K-16 Educators Workshop for IEW

Indigenous - Local - Global Communities

10:00 am - 3:00 pm in Chapel Hill on Saturday, November 18

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, in partnership with UNC and Duke Area Studies Centers, is pleased to offer a professional development opportunity as part of International Education Week (IEW) that can help to increase one's global understanding and perspective. To celebrate National Native American Heritage Month, the theme of this year's event is focused on indigenous communities worldwide, and is titled Understanding Indigenous Cultures in Local and Global Communities.

The in-person workshop will be at the FedEx Global Education Center in Chapel Hill. Attendees will earn 0.5 CEUs. Extension activities may be available for additional CEUs.

Please see the UNC Area Studies IEW page for schedule details and registration.

Supporting Multilingualism for All: Implementing the Seal of Biliteracy

The U.S. Department of Education's Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) will host a webinar series titled "Supporting Multilingualism for All: Implementing the Seal of Biliteracy" in November. The Seal of Biliteracy (SoBL) honors students who have completed high school and can read, write, speak, and listen in at least two languages, one being English. 

North Carolina's SoBL is the Global Languages Endorsement (GLE) and information about the requirements in English and World Languages, along with other details, can be found online at bit.ly/NCSoBLGLE and/or in the GLE brochure at bit.ly/NCSoBLGLEbrochure.

The OELA webinar series is geared toward educators and leaders (administrators and superintendents) leading biliteracy efforts in states, schools, districts, and communities. These broadcasts center on the presenters’ research-based 5P framework to implement the SoBL and promote biliteracy for all students, including an explicit lens on access for multilingual and heritage-language learners. Whether just beginning to implement the SoBL or looking to enhance and expand current implementation, participants will identify actionable steps to implement the SoBL in their unique contexts to broadly promote biliteracy.

Please use the links below to register for either or both webinars in this series, which are on Mondays.

• Part 1 at 12:30 - 1:30 pm on November 6
• Part 2 at 12:30 - 1:30 pm on November 13

Engaging Novice LCTL Learners through Literacies-Informed Teaching

Online at 12:00 - 3:00 pm on Saturday, November 11

The Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) at the University of Minnesota is offering a free online workshop, A Kaleidoscopic Look at Texts: Engaging Novice LCTL Learners through Literacies Informed Teaching, on Saturday, November 11, from 12:00 - 3:00 pm Eastern Time.

This workshop is open to less commonly taught languages or LCTL teachers (i.e., languages other than ESL, French, German, and Spanish, according to the CARLA definition) who work with beginning-level students in secondary and postsecondary contexts in the United States.

Please see CARLA's Literacies for LCTLs page for details and registration.

Language and Literacy Instruction for Spanish DL/I Learners

Online on November 13 - 16 & 20 - 21

The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) is offering a 15-hour online institute, Language and Literacy Instruction for Spanish/English Emergent Bilingual Learners, with both live (synchronous) and self-paced (asynchronous) learning over several days.

This interactive institute is designed to provide participants with research-based, effective methods for teaching academic language and literacy to students in grades K-8 in programs where they learn in Spanish and English, such as dual language/immersion (DL/I) programs. Classroom practices are framed by an understanding of how Spanish and English linguistic features are similar and different, and participants will complete a culminating project where they plan a lesson based on what they have learned.

Please see the CAL page for this institute for details and registration. Additional CAL Institutes are also available, most of which are designed for DL/I educators.

Teaching for Biliteracy for Administrators

Online on Thursday, November 16

The Center for Teaching for Biliteracy is offering a virtual institute on Thursday afternoon, November 16, at 12:00 - 3:00 pm Eastern Time, Teaching for Biliteracy for Administrators: Leadership Considerations, which is designed for school-based or central office administrators supporting biliteracy instruction and programming in one-way and two-way dual language/immersion (DL/I) programs.

Participants will:

• Explore the leadership considerations of teaching for biliteracy;
• Reflect on the implications of a paradigm shift to biliteracy from monoliteracy, as well as the required strategies to build capacity for a variety of stakeholders in a biliteracy model;
• Identify systems and structures that support biliteracy instruction, including a shared program vision, content and language allocation plan, and biliteracy curriculum maps; and
• Explore different ways of supporting teachers involved in developing biliteracy, including English teachers, Spanish or non-English medium teachers, and bilingual teachers.

Please see the Center for Teaching for Biliteracy Events page for details about this institute, which will be offered again in February 2024, as well as other offerings for DL/I educators.

Digital Transition Webinar Series

The North Carolina Virtual Public School (NCVPS) 2023-2024 Digital Transition Webinar Series for Educators offers new webinar topics throughout the school year based on participant requests, including a monthly World Language focused broadcast. In November, the sessions below will be presented by Lisa Meier, NCVPS Blended Financial Management Instructor, and Elena Allen, NCVPS Russian Instructor and Russian II Course Lead.

• Is Multitasking a Good Thing? at 6:30 - 7:30 pm on November 7
• Open Educational Resources for Russian at 6:30 - 7:30 pm on November 29

Please use the links above to learn more and register for the upcoming broadcasts, which typically earn participants Digital Learning and/or World Language CEU credit.

ACTFL Webinars

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), our national professional organization, is offering two upcoming broadcasts in its From Research to Practice: Not Your Typical Book Club series that feature authors from Foreign Language Annals (Summer 2023). The sessions begin with an overview of the article, so you do not have to read in advance, and then move to whole and/or small group discussion(s).

Please see the details below and click the links provided to sign up.

• “My friend Travis says…”: A look at enrollment trends in language classes in the United States" with author(s) from West Virginia University at 7:00 - 8:00 pm on November 29
• "The relationship between proficiency-based instruction and student oral proficiency" with author(s) from UNC Charlotte at 4:00 - 5:00 pm on December 5

Classroom Microgrants Program

Applications due November 10

The Language Connects Foundation (LCF)/Vista Microgrants Program for Language Educators is an initiative aimed at supporting and empowering those who are dedicated to promoting multilingualism and cultural diversity in the classroom. This program provides small grants to K-12 educators who are passionate about teaching languages and incorporating cultural elements into their lessons.

This program is open to all K-12 language educators regardless of setting. Eligible individuals may apply for grants of $300 to fund a variety of projects, including:

• Organizing cultural events or activities for their learners, including those in collaboration with relevant community organizations;
• Creating projects that support diverse perspectives and provide opportunities to develop cultural competence; and
• Purchasing instructional materials and resources for their language classes/classrooms (e.g., reference materials, tablets, posters, art supplies) for the purpose of a project or event.

Please see the Classroom Microgrants page for additional details and the online application form.

Minigrants Program

Applications due November 18

The Foreign Language Association of North Carolina (FLANC) Minigrants Program supports educational projects designed to promote foreign or world language teaching and learning in North Carolina, including:

• Advocacy for foreign language teaching and learning;
• Enhancement of students’ foreign language proficiency and cultural competency;
• Professional development for teachers;
• Enhancement of foreign language teacher education; and
• Other projects that promote foreign language teaching and learning.

The $500 grants are available on a competitive basis. Applicants are urged to use these grants to leverage additional funding from their schools or other sources for the development of their grant project.

Please see the FLANC Minigrants page for additional details and the online application form.