State Programs in the News
German class saved at Galvin Middle School in Canton, MA. See the article here.
Massachusetts Well Represented at NECTFL
The Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages was in Baltimore this year from April 20 to 23. A huge Massachusetts contingent of K-16 teachers and administrators actively participated in the conference, presenting and attending the varied sessions, workshops and events. This beautiful picture of Baltimore was taken from the 29th floor of the Baltimore Marriot, the conference hotel:
President Tiesa Graf, First Vice President Jane Rizzitano and Acting Second Vice President Cherie Baggs were the MaFLA representatives to Meeting of the States, the networking opportunity for the state leaders of the fourteen member states of NECTFL.
The session selected from the 2011 MaFLA Conference to be named “Best of MaFLA” at the NECTFL Conference was “Test Less, Teach More: Formative Assessment for Busy Teachers” and was very well attended and widely praised. Congratulations to Wellesley Middle School teachers Rebecca Blouwolff, J.J. Kelleher and Min Zhou for this honor and thank you for representing MA so well! In the first row of the picture below, Min Zhou (light blue cardigan), J.J. Kelleher (all in black) and Rebecca Blouwolff (lavender sweater) are featured with many MaFLA supporters following their highly successful session on formative assessment. They presented strategies, ideas and techniques to bring out the best in your students and focus on what is really important:
How is the “Best of MaFLA” session is selected? Each session of the MaFLA Annual Conference is facilitated by a volunteer who distributes 5-6 evaluation forms to attendees. The comments and ratings are tabulated and studied by the Evaluations Committee. The Best of MaFLA session is the one that is most highly praised in the evaluations by you, our members, the conference attendees!
Also at NECTFL: Congratulations to 2012 MaFLA SANS, Inc./Mead Leadership Fellow Nicole Sherf. She will present about her research in the MaFLA Conference and the next NECTFL Conference. Read more about the MEAD program here. And watch for the next MEAD application information on the MaFLA website and newsletter in the fall. Here is a photo of (l-r) the NECTFL Conference Chair Jennifer Steeley, 2012 MEAD winners Dialong Wang (PA), Nicole Sherf (MA), Joseph Ventosa (MD), Christopher Gwin (NJ), The SANS representative Stella Deram and the NECTFL Professional Development Chair, Amanda Sewald:
Global Education Advisory Council
GEAC is one of several councils created to advised the Commissioner of Education on specific topics. The group has worked diligently to create resources for those who are trying to infuse global studies across the curriculum. MaFLA is represented on the Council and anyone interested in global education is invited to attend. GEAC now has a website where many of their efforts of the last five years are accessible to the public. More links and information are planned for the future. See the GEAC webpage on the Google site. You can find additional information about Global Education at Primary Source. The Asia Society and CCSSO (Council of Chief State School Officers) has also collaborated on a publication on global education entitled Educating for Global Competence: Preparing Our Youth to Engage the World.
Contacting State Government
The Massachusetts State Government website has become much easier to use. Find your representative or your precinct at the click of a mouse.
