Greetings Colleagues,

The Office of Language Acquisition invites all world language leaders and educators to engage with the Department’s training series for the implementation of the 2021 World Languages Curriculum Framework. The implementation series will begin on March 1st, 2022 and will extend through January 2023. It will consist of a sequence of 20-30 minute asynchronous framework training modules and five synchronous webinars in which participants will collaborate to align their district’s curriculum to the new 2021 World Languages Curriculum Framework. Although the implementation series will be accessible to all individual world language educators, it is optimized to be facilitated by district-based world language leaders during common departmental plan periods, TBT meetings, and/or district PD sessions.

All district and building leaders who oversee professional development as well as world language directors, supervisors, coordinators and teachers are invited to attend a 1-hour orientation webinar introducing the implementation series on Thursday, February 17th at 3:30. Registration is available here. All registrants will receive a Zoom link upon registration. Registrants will also receive a link to the recording of the webinar and all webinar materials after the event. Please contact Andy McDonie at d.andrew.mcdonie@mass.gov and keep checking for more forthcoming information on DESE’s World Languages webpage.

Dear MaFLA Member,

Greetings from the MaFLA Board, who sends you our best wishes in this new calendar year. We all are part of multiple new beginnings: a new school year in September and a new calendar year in January to name a few.  New beginnings  remind us to set intentions  for the future. With Omicron in the shadows around us, the return to school this week will likely be marked by chaos and flexibility; we send healing thoughts to those testing positive and resilience for those facing students this week. No matter what 2022 may hold for us, MaFLA is planning ahead!

As I begin my presidential year, I reflect on the theme I’ve set for the board: sustaining the pipeline. My hope is that the board can become more transparent for our members, that we can support our members into leadership roles on the board, that we can build community, and that we can harness the knowledge and skills of those moving off the board.

As part of this endeavor, I’d like to communicate with you each season to update you on what your board is up to and also remind you of the importance of the role you have. This month, I’d like to do that by highlighting Vilma Bibeau. Vilma joined the board in 2019. Last year, she stepped into a one-year position as Advocacy Chair and in 2022 she will be our Second VP, preparing to chair the 2023 MaFLA Conference! I’m choosing to highlight Vilma this month because she approaches her volunteer work with incredible care and warmth. She created videos, directions, and zoom meetings for folks volunteering with the conference last month and, in each one, she started in gratitude and by recognizing each individual and how important each person is. Sometimes in our daily interactions, we don’t take the time to see each of our colleagues because we are too busy grading and planning. Would you join me in challenging yourself to connect briefly with a colleague each day or week? Perhaps in ensuring those around you feel seen and heard, space will be created to breathe and the rhythm of checking in will start to settle into a daily routine. Perhaps, you will find that spending the time to connect is a way to recharge and refocus you on the work at hand. To check out who else is on our board, visit our website!

Please let me know how MaFLA can make you feel welcome, connected, seen, and heard.

Beckie Bray Rankin
President of MaFLA

Administrative Assistant.