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ACTR Teachers' Lounges
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Teachers' Lounges: Fall 2024
Friday, September 20: Roundtable on Professional Development Opportunities + Open House
5:30 - 7:00 p.m. EST
Roundtable on Professional Development opportunities in the field (45 min) followed by ACTR Open house (45 min.)
This session will provide an overview of several professional development opportunities for teachers of Russian at all levels, including ACTR-based professional development programs and activities, the American Councils Summer Russian Teachers Program in Almaty, other opportunities, to enhance Russian-language skills, the AATSEEL Certification Program in Diverse and Inclusive Pedagogies (CDIPS) and K-12 Teacher Excellence Program program, STARTALK, various funding opportunities, online courses and resources, and others.
Everything you wanted to know about joining the ACTR Board, but were afraid to ask!
Have you thought about joining the ACTR Board or one of the committees, but didn't know where to start? Here is the opportunity to get your questions answered! Come to our Open House on Friday, September 20, 2024 to speak with current members of the ACTR Board about the nomination process and to learn about how YOU can become a part of the ACTR Board!
Follow this link to register.
5:30 - 7:00 p.m. EST
Roundtable on Professional Development opportunities in the field (45 min) followed by ACTR Open house (45 min.)
This session will provide an overview of several professional development opportunities for teachers of Russian at all levels, including ACTR-based professional development programs and activities, the American Councils Summer Russian Teachers Program in Almaty, other opportunities, to enhance Russian-language skills, the AATSEEL Certification Program in Diverse and Inclusive Pedagogies (CDIPS) and K-12 Teacher Excellence Program program, STARTALK, various funding opportunities, online courses and resources, and others.
Everything you wanted to know about joining the ACTR Board, but were afraid to ask!
Have you thought about joining the ACTR Board or one of the committees, but didn't know where to start? Here is the opportunity to get your questions answered! Come to our Open House on Friday, September 20, 2024 to speak with current members of the ACTR Board about the nomination process and to learn about how YOU can become a part of the ACTR Board!
Follow this link to register.
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Friday, September 6: Teachers’ Lounge
5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST Технологическая песочница/Technology Sandbox: Alternatives to Flip In the summer 2024, Microsoft announced that a video-sharing platform, Flip, will no longer be available for teachers’ use. In our next Технологическая песочница (Technology Sandbox), we will discuss alternative digital tools to encourage student voice and creativity in our Russian language classrooms. The discussion will be facilitated by Olga Klimova (University of Pittsburgh). You are invited to share your ideas on how to create engaging, interactive video-activities for your students using various Web-based tools or your learning management systems. |
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Recent Teachers' Lounges: Fall 2022 - Spring 2024
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Thursday, May 23: Teachers’ Lounge
5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST Program Highlights from the Spring and Hopes for the Next Academic Year This is the final Teachers' Lounge of AY2023-2024! Join us to share your program highlights from the spring semester and your plans for the next academic year. What went well? Was there a particularly engaging unit, project, assessment, or assignment that inspired your students? Did you host a popular event or activity? Did you feel successful at “hooking” students, building a sense of connection and classroom community that will keep students in the program? How did you do it? Friday, April 12: Teachers’ Lounge 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST Технологическая песочница/Technology Sandbox: Wordwall We are pleased to introduce a new dimension to our professional development offerings: Технологическая песочница (Technology Sandbox). Each Technology Sandbox will feature one tech tool. At this Технологическая песочница, we will introduce you to WordWall (https://wordwall.net) - an online platform for creating interactive content for in-person and virtual classrooms. Maria Khotimsky (MIT) will demonstrate the use of the platform, share ideas on using WordWall resources at various levels, and provide links to ready-to-use activities for our classrooms. Friday, March 22: Teachers’ Lounge
5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST Teachers' Lounge: follow-up to "The Use of Generative AI in the Russian Language Classroom" Please join us for the follow-up Teachers' Lounge to continue discussing the use of Generative AI in the Russian language classroom. Friday, March 1: Teachers’ Lounge
5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST Teachers' Lounge: follow-up to "Teaching Russian during the War through Songs and Visual Arts" Please join colleagues in this Teachers' Lounge to continue the conversation about how we can teach Russian during the war, through songs and visual art and/or through other approaches. As a reminder, you need to be an ACTR member with active status (dues paid) to participate in Teachers' Lounges. If you would like to receive a recording, you must register even if you know you won't be able to attend the Lounge live. Friday, February 1: Teachers’ Lounge
5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST Alternative Grading Approaches Join us for a discussion of alternative grading approaches in a language classroom. This Teachers' Lounge will serve as an opportunity to share tips and practical ideas on alternative grading, following up the Ungrading Conference (organized by the Center for Languages and Cultures at USC), taking place virtually on January 26, 2024. NB: anyone who registers will receive recordings of the sessions. If you are interested in a review of alternative grading approaches before the Lounge, you may find this page helpful. Friday, January 19: Teachers’ Lounge
5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST Gamification and interactive games in the Russian language classroom Gamification of learning tasks is increasingly seen as a way to engage and motivate a new generation of students, who have grown up immersed in various types of technologies. Whether games in a language classroom involve technology or not, principles of gamification, such as competition, immediate feedback, and a user-centered experience, apply to any context. Join colleagues for the first Teachers Lounge of the semester to exchange strategies for using gamification or to share favorite games in language teaching and learning. 2023 Fall Teachers’ Lounge Series on Bridge Building
Organized as a joint project of the Professional Development Committee and the Bridge-Building Committee, the Fall 2023 Teachers’ Lounge series will be devoted to bridge building, both pre-college/post-secondary and within our individual campuses. Topics will include recruitment, retention, placement and advocacy, with pre-college/post-secondary bridge building interwoven into each topic. We will alternate meetings on Thursdays and Fridays, 5:30-6:30pm EST (except October 5 - see below). As a reminder, Teachers Lounges are recorded, but not posted publicly. Recordings are sent to members who register in advance. Professional Development Committee: Irina Dubinina, Elizabeth Ewaskio, Olga Klimova, Irina Kogel, Susan Kresin, Lee Roby Bridge-Building Committee: Katya Cooke, Julia Denne, Meredith Doubleday, Olga Gotta, Susan Kresin, Olga Klimova, Heather Rice, Lee Roby, Debra Solomon, Tommy Tabatowski Friday, September 22: Teachers’ Lounge 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST Strategies for Recruitment Focusing on: How is effective recruitment done at the pre-college and post-secondary levels? How has the war impacted our recruitment strategies and efforts? What other factors impact Russian language enrollments? Thursday, October 5: Teachers’ Lounge 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. EST (5:30-6:15pm EST Teachers' Lounge, 6:15-7pm EST ACTR's Open House) Spotlight on University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Pushkin Summer Institute (reflections on recruiting and serving diverse high school students of Russian), followed by the annual ACTR Open House (same link).
Friday, October 27: Teachers’ Lounge 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST Strategies for Retention We are continuing with our Fall 2023 Teachers' Lounge series on bridge building, both pre-college/post-secondary and within our individual campuses. Teachers' Lounges serve as a forum to share ideas on how to strengthen our program profiles and boost enrollment. For this Lounge we offer the following guiding questions:
Friday, November 3: Information Session on American Council's Russian Study abroad programs (for students and teachers) 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST The session will provide an overview and a Q&A session about Russian language programs administered by American Councils for International Education. This session is open to both members and non-members!
Thursday, November 9: Teachers’ Lounge 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST Placement Methods Thia Lounge will help to foster dialogue between pre-college and college instructors on issues related to language program articulation and placement methods that best support recruitment, retention, and successful program articulation. We offer the following guiding questions for this Lounge:
Friday, December 1: Teachers’ Lounge 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST Advocacy Efforts This is the final Teachers' Lounge in the fall series devoted to bridge building, both pre-college/post-secondary and within our individual campuses. At this Lounge, we will hear from colleagues who have staged extensive advocacy campaigns in defense of their threatened programs. They will share their strategies, reflections on impact, and lessons learned. What makes for an effective advocacy campaign? How might ACTR support programs and provide advocacy? Thursday, December 14: Teachers’ Lounge 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST Program Highlights from the Fall and Hopes for the Spring This is the final Teachers' Lounge of 2023! Join us to share your program highlights from the fall semester and your plans for the spring semester. What went well? Was there a particularly engaging unit, project, or assignment that inspired your students? Did you host a popular event or activity? Did you feel successful at “hooking” students, building a sense of connection and classroom community that will keep students in the program? How did you do it? |
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April 14: Teachers’ Lounge
5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST
Follow-up Teachers' Lounge on Feedback and Assessment.
March 31, 2023: Teachers' Lounge
5:30 - 6:30 PM EST
Follow-up Teachers' Lounge on Ungrading and Evaluation
Continuing the discussion of evaluation and grading, this Teachers' Lounge will discuss current practices, challenges, and solutions to evaluating our students' cultural knowledge at the time of their graduation from our programs. How do we/can we assess their content/culture knowledge?
March 17: Teachers’ Lounge
5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST
Follow-up Teachers' Lounge on Ungrading.
In this follow-up lounge, we will tackle the question of grading and ungrading in language classes. Participants are invited to share their grading approaches, tips, and thoughts.
March 3, 2023
5:30 - 6:30 pm EST
Teachers’ Lounge: following the webinar on 02/10/2023 conducted by Linda Hecker, M.Ed. "Meeting the Challenge of Teaching Second Languages to Students with Learning Disabilities."
In preparation for the Lounge, you may want to review the slides and handouts shared by Linda during the webinar and read a chapter on "Supporting Students with LD" from a book "From Disability to Diversity: College success for students with learning disabilities, ADHD, and Autism Spectrum Disorder" co-edited by L. Hecker (which we share with her permission).
Our follow-up Teachers’ Lounge to debrief the last webinar with Linda Hecker (Meeting the Challenge of Teaching Second Languages to Students with Learning Disabilities) will occur on March 3. We would typically be holding a follow-up Teachers’ Lounge in closer succession to the webinar, but we are taking a two week break, first for AATSEEL (Feb 17-19), and then on February 24 to pause in collective recognition of the tragic one year mark of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. We hope you will join us for the March 3 Teachers’ Lounge for the debrief, so that we can consider together what strategies might best support our learners with language-based learning differences.
January 20, 2023
5:30 - 6:30 pm EST
Follow-up Teachers' Lounge (after two roundtables of diverse voices from the field)
At this Teachers' Lounge we will explore lessons learned from hearing the diverse voices of our colleagues.
5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST
Follow-up Teachers' Lounge on Feedback and Assessment.
March 31, 2023: Teachers' Lounge
5:30 - 6:30 PM EST
Follow-up Teachers' Lounge on Ungrading and Evaluation
Continuing the discussion of evaluation and grading, this Teachers' Lounge will discuss current practices, challenges, and solutions to evaluating our students' cultural knowledge at the time of their graduation from our programs. How do we/can we assess their content/culture knowledge?
March 17: Teachers’ Lounge
5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST
Follow-up Teachers' Lounge on Ungrading.
In this follow-up lounge, we will tackle the question of grading and ungrading in language classes. Participants are invited to share their grading approaches, tips, and thoughts.
March 3, 2023
5:30 - 6:30 pm EST
Teachers’ Lounge: following the webinar on 02/10/2023 conducted by Linda Hecker, M.Ed. "Meeting the Challenge of Teaching Second Languages to Students with Learning Disabilities."
In preparation for the Lounge, you may want to review the slides and handouts shared by Linda during the webinar and read a chapter on "Supporting Students with LD" from a book "From Disability to Diversity: College success for students with learning disabilities, ADHD, and Autism Spectrum Disorder" co-edited by L. Hecker (which we share with her permission).
Our follow-up Teachers’ Lounge to debrief the last webinar with Linda Hecker (Meeting the Challenge of Teaching Second Languages to Students with Learning Disabilities) will occur on March 3. We would typically be holding a follow-up Teachers’ Lounge in closer succession to the webinar, but we are taking a two week break, first for AATSEEL (Feb 17-19), and then on February 24 to pause in collective recognition of the tragic one year mark of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. We hope you will join us for the March 3 Teachers’ Lounge for the debrief, so that we can consider together what strategies might best support our learners with language-based learning differences.
January 20, 2023
5:30 - 6:30 pm EST
Follow-up Teachers' Lounge (after two roundtables of diverse voices from the field)
At this Teachers' Lounge we will explore lessons learned from hearing the diverse voices of our colleagues.
- What have we learned from listening to our colleagues with diverse backgrounds?
- How can this help us create more culturally responsive classrooms based on what we have heard from our representatives?
- And how does this help us better prepare our diverse students for study abroad programs?
Past Teachers' Lounges: Fall 2022
The theme of the fall 2022 Teacher’s Lounges is “Teaching for diversity, inclusivity, and belonging at the lower proficiency levels.” Classes at the lower end of proficiency (such as 1st and 2nd year classrooms at high schools or universities) present a special challenge for material selection and task design. Most textbooks do not adequately engage the topic, leaving instructors to develop their own materials from scratch. At the same time, Novice or Intermediate Low learners are often perceived to be unable to engage with the topic in Russian due to their proficiency limitations. Consequently, instructors often skip the topic altogether. We invite ACTR members to participate in conversations on how these challenges may be resolved in our 1st and 2nd year classrooms. Each of the lounges will be dedicated to exploring how instructors can introduce and teach diversity and promote inclusion and belonging within basic “beginner” topics, such as, for example, personal identity, family, clothing, food, etc. as well as through instructional practices that promote inclusivity and belonging. Book-ending these topics, are two Lounges dedicated to exploring approaches to teaching Russian and the diversity of the Russian-speaking peoples in the context of the on-going war in Ukraine.
October 7, 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST
Teaching Russian today
The war in Ukraine continues to overshadow what we do in the classroom, both language-wise and culturally. Recent events inside Russia (mobilization, brutal suppression of any protests) and on the occupied Ukrainian territories (the so-called referendums) present new(er) challenges for our teaching. Some programs have changed their course content and/or co-curricular events in response to the on-going war. At the same time, many programs have seen a decrease in enrollments that may or may not be affected by the war, but this decrease itself may influence our teaching. This Lounge will be dedicated to the difficult question of teaching the Russian language and culture under these circumstances.
October 21, 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST
Diversity and inclusion at the lower levels of proficiency I
Topics discussed will include: names, pronouns, family members, professions, discussing relationships and marriage status.
The following questions will be explored: How do we get to know our students? What personal and family information do we ask from our students and what options do we provide to them for self-expression? How do we do this in a way that promotes inclusivity and a sense of belonging? What instructional practices promote inclusivity and belonging? What are some typical oversights in either our instructional methods or our content that can lead to alienation?)
November 4, 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST
Diversity and inclusion at the lower levels of proficiency II
Topics discussed will include “home,” “clothing,” “food,” “free time,” “travel”
The following questions will be explored: How do we discuss the topics of home, clothing, food, free time, travel and/or money/cost in a way that supports diversity and promotes inclusivity? How might we go even further to explore social justice concepts through these topics at the lower proficiency levels? Can we help students to see these realities as embedded both in cultural values and socio-economic realities? Can our lessons help students to be more reflective of these realities? Can a more nuanced way of addressing these topics help students to develop intercultural competencies?
November 18, 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST
Diversity and inclusion at the lower levels of proficiency III
Expanding cultural representation
The following questions will be explored:
How do students come to understand “Russian culture” and the Russian Federation through our classes? What images and topics are represented? How have we expanded the representations to promote diversity and inclusion? How do we avoid presenting stereotypes and oversimplifications? What work would we still like to do? What do we need in order to do it?
December 2, 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST
Addressing the diversity of the Russophone world
The following questions will be explored:
How might we continue to discuss the ethnic diversity within the Russian Federation, as well in the Russian diaspora in the near abroad, especially in the context of the war in Ukraine? How do we do this without being perceived to be promoting a Russian imperialist agenda? What are current best practices for teaching about the diversity of the Russophone world?
December 16, 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. EST
In the last Teachers' Lounge of the fall 2022, we will hear from colleagues with diverse backgrounds in our field. Please note that this is a change to what was previously announced as we try to accommodate the various demands of the end of the semester and year on everyone's time. The December 16th Lounge will explore the following questions:
Teacher’s Lounges will resume in January 2023 and will focus on feedback, assessment, and grading practices that are both grounded in SLA research and equitable.
October 7, 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST
Teaching Russian today
The war in Ukraine continues to overshadow what we do in the classroom, both language-wise and culturally. Recent events inside Russia (mobilization, brutal suppression of any protests) and on the occupied Ukrainian territories (the so-called referendums) present new(er) challenges for our teaching. Some programs have changed their course content and/or co-curricular events in response to the on-going war. At the same time, many programs have seen a decrease in enrollments that may or may not be affected by the war, but this decrease itself may influence our teaching. This Lounge will be dedicated to the difficult question of teaching the Russian language and culture under these circumstances.
October 21, 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST
Diversity and inclusion at the lower levels of proficiency I
Topics discussed will include: names, pronouns, family members, professions, discussing relationships and marriage status.
The following questions will be explored: How do we get to know our students? What personal and family information do we ask from our students and what options do we provide to them for self-expression? How do we do this in a way that promotes inclusivity and a sense of belonging? What instructional practices promote inclusivity and belonging? What are some typical oversights in either our instructional methods or our content that can lead to alienation?)
November 4, 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST
Diversity and inclusion at the lower levels of proficiency II
Topics discussed will include “home,” “clothing,” “food,” “free time,” “travel”
The following questions will be explored: How do we discuss the topics of home, clothing, food, free time, travel and/or money/cost in a way that supports diversity and promotes inclusivity? How might we go even further to explore social justice concepts through these topics at the lower proficiency levels? Can we help students to see these realities as embedded both in cultural values and socio-economic realities? Can our lessons help students to be more reflective of these realities? Can a more nuanced way of addressing these topics help students to develop intercultural competencies?
November 18, 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST
Diversity and inclusion at the lower levels of proficiency III
Expanding cultural representation
The following questions will be explored:
How do students come to understand “Russian culture” and the Russian Federation through our classes? What images and topics are represented? How have we expanded the representations to promote diversity and inclusion? How do we avoid presenting stereotypes and oversimplifications? What work would we still like to do? What do we need in order to do it?
December 2, 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST
Addressing the diversity of the Russophone world
The following questions will be explored:
How might we continue to discuss the ethnic diversity within the Russian Federation, as well in the Russian diaspora in the near abroad, especially in the context of the war in Ukraine? How do we do this without being perceived to be promoting a Russian imperialist agenda? What are current best practices for teaching about the diversity of the Russophone world?
December 16, 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. EST
In the last Teachers' Lounge of the fall 2022, we will hear from colleagues with diverse backgrounds in our field. Please note that this is a change to what was previously announced as we try to accommodate the various demands of the end of the semester and year on everyone's time. The December 16th Lounge will explore the following questions:
- What can we learn from colleagues with diverse backgrounds, including diverse enthoracial and gender identities, that will help us create more inclusive and diverse language classrooms?
- How did their unique backgrounds and professional experiences impact their learning of the language and how do they impact their teaching practices?
Teacher’s Lounges will resume in January 2023 and will focus on feedback, assessment, and grading practices that are both grounded in SLA research and equitable.
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