CLTA-WA Professional Develop Grant Accepting Applications‏

As a member of CLTA-WA, you are eligible to apply for our Professional Development Grants. The grants are offered to support member teachers to attend national or regional conferences, summer institutes, workshops or seminars, or to offset travel costs to attend our own workshops. The grants are awarded in US$100 for local professional development opportunities and US$250 for national professional opportunities.  Applications must be received at least 30 days prior to the event. The applications will be reviewed by our Scholarship Committee and the applicant will be notified of the award decision within 15 days. For details, please see the enclosed application form.
The following are some of the upcoming professional development opportunities for which you could apply for the aforementioned grants.
Regionally, WAFLT’s annual conference is coming up on 10/8-10 in Wenatchee,  and nationally, ACTFL will be held in San Diego 11/20-22.

 

Words from CLTA-WA President‏

Dear CLTA-WA members:

On behalf of the 2015-16 Board of Directors, I would like to thank you for being great supporters for our organization!

I would also like to express our heart-felt thanks to Zoe Jiang, our immediate past president for the terrific job she did in leading CLTA-WA with great dedication and able hands in the past year.  Her outstanding leadership has been an inspiration to us all. A big thank-you also goes to Meitsu Chuang-Mendal and Adam Ross, who have stepped down from the board after a long and excellent service to our association as directors. They have served in numerous capacities on the Board and beyond, and their tireless work and wisdom have been instrumental in the work we do to carry out our mission of promoting quality Chinese teaching in Washington State.  Meitsu will stay on as an advisor to the Board while Adam will be moving on with his work in California and we wish him all the best in all his future endeavors.  Our appreciation also goes to our dedicated team of advisors – Nyan-ping Bi, Betty Lau, Chunman Gissing, Lotus Perry and Pollyanna Wang – their wise counsel and countless material help have been invaluable in building CLTA-WA into a leading Chinese teachers’ association in the country.

Thanks also goes to the members who joined us at this year’s AGM.  It was wonderful to see familiar as well as new faces!  Many of you gave wonderful input and expressed interest in hosting social events. Thank you!  A big shout-out too to Betty Lau, Chunman Gissing, Zoe Jiang, Meitsu Chuang-Mendel, Haiyan You, Alice Flores for sharing their teaching ideas and recourses.

The following is the roster of 2015-2016 Board of Directors:

President: Cheyenne Matthewson, Lakeside School
Immediate Past President: Zoe Jiang, Skyline High School
Vice President: Xiaofeng Foster, Edmonds Woodway High School
The Recording Secretary: Alice Flores, Annie Wright Schools
The Corresponding Secretary: Yvonne Louie, Ford Middle School
The Recording Treasure: Yuting Yeh, Sammamish High School
The Account Payable Treasure: Haiyan You, Shoreline Schools
Member at large: Tracy Ge, Sammamish High School
Member at large: Chen Tang, Overlake School
Member at large: Chiu-Hsin Lin, Eastern Washington University
Member at large: Sarah Yao, Odle Middle School

Upcoming event

Our annual summer workshop is scheduled on Sunday, August 23. The topic will be Task-based Learning presented by three of our own outstanding local teachers with a different emphasis on elementary, middle school and high school/college-aged students.  Please mark the date on your calendar and stay tuned for more information on the workshop.

 I would also like to encourage you to visit our website: https://jxi.ywi.mybluehost.me/ for updated information on association events.  You can also access a wide range of teaching resources on the site.

 Membership registration and renewal

Based on the input from our members, CLTA-WA has changed the annual membership cycle from calendar year to running concurrently with the school year, from July 1 to June 30 the following year.  If you have not renewed your membership for the new year starting on July 1, 2015, please take a moment do so before it expires so you can continue to enjoy member benefits, which include free admissions to most of our workshops, receiving job postings in Washington State and beyond and much more.

Membership information and registration: https://jxi.ywi.mybluehost.me/membership/

No organization can run successfully without the active involvement and participation of its members. Please join me and the Board to continue to promote quality Chinese teaching and to build an ever stronger network of local teachers.   I hope to see you all at our summer workshop and future events.  Thank you for your continued support and wish you a great summer!

Cheyenne Matthewson

President of CLTA-WA

president@clta-wa.org

Announcing the Election of Directors for the Term 2015-2018

Dear Members,

I am pleased to announce that the individuals elected for the 2015-2018 term to join the CLTA-WA Board of Directors are:
  1. Alice Flore
  2. Tracy Ge
  3.  Xiaofeng Foster
  4.  Haiyan You
  5. Yuting Yeh

Congratualtions to them! I would also like to thank our members for voting. Please save the date for CLTA-WA’s 2015 Annual General Meeting on Saturday, May 30. Details about the AGM will be sent out in a later message. I hope to see you all there.

Best,
Zoe Jiang

2015 CLTA-WA New Board Member Election is OPEN now!

Voting Instructions for Board Director Seats:

Please view candidates’ Bios.

Each member can vote for up to FIVE candidates. All ballots will be reviewed and approved by the Election Committee and their determination as to the votes cast by that ballot is final for purposes of such CLTA-WA election decisions. Please select up to FIVE from the list below by clicking on “True” next to the names of the candidates you like to vote for. Click on “False” next to the name(s) of the candidate(s) you are not voting for. Please note: select either “True” or “False” for ALL candidates. If neither is checked, your votes will not be submitted successfully.

Elections close on 2015-04-26. Thank you for voting!

2015 CLTA-WA Spring Workshop

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《任务型教学主题》的讲座

2015年3月28日,在华州孔子学院和华大杰克逊国际关系学院东亚中心的大力支持下,华州中文教师学会在华大成功举办了《任务型教学主题》的讲座。本次讲座有幸请到了佛吉尼亚大学世界语研究所的曾妙芬主任。曾教授既由浅入深地介绍了任务型教学的理论知识,又提供了诸多教学实例。她分享的评分标准和评分方式更是因实用性大获与会者的称赞。下午讲座中的分组讨论环节也让老师们有了互相学习的机会。华州中文教师学会为本次讲座增加了抽奖活动,奖品除了精美的文化礼品和教学用具外,还有曾教授的第三本著作,由北京语言大学出版社北美分社出版的《The Handbook of Tasks and Rubrics for Teaching Mandarin Chinese (Volume I)》。华州中文教师学会还贴心地为老师们准备了免费的教材、挂图、课外阅读、音响制品等。本次讲座,华州孔院不仅提供了经费资助,而且院长王雯秋女士和新到任的周军院长都亲自出席并发言。老师们在收获颇丰之余,还获得了OSPI颁发的Clock Hours。

Nominations for the 2015-2018 New Board of Directors is officially open!

CLTA-WA invites qualified individuals to apply for consideration to serve on the Board of Directors
Five board seats are open for nomination.
Nomination opens on March 24, 2015, closes on March 31, 2015
Please note that CLTA-WA board members need to
• be a CLTA-WA member in good standing as of March 31, 2015
• possess necessary qualities and skills and be willing to perform the duties as described in the attached document Board position and duties
• serve a three-year term


Once the nomination is closed, selection committee will contact candidates to submit the following by April 5:
• statement of intent
• resume
Review of application will be completed by April 12.  At this time, a list of best qualified candidates of a board selected number will be put forth for the whole membership to vote and elect final list of new Board members on April 26, 2015. New board members will start their term of service on May 31, 2015 after the transition meeting.

 

An Article about Chinese Movies Shared by Our Member

美国高中生眼中的中国电影:有很多颜色
文/露得
2015年02月20日,星期五

                                           《侨报》副刊,2015年2月18日

“中国电影常有功夫,美国电影常有枪和赛车。”

“中国电影有很多颜色,美国电影有很多暴力。”

“我觉得中国电影比美国电影更有文化,但是有时候我看不懂中国电影,因为有太多的文化。”

“中国的电影讲历史的比较多,而美国人更喜欢将讲现代和未来的电影。”

“中美电影我都喜欢看,不过我觉得中国的历史故事片比美国的好看,因为中国的历史很有意思。“

“中国电影好看极了,特别是第五代导演的电影,有很多的文化和知识。”

最近在我的中文课堂上学到关于媒体这一单元的时候,学生们就中美电影话题用中文互相采访。他们尽管中文有限,但都热烈地表达了诸如以上的意见。

我知道他们是很有发言权的,从他们每学期交上来的影评作业中,他们看过的中国电影面之广、对中国电影的喜爱程度之高,总是超出我的意料。为了培养学生们对让中国语言和文化的热爱,我鼓励他们课外观看原汁原味的中国电影,可有英文字幕,影评也可以用英文写,好让他们尽情表达自己的感受。

最受这些高中生们欢迎的影片当数武侠片《卧虎藏龙》和《十面埋伏》,曾经在西方获得大奖的这两部名片尽显武打风采,又有言情浪漫,叫我的学生们众口称赞,在此不必多言。

其次是功夫喜剧片,尤其是成龙和周星驰主演的电影,从早些年的《少林足球》、《功夫》到近年的《大兵小将》、《十二生肖》,将幽默和功夫融为一体,颇对这些少男少女的胃口。

一位男生对《大兵小将》评论道:“这部电影讲了中国历史上一段很重要的时期,很值得我花时间去了解。成龙的幽默恰到好处,摄影师的技巧也很高超。我向任何想看中国电影的人推荐这部电影。”

周星驰又导又演的《功夫》得到了一位女生的高度评价:“我非常喜欢影片中接连不断的动作和惊奇,你永远猜不到下面要发生什么。影片的卡通化和幽默是导演对功夫的独特诠释。”

爱情喜剧片也是学生们所爱。

在国内火爆一时的《北京遇上西雅图》,经我的介绍,引起了这些家住西雅图的学生们的关注。女生们比较喜欢这种找到真爱的美满结局, 一位女生连看了好几遍后感叹:“影片反映了美好的人生价值观,即金钱是买不到幸福的。”

混合了浪漫喜剧和悬疑的《Hold住爱》也得到了青睐,比如这位同学的评论:“这是我看过所有的浪漫喜剧片中最独特的一部,非常有意思。故事中多有意想不到的惊奇,很有创意。希望有更多的中国电影象这样!”

章子怡主演的《非常完美》是有着好莱坞风格的都市爱情片,其姊妹篇《非常幸运》是动作片和浪漫片的结合,我的一位学生称之为中国版的007 詹姆士邦德片。两部片子都以丰富的娱乐性吸引了学中文的少男少女们。

讲述当代中学生生活的电影《青春派》,我在班上放映时也受到了好评。影片主人公萌动的春心、高考的失败、与母亲的紧张关系以及哥们义气等等,得到了美国同龄人的认同。有的说:“中国高中生的经历跟我们的相似。”有的说:“电影中的很多情节都叫我认同。”还有的说:“影片展示了高中生的热情和疯狂。”

班上的一位周杰伦迷向我大力推荐周杰伦自导自演的故事片《不能说的秘密》,我看后决定在课堂上放映,有幸在网上找到了带英文字幕的版本。年轻男女主角的纯真恋情、时空穿越的扑朔迷离、优美的音乐,果然叫学生们反响热烈,音乐迷们尤其欣赏剧中的钢琴音乐。

很值得一提的是一位十年级学生对《山楂树之恋》的喜爱。他用英文写到,影片再现了他父母和爷爷奶奶口中的毛泽东时代的中国:文革中的生活、城市人到农村接受再教育的经历、跳忠字舞的场面等等,尽管他很难想象那个年代里人们的感受,尽管他不明白影片中许多中文的表达,但他还是觉得电影很有意思,他喜欢这样情节简单、没有动作和打斗的纯爱故事。

多么可爱的华裔少年,努力地走出自己的世界去进入那片遥远的土地,极力地用有限的中文去了解那个陌生的年代,就因为他的父辈曾经生活在那个时空,还因为爱情的美丽。

“Thematic Planning” 2014 CLTA-WA Fall Workshop

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《如何适应外语学习者的需求来设计单元》的讲座和研讨会
2014年11月1日,华州中文教师学会在普及湾大学成功举办了《如何适应外语学习者的需求来设计单元》的讲座和研讨会。单元外语教学有别于传统的外语教学模式,可以最大化释放老师的自由度,也可以极大地激发学生的兴趣。本次讲座的主讲人是在外语教学领域颇有盛名的海伦娜•柯顿。她的著作《语言与儿童:美国中小学外语课堂教学指南》堪称为美国外语教学界的“圣经”,是北美外语教师案头必备的宝典。讲座在“时钟找伙伴”的活动中开始,老师们不仅通过这个活动迅速认识了周围人,而且还可以将这个有趣的活动用于自己的课堂。海伦娜不仅传授了她在单元设计方面的经验和实例,还指导老师们当场设计了一系列单元。讲座的参与者不仅有中文、西班牙文、日文和法文老师,而且还有各大外语教学机构的负责人和代表。本次活动得到了华州孔子学院和普及湾大学东亚语言文化中心的大力支持。华州孔院不仅提供了经费资助,而且外方中方的院长都亲自出席并发言。普及湾大学东亚语言文化中心为本次讲座提供了雅致的会场和精美的茶点。活动圆满结束后,与会者纷纷表示受益匪浅,希望以后可以继续参加华州中文教师学会举办的讲座。

“Practical Skills to Flip Your Classroom” 2014 CLTA-WA Summer Workshop

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CLTA-WA held its 2014 Summer Workshop “Practical Skills to Flip Your Classroom” at Lakeside School on August 24, 2014. Our presenters were Cheyenne Matthewson from Lakeside School, Zhousu He from Mercer Island High School and Pollyanna Wang from Chielf Sealth International High School. They shared video tips, iPad apps and cooperative learning activities that can be used in a flipped classroom. Participants benefitted greatly from those 3 presentations that were different but fit a common theme. Please see below for some of the strengths that our participants thought.

• I appreciate the real life experience each teacher shared. The lectures were well prepared.
• Handy and applicable to classroom teaching. We can use all these materials right away in our own classroom.
• All of the wonderful introductions of applications and cooperative activities.
• Interesting topics. Experienced teachers.
• Practical; hands on; time efficient; quick application.
• The strongest feature of the workshop was I got some new software that can help out Chinese classes.

Thanks again for the generous support of the Chinese Language Teachers Association (CLTA), the University of Washington, and the Lakeside School. We also would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the participants. Looking forward to seeing you again in next workshop!