PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Winter 2006
Chers collègues,
Nous vous souhaitons une bonne et heureuse année. This past fall has been a very busy time for us and, we are sure, for you too. At our October meeting at Widener University, Jan Rigaud from Villanova University spoke to us about Franco-American relations. During National French Week, the AATF and the Alliance Française hosted a book-signing and lecture at Rosemont College. Ruth Kapp Hartz spoke about her experiences as a hidden child in Vichy France as recounted in Stacy Cretzmeyer’s Tu t’appelles Renée which Ruth has translated into French. Un grand merci to Stephanie Schechner and Marilyn Conwell for hosting these two events. These and other events are offered as professional development opportunities for members with Act 48 credits available.
In 2006 we will continue to offer programs that we hope that you as educators will find valuable and interesting. At our winter meeting, scheduled for January 28 (snow date February 4) at Immaculata University, Sister Jean Faustman will share with us her presentation from the national convention in Quebec, entitled Childhood as a Key to Francophone Literature. At our spring meeting to be held at Chestnut Hill College in conjunction with MLAPV, Marilyn Conwell will discuss Nouveau Théâtre. We hope to see you there! If you have ideas for possible programs for the fall, please let us know. It is never too soon to start planning.
March is the time for the Grand Concours. Sister Mary Helen Kashuba has sent out information and registration forms via e-mail. If you have not received them, go to www.aatfphila.com for complete information and forms. For further questions, contact Sister at kashuba@juno.com. Good luck to all our participants.
Félicitations to our National French Week poster and essay contest winners and their teachers who continue to encourage them.
Amitiés,
Elaine Danford
Kim Marucci
Listserv Notice
Our listserv is exclusively for National and Philadelphia Chapter members. We send reminders of meetings and other events, as well as news that has not been included in the most recent newsletter. To read the complete Listserv Policy, go to our site, www.aatfphila.org. The listserv complements the website, and sometimes reinforces it. Members can request that open French positions be posted. If you are not on the listserv and would like to be included, please send a message to josilver@erols.com. And of course, if you would like to be removed or have your e-mail changed, you have that option.
-- Joanne Silver, Secretary-Treasurer AATF Philadelphia
ACTFL 2005 in Baltimore
The 39th Annual ACTFL meeting, held at the Baltimore Convention Center, attracted many teachers from neighboring states. The AATF was very well represented with our President, Margot Steinhart, our Executive Secretary, Jayne Abrate, several members of the Executive Council as well as many representatives of our membership. The presence of so many teachers of French provided visibility to our Association.
Personally, I enjoyed seeing so many friends from the Region. I “bumped into” members from Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey and of Course PA. It was especially exciting to see my former students as full-fledged professionals scurrying in and out of sessions. The Philadelphia Chapter had many representatives, in particular, Loreta Chirico-Perthes, past president and Elaine Danford the present co-president.
Nido Qubein, of Lebanese descent, delivered the keynote address. His talk, entitled “Communication, Culture: The Power of Language Learning” was inspiring, energizing and most entertaining. His delivery was interactive and provided much laughter. It was a perfect opening for the intellectual exercise that was to follow. The sessions I have attended were much less entertaining than Qubein’s speech, they provided, however, plenty of food for thought. Jayne Abrate’s presentation on Francophonie was highly informative as it provided a historical overview as well as an eyewitness account of the riots that rocked Paris in recent months. Most importantly, it underscored the healthy standing of French in the vast Francophone World.
Another session of particular interest to me was a presentation of Azouz Begag’s “Le Gone du Chaâba”. In this session, Michèle Bissière compared the autobiographical novel to the film. Her talk provided background information in preparation for the author’s visit at our Convention in Milwaukee this July. I can hardly wait to meet Azouz Begag in the flesh!
As to be expected, in this age of accountability, there were numerous sessions on testing and assessment. I attended a couple of sessions on this topic since for the past two years I have coordinated the Foreign Language online Assessment Project in Delaware, known as STAMP. I would recommend that you check out the STAMP on line. You will be pleasantly surprised.
As you may guess, it was not all work and no play. The Palmes Académiques dinner served as an opportunity for some good food, drink and excellent company. A couple of hours spent seated next to Diana Regan is always fun and energizing. Likewise, my repeated visits to the exhibits were an opportunity to collect treasures. I filled several bags with tapes, catalogues and books. I was very fortunate to be able to purchase a copy of Angèle Kingué’s latest book, which she graciously signed for me. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of meeting Angèle, look her up. She is at Bucknell and would be happy to visit the dynamic Philadelphia Chapter.
What next? The AATF Convention, of course! Hope you are planning to attend. Since the theme is “Cinema”, I expect to collect both practical pointers as well as usable materials for the classroom. By the way, don’t be discouraged by the distance and the cost! You are encouraged to use chapter funds to support the attendance of your officers. Likewise, schools have professional development monies. Put your requests in early and you are sure to get some help. The ACTFL Conference was fun, but I expect the AATF Convention to be even more fun. Don’t miss it! See you in Milwaukee in July!
Alice K. Cataldi
Region IV Representative
Several members of our chapter attended ACTFL in Baltimore and have agreed to share some information about sessions that they found especially helpful or interesting.
I was lucky to attend this year's ACTFL conference in Baltimore on a weekday and was able to attend several helpful sessions. One of particular interest was a conference given by the French Embassy. The overall emphasis of the presentation was to explain resources available to French teachers to further their own French study. To that end, the speaker detailed the annual summer scholarships available to French teachers. Each year the French Embassy offers three-week French study scholarships in different cities throughout France. At the time of the conference, they hadn't yet decided on this summer's host cities, but they have since been posted. It was suggested that interested teachers consult the website, www.frenchculture.org/education, which has a description of the program along with an application form. I checked it out myself and if you are interested, you should act fast since the deadline is January 20. A few attendees spoke of their experiences as summer scholarship recipients and how beneficial it was. Another resource that the Embassy stressed was the Alliance Française for which a link is available at www.frenchculture.org.
Suzanne Stadnicki
Strath Haven High School
According to Jacqueline Lemoine, the Cultural services of the French Embassy provide students and teachers with a large array of programs, materials and scholarships. Three-week summer programs for teachers of French (stages pédagogigues de courte durée) take place each summer in several French cities through the auspices of the French government. American students studying French (18-25 years old) may apply for scholarships to study in France and/or serve as “assistants” in French schools. Attendees were also referred to several useful websites, including www.espacefrancophone.org and www.frenchculture.org.
French teachers Jacqueline Friedman (Horace Mann School) and Diane Paravazian (St. John’s University) discussed the integration of art, film and the city of New York into high school and college French programs. Based on the theory that a foreign language is learned most effectively in an inter-disciplinary context, the presentation included clips from films on French artists and art, cultural aspects of French speaking countries and the experiences of students who discover the French resources of a major city. Particularly interesting to this attendee was the discussion of exploring francophone New York through opera, museums, plays, restaurants and musical performances.
Barbara P. Barnett
The Agnes Irwin School
I attended an early morning session on Saturday at ACTFL. It was definitely worth getting up for. The presenters, Genevieve Delfosse and Laura Franklin, gave an over-view of valuable websites one can reach by links form APCentral. One that I have explored and used with my students is www.lepointduFLE.net. It has grammar exercises for almost any grammar point one might want to teach. Some are better than others; but students can access the site, choose exercises to do, get feed back and send or print their work for teachers. One of the other participants also mentioned a website to help with correction of compositions www.lepatron.ca. I have used this site with my students on 2 occasions. It does not correct automatically, but highlights errors and offers explanations so that students can correct errors themselves. It does not catch every error, but I think that it is worth a try.
Elaine Danford
Strath Haven High School
I attended several sessions devoted to the integration of technology in the foreign language classroom. One session focused on a digital archive created by faculty and staff at Northwestern University. This archive is dedicated to information about the Picpus Cemetery in Paris (the final resting place of 1300 victims of the Reign of Terror as well as General Lafayette). The archive also contains information about the area around the cemetery which includes a hospital used as a detention center for Jews during World War II. (A prototype of the archive is located at: http://picpus.mmlc.northwestern.edu/) A second session introduced attendees to a digital text annotator that allows teachers to annotate texts (with text, material from the internet, video, images, etc.) for students to use in class or at home. The software for this annotator was developed by faculty and staff at Harvard University and is available for free to anyone who wants it. (The website for this presentation is http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~dbmarsh/actfl/) I found the entire conference to be an extremely worthwhile and enriching experience. I would strongly encourage members to consider attending the next ACTFL convention which will take place in Nashville in November 2006.
Stephanie Schechner
Widener University
Tête-à-Tête
Mentoring
The AATF has a new initiative to improve communication among teachers. If you are a relatively new teacher and would enjoy adding ideas to your repertoire, or if you are a more seasoned teacher and are eager to help the next generation, please contact Susan Zeager, our chapter’s Mentoring Coordinator at Szeager@wsd.k12.pa.us or at 610.277.3941.
Philadelphie Accueil
Philadelphie Accueil organizes evening and weekend activities for students grades 6 to 9, who wish to meet French adolescents and practice their language skills. Parents must be members of Philadelphie Accueil, and students must sign up for events in advance. For more information, you may contact:
Valérie de Conde
Présidente
Philadelphie Accueil
610.519.0145
e-mail: philadelphieaccueil@yahoo.com
AATF National Convention 2006
Milwaukee,July 5-8
Make plans now to attend. Preliminary information can be found in the National Bulletin and on-line at www.frenchteachers.org.
Honors and Awards
Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques
Dr. Maria Traub, former President of the Philadelphia Chapter of the AATF was named a Chevalier in the prestigious Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the French government in a ceremony at Neumann College held on Tuesday November 22, 2005. Dr. Traub who received her Doctor of Modern Languages degree from Middlebury College has had a distinguished career as a foreign language educator teaching at a number of institutions in the Philadelphia area. In addition to teaching both French and Italian, Dr. Traub has served as both Vice President and President of the Philadelphia Chapter of the AATF as well as Program Director of the Alliance Française of Philadelphia. A recipient of several scholarships from the American, French and Italian governments, she has conducted research on a wide range of topics from Montaigne to French business to George Sand. Dr. Traub at one time hosted a French radio program broadcast by WIBF in Jenkintown and has worked to spread the word about all things French in diverse venues. An excellent opera singer, Professor Traub provided invitees with a serenade as part of her acceptance speech, following a glowing “éloge” by a representative of the French government.
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| National French Week Poster Contest Winners (Local) |
| Elementary |
Colin Tucci (First Place)
Wyndcroft School
Ida Fauth (Teacher) |
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Nicole Pupillo (Honorable Mention)
Wyndcroft School
Ida Fauth (Teacher) |
| Middle School |
Perry Rugen (First Place)
Springton Lake Middle School
Nadine Hensley (Teacher) |
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Eddie Sundra (Honorable Mention)
Springton Lake Middle School
Nadine Hensley (Teacher) |
| High School |
Samantha Baxter (First Place)
Academy of Notre Dame de Namur
Kathlene Watters (Teacher) |
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Chiawei Leu (Honorable Mention)
Paul VI High School
Catherine Cannataro (Teacher) |
| National French Week Essay Contest Winners (National) |
Alexa Clofine (First Place)
Springton Lake Middle School
Dorothée Delory-Diaz |
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Danielle Rosenzweig (Honorable Mention)
Bala Cynwyd Middle School
Ferne Liez (Teacher) |
Jess Gardner (Honorable Mention)
Philadelphia University
Eileen Angelini (Teacher) |
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Friend of French Award
Contact Kimberly Riviere for more information or for a nomination form--skriviere@comcast.net. Deadline is March 31st.
Professional Development Award
Please send the nomination packet to Emily Z. Wagner, Germantown Academy, 340 Morris Road, Fort Washington, PA 19034. It should be postmarked no later than March 1, 2006. For further information, please contact Emily Wagner at ewagner@germantownacademy.org. |
Calendar of Events
Saturday, January 28 10-12
Winter meeting at Immaculata University, 18 Loyola Hall. S. Jean Faustmann will speak on the topic she presented at Quebec, “Childhood as a key to Francophone Literature”. This presentation includes childhood stories from the oral tradition in the Congo and from the French Caribbean, which are rewritten in a Reader’s Theater Format.
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Saturday, February 4
Snow date for winter meeting
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March 30 - April 1, 2006
Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, New York City.
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