Our instructor, Brandon "Bastien" Locke, presents each of us with our "Certificates of Completion" at our celebration dinner.

Teacher Seminars' participants put closure on their 10 days together by sharing their IPA units with each other.

Today marks the end of our 10-day seminar together. We have all learned a lot, from each other, from guest presenters, and of course, from our visits to the Language Villages. We spent much of the morning sitting in the sun and listening to our colleagues as they shared their IPA topics with our group. It was great to hear how all of the topics presented throughout the course came together in the form of articulated thematic-based curriculum units, from the essential questions to the interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational tasks, to the integrated of the National Standards. Our group is dispersing with solid curricular plans in place and we definitely enjoyed listening to each other’s ideas. Likewise, the group benefitted from asking questions of and offering suggestions to their colleagues. This sharing was very powerful. Our challenge now will be to bring back this new knowledge that we have gained from this course, and put it into practice in our classrooms. Seeing CLV in action has inspired us to bring a little bit of CLV back home with us, and hopefully inspire our students with some of the valuable strategies and activities that work so well at the Language Villages. 

The 2009 Teacher Seminars program came to a close with our last meal together – a celebration dinner in the form of a 4-course Italian banquet. It was a time to celebrate with each other for one last time, putting closure on our time together. It was a time to reflect on the intensity of the seminar, the rich conversations and discussions with each other , the obvious growth and learning that took place, and the celebration of accomplishments, specifically the IPA units.

“The real voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” - Marcel Proust

“I, too, am enjoying this journey where you are showing us ‘landscapes’ through new eyes.” - Wencke, college German Instructor from Utah

It was fascinating to discuss the above questions, and to hear everyone’s responses to these questions. The bottom line is that assessment must be purposeful and should match the curriculum and the instruction. “Purposeful assessment should verify that students know how, when, and why to say what to whom” (D. Clementi 2009). “Meaningful assessment evaluates students on content that helps them understand the world around them and who they are” (D. Clementi 2009).

Eddy Dehler-Seter teaches a content-based lesson at das BioHaus.

Teacher Seminars participants experience the power of nature.

Nature and the environment was most certainly today’s theme. Our busy day started with another drive out to the Language Villages. Today’s destination: das BioHaus at Waldsee, the German Language Village. CLV’s environmental education specialist, Edwin Dehler-Seter, was there to meet the group and provide three hours of intensity! He very clearly modeled content-based instruction through a variety of activities including natural and renewable resources and life cycles of various species. His lesson was engaging and he had the teachers fully involved and participating, all in German. Our stay with Eddy ended with him providing a detailed tour of the BioHaus, a cutting-edge environmental learning center. The teachers were fascinated with the content-based lessons provided by Eddy, as well as his high level of energy and enthusiasm. 

Following our visit with Eddy, we enjoyed a picnic lunch together at Skogfjorden, the Norwegian Language Village. Where, from amongst the trees, appeared a peaceful woman dressed all in blue. The teachers soon discovered that this woman was in fact Tove, the dean of Skogfjorden. She introduced herself to the group and explained (all in Norwegian) the connection between wearing blue and the trolls of Norway (which happened to be their theme of the day). Our visit to Skogfjorden began with Tove leading us in a cultural activity, explaining that this year in Norway has been identified as the “Year of the Cultural Artifact.” She then led us on a walking tour around her site, explaining several artifacts and discussing their significance, either from a Norwegian point of view, a U.S. point of view, or from a Skogfjorden-specific perspective. Some of what she shared with us she considers to be special secrets of Skogfjorden, so we really can’t write about them here (but take a close look at our pictures!). 

We invited Tove to join us later this evening for dinner. And, following dinner, she shared with us a little about her philosophy of teaching language through song. Song is a very powerful tool, and a great vehicle for teaching (and learning) language. The teachers were fascinated by the historical journey that she guided them on earlier in the day, and even more in awe after listening to her teach them a song in Norwegian after dinner. 

Our group was very fortunate to experience nature at its best in two very different, yet similar, locations at the Language Villages today!

“Eddy’s focus was definitely on the content and not on the teaching of German grammar. By integrating the language with the subject matter content, he made the words and concepts that he taught more relevant and interesting. I really learned something today.” - Dawn, high school German teacher from Virginia

Tove Dahl teaches us Norwegian through a beautiful song.

Teachers are engaged while also being reminded what it feels like to learn a different language.

Mustafa leads us in an Arabic lesson.

Today is Sunday and the feeling within the group is more relaxed. We started our seminar a little later than usual, and enjoyed a large brunch together. The focus of today was to tie together all of the pieces we have been discussing during the past week. We finished our conversations surrounding the 3 modes of communication, and had some time to work on our Integrated Performance Assessments. Built into this time was the opportunity to share with colleagues, brainstorm ideas, research authentic and relevant artifacts and materials, and develop appropriate activities that would assist with teaching of language through our thematic units. 

One thing not previously mentioned in our earlier blogs is the fact that each of the teachers within our group must present a “micro-teaching” lesson to the rest of us. Today our group was treated with two very different, yet very interesting lessons – both taught in Arabic. The lessons were engaging and very useful for those of us who don’t speak Arabic – to remind us of how our students feel many days in our classrooms. I won’t say that the Arabic was easy to pick up, but the two teachers did a great job of using a variety of engaging strategies to keep us, the learners, engaged, focused, and involved in learning the Arabic we needed to to be successful in their lessons. 

“What can I say about today? Incredibly enriching…a lot of interaction, exchange of opinions, questions about various topics, explanations, and pertinent discussions.” -Lamia, French as a second language teacher from Tunis, Tunisia 

Carrie leads us in a communicative activity that is very hands-on!

Communication is obviously the ultimate goal of language instruction. Although the 5 C’s are intertwined, one can argue that without communication, the other four are relatively pointless. The Teacher Seminars participants spent a good portion of today considering the importance of the three modes of communication: Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational. We dove deep beyond the surface and explored the benefits and challenges of each of the modes, and discussed how to integrate them, equally, within meaningful classroom contexts. Teachers are charged with setting up meaningful, relevant situations that will allow students to communicate in a variety of ways, from reading an excerpt from a novel or short-story, to preparing and presenting a “how to” speech, to spontaneous conversation with another person. Throughout our discussion, we explored lists of countless “authentic” sources, and teachers were challenged to add to their lists.

Throughout the Teacher Seminars course, the participants have been taking turns teaching a “Micro-Teaching” to the rest of our group. The activities and lessons have been as diverse and varied as the participants themselves. They have been interesting, meaningful, and relevant. We have been introduced to Arabic, Farsi, and Urdu, as well as French, German, and Spanish. Today, among many other useful and relevant topics, one of our colleagues (Chris) shared with us how he uses authentic texts in his Spanish classes. A few members of our group have already purchased these texts through Amazon!

“I get so much out of our discussions, both the spontaneous ones and the ones precipitated by the [professional] readings. Our group is so diverse and that creates a wealth of experience and knowledge that is most interesting to me. I am glad that you are having us do the micro-teachings, as it has been amazing to see all the different styles, ideas, strategies, and expertise among us. I was really put into the position of the students when learning the languages yesterday and that is an important place to be every now and then to be reminded of their struggles and frustrations in second language learning.” - Laurie, high school Spanish teacher from Illinois

Culture surrounds us. As language teachers, our job is to teach beyond the "products," incorporating the practices and perspectives.

Norwegian dean Tove Dahl leads a culture-based activity during our visit to her village.

Today we spent a good portion of our day exploring the Culture standard, breaking culture down into the “3 P’s” of Products, Practices, and Perspectives. Products, by far, are often at the forefront of culture instruction. Language teachers often find it very easy to integrate tacos, cow bells, and the Eiffel Tower into their teaching. French food is often an integral part of French classes. Yet, we rarely dig deep enough to find out why. That was our mission in today’s discussions. We strived to look beyond the surface level, and search the for practices and perspectives that support the products (in this case, French food). The discussion was fascinating. 

The afternoon and evening was spent in the Language Villages, once again. This time we also had a small group spend their time at the Norwegian Village. The participants’ goals today were to look at how the Villages integrate culture into their daily lives, while also looking for immersion strategies used to teach language. One of the highlights of today’s visit was that the participants were able to share an evening meal with staff and villagers of one of the various Language Villages. Experiencing the entire meal process, with all of the CLV traditions that go along with mealtimes, was the icing on the cake. 

“Watching the counselors at Waldsee has given me so many new ideas of how [thematic planning] can be done. The classroom material that we are learning falls right into what we are seeing and will help me when I’m actually writing and planning units. All this information is putting what I’m teaching into perspective and giving me more focus.” - Birgit, middle school German teacher from Minnesota

Das BioHaus has inspired several teachers to develop units based on environmental issues.

Here, Wencke searches for authentic materials in German to supplement her IPA.

The focus of the Teacher Seminars course today was the development of an Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA). The IPA is basically a way of organizing the various components of what goes into a theme-based or content-based unit, beginning with an essential question that should be answered by the end of the unit, or perhaps even throughout. The participants were walked through the IPA process through the use of a template. We started with a brainstorming session with several examples of curriculum mapping, leading to a unit overview and later the goals and outcomes of the unit. Teachers worked with their colleagues to contemplate and discuss how to integrate tasks that utilize the the 3 modes of communication (interpretive, presentational, and interpersonal) as well as the 5 C’s. Today’s activities are ongoing throughout the rest of our time together, as teachers will continue to build their units based on further class discussions, lectures, Village visits, and work with colleagues. For many, this is a new way of planning, utilizing the idea of “backwards design,” answering an “essential question” and integrating the National Standards, language and content, the 3 modes of communication, and purposeful assessment, all in a meaningful, relevant manner. It can be difficult, but the teachers are up for the challenge! 

“I think that the more we can connect kids to the interesting world outside through meaningful topics, the more successful our teaching will be. I am especially interested in paralleling my units with science topics that will be emphasized at our grade level.” - Chris, middle school Spanish teacher from Minnesota

“What I find most beneficial so far is the IPA. This is a great format for planning a unit. It makes me really stop and think of what the outcomes should be when I teach a topic or theme, and in simple terms, helps me to incorporate the National Standards into my teaching.” Dawn, high school German teacher from Virginia

Zayd, one of our Arabic teachers, enjoys his time at Skogfjorden.

Today the participants of the Teacher Seminars course were able to spend a few hours amongst the staff and Villagers of several of the Language Villages: French, Spanish, German, Norwegian, and Russian. The teachers were able to witness, for themselves, many of the the goals and guiding principles of the Language Villages, and were also charged with the task of trying to identify how the Language Villages were able to incorporate the “5 C’s” National Standards: Communication, Culture, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities, into their daily life. Through our debriefing exercises, a multitude of examples were shared amongst the group. Furthermore, the teachers captured many specific examples in their journals later that night. The Language Villages, we agreed, are a perfect venue for teaching and learning the language and culture, while incorporating all of the National Standards in a variety of meaningful ways. Having seen how this works in the Villages, teachers are now tasked with “thinking outside of the box” and come up with similar ways to naturally incorporate the “5 C’s” into their daily teaching in their classrooms or teaching environments. 

Our day ended with a special visit with Christine Schulze, CEO of Concordia Language Villages, and Vice President for International Development of Concordia College. Christine shared with the group a historical overview of the Language Villages as well as future plans for growth and expansion. The teachers enjoyed this opportunity to speak with Christine and found the question and answer portion of the visit very worthwhile. 

“Today was such a wonderful experience. I still feel energized by all the counselors I met at Waldsee this morning. I was able to get some great clips of two counselors teaching songs and a fairy tale to a multi-aged group of children. Their high level of energy, enthusiasm, and creativity amazed me and my German colleagues. This is how every teacher should conduct his/her class.”  - Dawn, high school German teacher from Virginia

Teachers are engaged in a content-based environmental lesson at Waldsee's BioHaus.

Today the focus of our professional discussions and interactions centered around the notion of teaching a second language through a specific content-area. We talked about how Content-Based Instruction (CBI) is not a new concept – in fact the idea of CBI has been around for decades and is the basis for core curriculum in immersion schools. We furthered our discussions to encompass “thematic-based teaching,” which is where a curriculum is organized around a “thematic center” and which include instructional strategies and activities that teach language concepts along with the content of the theme. Once again we took a critical look at how the Language Villages strives to integrate content at its core, using the language as the vehicle for instruction. We also took a look at our own teaching assignments and settings, and contemplated the notion of if content-based instruction would/could work, and why or why not. The discussions were fascinating, yet varied, but our group was very much in agreement that language instruction should be purposeful and meaningful to the learner, should be learner-centered, ideally should take place out of a “real” need to interact and communicate, and should be experiential and hands-on. It came to no surprise that the professional literature we read paralleled the goals and guiding principles of the Concordia Language Villages. In terms of classroom implications, we also realize that content-based language instruction is something that is very difficult and challenging to do in non-immersion programs. Yet, as professional language educators, we need to recognize the value in CBI and also the invaluable role that CBI activities can play in developing both language proficiency as well as cultural proficiency or knowledge. We need to look for ways to integrate more content, using the language to teach the content rather than using the grammar and vocabulary of the language BE the content. 

“Content-Based Instruction…it makes complete sense to me. Today’s conversations and readings have made me rethink my teaching strategies. I know that I use a lot of active learning strategies but I realize that I can use so many more that would simulate real-life situations at every level that I teach.”  –Laurie, high school Spanish teacher from Illinois

“While I realize that it is next to impossible to teach in my high school foreign language classroom setting solely using content-based instruction, I also realize that it can be done some of the time and that those are the lessons the kids remember the most and will think the hardest about. Those are the lessons that will leave the most lasting impact on the students. Because those are the lessons that are meaningful and real, not based on some contrived situation or conversation. The students are using the language for a purpose.” - Jen, high school German teacher from Pennsylvania

Here are a few of our teachers in front of "Paris," the dining hall at Lac du Bois.

Today the group of Teacher Seminars participants spent a good part of the day touring the permanent site of the Concordia Language Villages on Turtle River Lake near Bemidji, Minnesota. Most of the villages were preparing for their opening day, getting ready to welcome hundreds of villagers later in the day. So, we toured the facilities early in the morning get get a feel for the setting, prior to much action going on. The teachers were introduced to the culturally authentic settings of the various villages. At El Lago del Bosque, the Spanish Language Village, teachers were excited to see the Plaza Mayor, the traditional “asado” outdoor grill, and the beautiful “Hacienda” residential area. While visiting Skogfjorden, the Norwegian Language Village, the teachers were equally impressed with the authentic architecture, however, they were even more intrigued with the beautiful painting on the ceiling and walls of the Norwegian dining hall. Waldsee, the German Language Village, had a tour guide prepared to greet us. She walked us around their village, explaining various aspects of the program and how their many buildings relate to their programming. Cafe Einbeck was their favorite – I think. And finally, at Lac du Bois, the French Language Village, we had a tour of the beautiful site. This was the only village currently “in session with villagers” so the teachers really enjoyed getting to see “CLV in action” and commented on how much they enjoyed seeing the villagers singing — they were very enthusiastic. We cannot wait to return to the Language Villages in a few days, to spend some extended time observing and learning some of the methodologies used to make the language come to life for the villagers. 

When we returned to our class time at Bemidji State University, we talked about the mission of the Language Villages – to prepare young people for responsible citizenship in our global community - and we talked further about the goals and guiding principles that are used at the Language Villages to teach language and culture in context. One of the key goals of the Teacher Seminars program is to help bridge the connection between teaching language in a traditional classroom with the proven methods and strategies of the Concordia Language Villages. Our challenge as educators is to always strive to teach language and culture in meaningful, purposeful contexts. We’re hear to get ideas to bring back to our classrooms. 

“We have always been told that a magician never reveals his tricks. But at the CLV Teacher Seminars, we are being shown all of the work behind the scenes that goes into creating the magic of the Language Villages.” — Wencke, college German Instructor from Utah