Trainee Courses

Course 2:  Creating Teacher Leaders in the Russian Classroom

Pre-requisites – prior participation in the Discover Russian STARTALK Course: Standards-Based Instruction in Russian Language: From Theory to Practice is recommended or experience teaching in a standards-based curriculum

This course is designed for Russian teachers who have worked a number of years in classrooms and have a desire to become leaders in their profession. The focus of the workshop will be to develop participants’ understanding of what it takes to become a leader, how to develop a vision of what good classroom performance is, how to communicate that vision to other teachers, and finally how to assist other teachers in implementing that vision in their classes. During the course, teacher trainees will focus on developing a vision, diagnosing difficulties, and promoting ways to manage the learning process. They will learn how to provide feedback and coaching to other teachers so that instruction is maximized. Technology will be an integral part of the course and will be used to gather evidence of student and teacher performance. Teachers will have an opportunity to practice their leadership skills while engaging in activities in the co-located student program. They will practice their leadership skills by serving as co-leaders of different levels in the program. They will read research on classroom leadership while they practice their leadership skills onsite. They will assist their colleagues in refining classroom practice and in working more collaboratively. They will work with classroom teachers to modify teaching plans and use peer coaching to improve instruction. They will “band together” with other teachers to promote professional growth while improving educational services (Troen & Boles, 1992). Teachers will also have time to reflect on the role that they can play in their home schools when they return in the fall. The course will allow teachers to “stretch” their knowledge base as they grow into future leaders.

Course 4:  Focus on Foreign Language Literacy

This advanced course will focus on promoting and understanding the role that literacy plays in foreign language learning.  In today’s world, literacy is fundamental to all learning – it is the means through which all further education is made possible.  Even an individual who wishes to pursue study in the field of technology must possess advanced skills in literacy.  Therefore, the focus of this course will be on how to promote literacy in the foreign language while still advancing students’ skills in oral communication.  This course will center on helping teachers choose texts that are both readable to students (readable at their instruction level not their frustration level) and interesting.  Teachers will also learn to use various tools to help students dissect texts.  Teachers will also learn how to teach “habits of mind” and other comprehension strategies to help students interpret meaning from texts.  Teachers and students in the co-located student program will correspond using a daily mail system so that students practice their literacy skills with another real live human being.  The practicum part of the course (microteaching) will consist of teachers providing private sessions on literacy with the group of students they are communicating with.

Course 6:  Writing to Read: Literacy in the Russian Classroom

The Lead with Russian:  Writing to Read is a course designed for experienced teachers and will continue the 2016 focus on building literacy skills across the Russian curriculum. This “advanced” course will focus on promoting and understanding the role that literacy (both reading and writing skills) plays in foreign language learning.  Because literacy is fundamental to all learning, we will continue to explore ways to enhance students’ literacy skills in the Russian classroom.  The focus of this course will be on how to promote literacy in the Russian class while still advancing students’ skills in oral communication.  The course will center on teaching students to use the oral skills that they have developed to enable them to read and write texts in the target language.  The theme of the co-located student program is “Discover Russia through Authentic Tales.”   The practicum part of the course (microteaching) will consist of teachers providing lessons on “writing to read” to a group of students in the co-located student program.  In these sessions, teachers will use the techniques learned in the course to see how well these techniques assist students in learning the target language; teachers will also have the opportunity to talk with students confidentially about how productive and useful these techniques were.  Finally, teachers will document the students’ learning through presentational and interpretive tasks and reflect on the course in their journals.  Teacher trainees will also correspond with the students using a daily mail system so that students have additional practice in reading and writing through correspondence with a real live person.  

Course 8:  Creating a Learner-Centered Classroom by the Gradual Release of Responsibility

This course is designed to provide information on aspects of creating Russian classes that are standards-based and encourage students to take ownership of their own learning. Participants will learn techniques for changing their classrooms from teacher-led classes into student-centered classes. They will help students become more effective learners and take ownership of their individual learning. They will discuss how to create comprehensible input that leads to comprehensible output on the part of the students. Trainees will apply this new knowledge to their Russian language instruction by creating and adapting materials that focus on language acquisition through real-life communication. Participants will have an opportunity to put into practice new techniques while doing micro-teaching lessons in the co-located student program.  The teacher trainee course will tie into the theme of the co-located student program, “Discover Russia through Authentic Tales,” by having teachers focus their engaging activities and microteaching on authentic cultural stories. Trainees will be afforded time to critique and improve their lessons.  Finally, participants will write daily reflections and share their materials with other members of the class through the development of an e-portfolio that provides evidence of their learning.

Course 10 – Creating Proficiency-based Foreign Language Assessments

This course is designed to provide information on aspects of assessing foreign language learning by creating performance tasks. Teachers will also see how to take traditional paper and pencil tests and transform them into real-world, relevant tasks that test student proficiency. The class will learn and discuss the value of both formative and summative assessments. Other learning will center on creating integrated performance assessments that will provide tasks in all three communicative modes: interpersonal, interpretive, and presentation. Participants will be involved in discussing how to make up good test questions and create alternative types of assessments. Because many tests are now being given on line, technology will be an important part of the course. Participants will also participate in a Modified Oral Proficiency Interview workshop. Teachers will learn to create projects that both teach new material and assess its learning. They will have an opportunity to put into practice the new techniques they have learned through micro-teaching and will be afforded time to critique and improve their lessons. In addition, participants will share their materials with other members of the class and with the field through the development of an e-portfolio that provides evidence of their learning. 

Course 12 – Assessments: Create, Integrate, and Evaluate

The Glastonbury STARTALK Lead with Chinese and Lead with Russian Summer Academy for Teachers will consist of 144 hours of instruction, 60 hours of pre/post-outreach and 84 hours in the Summer Academy located in Glastonbury, CT. The focus of the Academy will be how to assess growth in student proficiency. Teachers will learn to create an Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA) for thematically based units and how to assess students’ oral proficiency using a Modified Oral Proficiency Interview (MOPI). They will learn to create assessments in all three modes of communication and learn to differentiate their assessments. Teachers will share their assessments with others in the Academy before testing on a volunteer group of students to receive feedback on clarity and suitability of the prompts. Finally, they will use their assessments with their own students and present their results, including samples of student work, to other members of the Academy at a review conference in December 2023. By completing the course, teachers may earn three graduate credits at Elms College in Chicopee, Massachusetts.