinese language teaching related courses in Chinese Phonology, Methodology on Teaching Chinese Morphology, Chinese Syntax, Methodology on Teaching Cihui, Chinese and its Ethnic Cultures, Chinese Reading and Writing, Chinese Multi-media, Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, and Teaching Resources. The summer program ended on July 14. CLASS/ACTFL Discover Chinese Program for Teachers and StudentsCLASS leaders Yu-Lan Lin and Carol Chen-Lin initiated the Startlak proposal in the spring with ACTFL and Glastonbury Public Schools; they were the mind and soul of the Discover Chinese Program for Teachers and Students. Yuanchao Meng worked tirelessly with Carol Chen-Lin to create a unique 4-week summer program for high school students. The program goal for students was to provide them with an intensive immersion summer experience so that they will make progress in their language development and at the same time increase their understanding of Chinese culture. Approximately sixty students participated in the Discover Chinese Student Program at Choate Rosemary Hall and Glastonbury High School. Two groups of teachers participated in two-week sessions. Janice Dowd, CLASS Curriculum Consultant, served as the on-site director for the Discover Chinese Program for Teachers at Glastonbury High School. Approximately forty teachers were trained to do MOPI assessments with their students, to design standards-based lessons including both long term and short term curricular goals and to deliver these lessons to the students participating in the immersion experience. Master teachers Star Chen and Janice Dowd provided feedback to the program participants allowing them to refine their instructional practice during the course of the program. Teachers were given the option of earning three college credits through Elms College.
September- October Symposium Hosted by Columbia UniversityOn Friday, September 28, Columbia University hosted a one-day Symposium on Meeting the National Demand for Chinese Language Teachers K-12: The Role of Colleges, Universities and the States Representatives of CLASS at the symposium were Yu-Lan Lin, Chih-Wen Su, Dali Tan and Lucy Lee. They met with the Freeman Foundation and many representatives from state and colleges that offer teacher training programs. The 2007 Symposium website, with digital copies of many of the presentations and websites of presenters is open at http://www.columbia.edu/itc/eacp/aic/.4th National Student Essay ContestThe CLASS Board appointed Haiyan Fu to chair the Student Essay Contest in January and the committee was formed in February to include Julia Kessel, Rosita Chan, Jane Lu, and Wenya Lu as members. Thirty two entries received from seven schools of twelve teachers. The committee reviewed entries on Oct. 20-27. The results of awards were announced and presented to the winners' teachers on November 17 at the CLASS General Membership meeting at San Antonio, TX. Congratulations to the following student winners and their teachers.
2007 Student Essay Contest Winners
-Reported by Haiyan Fu, Chair of the Student Essay Contest
November-December CLASS/ACTFL Discover Chinese WorkshopOver 250 Chinese teachers took part in the first Discover Chinese Professional Development Workshop on Thursday, November 15 as one of the pre-conference workshops offered by the ACTFL Convention. This full-day workshop was made possible through a grant from the Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban). In the morning, Paul Sandrock conducted a workshop on Standards, Performance, and Assessment¡± followed by Yu-Lan Lin¡¯s presentation on Elements of Effective Classroom Instruction.¡± In the afternoon, Janice Dowd presented a session on "Classroom Management Strategies" and Lucy Lee gave a talk on "How to Build a Successful Chinese Program" .Two concurrent sessions were offered to participating teachers by Chuanren Ke on " Modified Oral Proficiency Interview" and by Lixia Chen and Amanda Tan on " Putonghua Proficiency Test".All sessions were well attended and received. CLASS 20th Anniversary CelebrationThe CLASS 20th Anniversary Celebration on November 17 at San Antonio, Texas was a huge success. The banquet was well attended by approximately 300 teachers from all over the world, as well as many leading figures in Chinese language and foreign language pedagogy. CLASS was most delighted to have our past presidents Catherine Yan and Ming Zhang, former vice president Margaret Wong, former board members Maylani Chang and Thomas Tze-yi Chao to join the current board of directors to mark the first milestone of 20 years' history. A documentary, produced by Huanghe Television Company with assistance from Beijing Language and Culture University, was dedicated to all CLASS teachers who have been working tirelessly to bring Chinese teaching to the forefront of foreign language education at K-12 schools. Twenty years ago, a group of high school Chinese teachers established CLASS at Iolani High School in Hawaii. In 1984, there were about 20 schools teaching Chinese. Our teachers had gone through many hardships trying to teach Chinese without proper materials, resources, and support. CLASS provided a variety of professional development activities for teachers, and competitions for students. Through networking, CLASS teachers built connections and share resources. Our members developed a strong bond and mutual friendships when we spent countless hours working on the Standards for Chinese Language Learning which launched Chinese teaching into the mainstream of the foreign language field. CLASS is now being recognized by national organizations. In 2007, CLASS became ACTFL¡¯s co-sponsor organization. It is also a member organization of NNELL, NCOLCTL and NECTFL. We are now having more than 400 members and moving toward another milestone. We feel that our hard work over the past 20 years has paid off. During all these years, CLASS was like a river, gathering strength as it flowed across all schools, districts and states to form a tremendous force. That is us CLASS. Gratitude to CLASS SupportersCLASS would like to express its gratitude to those who helped the organization during the past 20 years:
CLASS is grateful to the many individuals who made contributions to CLASS and whose names cannot be cited individually | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
