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May 19, 2008
"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty.
Anyone who keeps learning stays young." - Henry Ford
Parasites: What you see from the top of the Eiffel Tower.
•
 Pre-School Allowance and Early Childhood Scholarship Programs
A
city-wide Pre-Kindergarten Allowance Program is available to assist
low-income families with paying for quality childcare or preschool
programs that will help children get ready for Kindergarten. Children
must be 3 or 4-years-old on or before September 1 of the current year
when enrolling in childcare or a preschool program.
The St.
Paul Early Childhood Scholarship Program is also available to assist
children from low-income families in the North End and Frogtown areas
with childcare or preschool. The program will help pay for full- or
part-time, center or family-based childcare and preschool services
starting when a child is 3-years-old. The Saint Paul Public Schools’
Pre-Kindergarten Program is approved to receive the Allowance or
Scholarship funds from families. Funds will be used to increase
programming for families.
You are encouraged to apply for these
programs by calling the Saint Paul Public Schools’ Student Placement
Center at 651-632-3760.
The English and Spanish fliers are attached below:
English Flyer
Spanish Flyer
Click on image to see a larger version
5th Annual Hmong Enrichment Programs Celebration
We invite you to join us in the 5th annual Hmong Enrichment Programs Celebration. Many of our students in 8 different schools have been working hard all year in learning Hmong language, literacy, culture, art, dance, and history. This celebration is a great time for students and staff to showcase their talents and what they have learned throughout the school year. Through the Hmong Enrichment Programs, many students have gained more value in being Hmong and learning about Hmong. It's also a good time for you to come and show your support for the students and the Hmong programs. I am so proud of them and I hope that you will come to celebrate with us!
The celebration is on Friday, May 23rd from 5:30-8:30 at Arlington High's Great Hall. Hope to see you there!
Flier
Washington Middle School Grand Reopening
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Grand Reopening
Program 10:00AM to 10:30AM
Tours at 10:30AM
You
are cordially invited to our Grand Reopening. Please join us as we
celebrate the completion of our $17 million renovation. A landmark in
Saint Paul’s North End neighborhood, Washington Technology Magnet
Middle School proudly continues a tradition of academic excellence,
inclusive and welcoming programs, and outstanding opportunities to the
students and families of Saint Paul with the new BioSMART initiative.
Come meet our students and staff! Come enjoy the architectural
creativity in the space and light of our new design! Come experience
Washington!!!
We look forward to seeing you!
Jackson Hmong Program CelebrationThe Jackson Hmong Bilingual Program will host an end of the year celebration at the school on Wednesday, May 21. Jackson is located at 437 Edmund.
Collaboration and Scaffolding Conference Preliminary Information
The Special Education and ELL Departments are planning a week long Collaboration Conference from July 21-25th. The week-long conference is for both co-teachers (General Ed. and ELL) that will begin co-teaching together next fall, as well as for those who have taught together in the past and want to deepen their skills. Teams will work together to apply what is taught directly to their teaming and instructional lesson planning. Staff will be paid at the workshop rate or be able to earn in-service credits for lane change.
Registration will be forthcoming on PD Express. The conference will be open to 100 co-teaching pairs (half from SE-GE and half from ELL-GE; there will also be some GE-SE-ELL combos).
For new co-teachers who cannot attend this week, we will be offering a much abbreviated co-teaching professional development session opening week. This date is being finalized now and will be shared in the near future.
 PreLAS Kits and DVRs
If you have
more than one preLAS kit at your school, please keep one for your
building and return all additional kits to the ELL Department at 360
Colborne. Please attach a note to any returned kits if there are
damaged or missing materials from the kits. Extra kits will be made
available for checkout for the fall testing window, which is from
August 20th through September 24th.
We would really appreciate
any feedback on the use of the digital voice recorders (DVRs) for the
preLAS assessment or for instructional purposes, so please send them to
Anh via school mail or email (anh.tran@spps.org). The DVR kits will
need to be returned to the ELL Department by the end of the school year
and may be checked out again in the fall. If you have any questions
about any of this information, please contact your TOSA.
End of Year ELP Report Information
Instructions for completing and submitting the ELP End of Year Reports are available on-line.
 MN GRAD Writing Prompts
During the fall of 2008, there will be a field test for
GRAD written composition. We will be beginning prompt development
shortly. We are inviting high school teachers to submit writing prompts
that could be used for the GRAD written composition. The prompts will
be reviewed with a panel of Minnesota teachers during a Prompt Review
this August. Prompts must pass a review of bias and sensitivity as well
as a review of field test performance data before being used with
students in an operational test. Prompts must be brief, allow all
populations of students to access the prompt with common background
knowledge, and be appropriate for all student populations (e.g.,
English language learners). Previously-used prompts can be found online.
Please encourage your high school English teachers to submit their
prompts to mde.testing@state.mn.us with “Writing Prompts” in the
subject line. The deadline for submitting prompts is June 16th.
T.ELL.E.GRam
The May issue of the T.ELL.E.Gram from Colorín Colorado is available on-line.
Puppet Making Class
In
partnership with the Ordway Center for Performing Arts, CHAT will be
offering a PUPPET MAKING CLASS where participants will make larger than
life sized puppets in Hmong clothing to walk in the International
Children’s Parade on May 31, 2008 in downtown Saint Paul!
This is a GREAT opportunity! Classes will happen at CHAT: 995 University Avenue Saint Paul, MN 55104
for more info, call 651-603-6971
Please
tell and encourage every young person you know to participate! And, the
BEST part of all… CHAT will own these puppets and use them forever!
Art Exhibit by Kao Lee Thao - June 1 - July 31. Gallery Open Reception, June 7, 6:30-8:00 p.m.
 Art is an inspired echo of human existence.
Solo Artist Series by Kao Lee Thao
2008 Pioneer Press Gallery Exhibit
Kao Lee Thao's paintings are infused with an expressively fluid
style that allows viewers to travel into the past and see the echo of
Hmong folktales, themes, and patterns passed down verbally from
generation to generation in the Hmong culture.
June 1 - July 31, 2008
Pioneer Press Gallery
Saint Paul Pioneer Press
345 Cedar Street
Saint Paul, MN 55101
Gallery Hours
Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Opening Reception
Saturday, June 7, 2008
6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
University of Minnesota Course Offering in Multicultural Literacy
Course offering Summer 2008:
Teaching Multicultural Literature in Secondary School
July 7-18, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Instructor: Jill Ewing Flynn, flyn0103@umn.edu
CI
5410 section 2 is a three credit course that provides a theoretical and
practical foundation for secondary teachers to increase effectiveness
in the instruction of literature from diverse cultures. Students will
address
pedagogical and curricular issues as well as explore
complications surrounding the use of such texts, learning effective
skills and strategies for working with multicultural literature in the
secondary classroom.
Class activities will revolve around
several academic texts and articles designed to provoke thought and
discussion about issues of teaching diverse literature in the secondary
classroom. Students will then incorporate new ideas and philosophies
learned through reading and discussion into practical designs for
teaching specific pieces of diverse literature. In participating in
these activities students will also be asked to carefully examine their
own philosophies and cultural beliefs as they relate to their
pedagogical practices.
Objectives: In this course, students
will *reflect on their own cultural backgrounds and beliefs as related
to their teaching. *reflect on how students' cultural backgrounds may
influence their interactions with literature. *examine methods of
integrating multicultural literature into the curriculum. *develop
effective strategies for teaching specific works of multicultural
literature.
Guiding questions:
1. How can teachers
successfully and critically engage students in diverse works of
literature? How can teachers incorporate new texts and rethink old
texts? What pedagogical practices can teachers learn to more
effectively teach these texts?
2. What can we learn from
students' responses to multicultural literature? In what ways do
students' cultural and social stances and assumptions
affect their readings of multicultural literature?
3.
How might differences and/or similarities between the cultures of
teachers and of students come into play during the instruction of
diverse types of literature? In what ways might classroom, school, and
community contexts affect how teachers approach the teaching of
multicultural literature?
Major assignments for the course will
likely include a dialogue journal, group presntation/model lesson, and
a personal "philosophy" paper (due
approximately one week after
the final class period) in which students examine some of the questions
listed above and discuss how they will use this knowledge to teach a
piece of literature in the future.
Assignments, readings, and
class activities will be tailored to the needs of the students who
register for the course. Please email Jill (flyn0103@umn.edu) with any
questions! Thank you.
2008 Summer Institutes at the University of Minnesota
Medieval Film: Exploring European Culture through Time and Place
June 23 - 27, 2008 - class meets 9:00am - 4:00pm daily
Ray Wakefield, Department of German, Scandinavian and Dutch, University
of Minnesota
Immigrant Dreams & Contemporary African Diasporic Literatures
June 23-27, 2008 - class meets 9:00am - 4:00pm daily
Njeri Githire, Department of African-American and African Studies,
University of Minnesota
Transitional Justice: Seeking Truth and Accountability for Systematic
Human Rights Violations
July 7 - 11, 2008 - class meets 9:00am - 4:00pm daily
Barbara Frey, Human Rights Program, and Martha Bigelow, Department of
Curriculum and Instruction, University of Minnesota
Documenting the Hmong Diaspora: Literary, Cinematic, and Oral Historical
Approaches to Diaspora
July 14 - 18, 2008 - class meets 9:00am - 4:00pm daily
Mitch Ogden, Department of English, University of Minnesota
Contemporary European Politics and Society
July 28 - August 1, 2008 - class meets 9:00am - 4:00pm daily
Carl-Gustaf Scott, Department of Political Science, Hamline University
The Worlds of Islam
August 4 - 8, 2008 - class meets 9:00am - 4:00pm daily
G.S. Sahota, Department of Asian Languages and Literatures, University
of Minnesota
*About the Institutes*
*Registration Fees
***Summer Institute fees are $75/institute and include 30 CEUs,
readings, field trips, and lunch for each day of the institute.
*Location
*All institutes will be held on the University of Minnesota's
Minneapolis campus. Details about room and building locations will be
mailed out with your readings prior to the start of the institute.
*Academic Credit*
If you wish to register for undergraduate or graduate credit, you will be assessed tuition at the current rates and if you are not a current U of M student, you may register through the College of Continuing Education at the reduced departmental masters rate of $388/credit. Each
institute is a 2 credit course. Contact your home department to see if these courses will count towards your degree or licensure programs.
*Housing*
Teachers from outside the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metro area are eligible to stay in on-campus housing in single rooms. Each institute has a
limited number of housing scholarships available to teachers on a first-come, first-served basis. After the housing scholarship funds are
depleted, you may still pay for a room at the rate of $50/night. Visit
http://igs.cla.umn.edu/outreach to download an application.
<http://igs.cla.umn.edu/pdf/HousingApplication.pdf>
*Travel Stipends*
To encourage teachers from outside the Minneapolis-St Paul metro area to attend our *week-long summer institutes*, we have a limited number of
travel stipends available. Teachers may apply for stipends up to $250 and they may be used to defray the costs of airfare or mileage. Visit
http://igs.cla.umn.edu/outreach to download an application.
*Register Online*
To register, visit http://igs.cla.umn.edu/outreach/registration.html
Detailed descriptions about each institute are online at
http://igs.cla.umn.edu/outreach/profdev.html.
Questions? Contact Molly McCoy at outreach@umn.edu or 612-624-7346.
The summer institutes for teachers are developed and administered by the Institute for Global Studies at the University of Minnesota through the support of a Title VI grant from the US Department of Education.
Michelle Carter, MA, JD
Interim Director of Research and Sponsored Programs
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Wigley Administration Building 325
507-389-2322 office
507-389-5459 fax
2008 International Essay Contest for Young People - Creating a Culture of Peace
International Essay Contest organized by UNESCO and the Goi Peace Foundation
with the sponsorship of the Earthrise Society.
The theme for this year's contest is "My project to create positive change
in my environment. How can I foster sustainable development in my
community." The deadline for entry is June 30, 2008. First prize winners
will receive a cash award and a trip to Japan.
Please see the complete guidelines below. The same information can be
found on the Goi Peace Foundation website:
http://www.goipeace.or.jp/english/activities/programs/0801_00.htm
To read winning essays from last year's contest, go to
http://www.goipeace.or.jp/english/activities/programs/0702.htm
Please spread the information about the essay contest to young people in
your network.
May Peace Prevail on Earth!
The Goi Peace Foundation
National TPR Conference
The
national TPRS® Conference will be held at the University of Minnesota,
July 21-25, 2008. TPR Storytelling is a method for teaching languages
that was invented by Blaine Ray, in 1990 and is based on the work of
James Asher and Stephen Krashen. Check out the website to get more
information - http://ntprs2008.eventbrite.com/
September 19 and 20, 2008 MSU Moorhead
“Braiding the Strands for English Language Learners”
MSU Moorhead is planning to hold a TEAM Work Symposium: Teaching ELLs
with Academics in Mind on September 19 & 20, 2008. Sylvia
Linan-Thompson from the University of Texas, Austin will do
pre-conference training on oral language and reading interventions for
English language learners on Friday, as well as giving the keynote
address for the conference.
On Saturday, the 20th, presenters are needed for concurrent sessions.
These sessions will be divided into three strands: Getting Started
Teaching English Language Learners, The Transition to Higher Education,
and Advanced Scholarship and Education for ESL Teachers. A presenter
proposal form may be found by clicking on TEAM Work Symposium at
www.mnstate.edu/continue/.
For more information contact Michelle Glaser, Continuing Studies at 218-477-2392 or e-mail glasermi@mnstate.edu
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