 It’s that time of year again and we are excited to start accepting applications for presenters to BCATML's 2019 Fall Celebrating LanguagesConference. We invite you and your colleagues to submit a proposal for a presentation, workshop, or sharing session at our PSA Day, to be held at Vancouver Island's Claremont Secondary School in Saanich, on Friday, October 25, 2019. Complete the online workshop proposal form before April 30th to be considered for this year’s conference by visiting our website.
Every year, our Conference Committee has the difficult job of reviewing the phenomenal proposals you provide and creating a balanced, comprehensive program for our participants. If you know anyone else whom you think has experience, energy, growth, and wisdom to share, please encourage them to submit a proposal or co-present with you! Workshops are approximately 75 minutes in length and can be about French, German, Japanese, Mandarin, Punjabi, or Spanish teaching. We are also interested in workshops pertaining to methodology, assessment and evaluation, infusing Indigenous perspectives and ways of knowing authentically, teaching the core competencies in the target language, sharing of resources, and much more! Submit your proposal, no matter what your ideas. Our members have a diverse range of professional interests, and our students have dynamic learning needs which we all strive to meet. Our schedule can accommodate single, double, or full-day workshops. We also encourage you to consider submitting proposals with co-facilitators (even if in a small part) to provide mentorship with facilitating a workshop and to help grow our second language teacher presenters for future workshops. In exchange for giving a workshop, Presenters receive a free conference registration (excluding your BCATML membership dues), as well as an appreciation gift on behalf of the Executive! This will definitely help to reduce costs for you in order to attend this year’s conference on Vancouver Island. As well, you will be able to connect with so many other teachers and expand your Professional Learning Network! When considering your proposal(s), we encourage you to focus on issues such as:
Submit your workshop proposal online via the electronic form on our website under the Conference tab, or by visiting www.bcatml.org/workshop-proposals.html. On behalf of BCATML’s Conference Committee, I thank you for your willingness to share your professional growth and expertise! We look forward to seeing the variety of ideas that will be flooding in! If you have any questions about submitting a proposal, email us at presenters@bcatml.org.
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 On March 6 & 7, 2019, BCATML representatives returned to the Ministry to begin updating the Languages 5 to 12 Template, a 246-page document which uses the Integrated Resource Package of the former curriculum (2003). This template needed to be streamlined and updated to the new KDU framework of the BC curriculum. Initial discussions with BCATML began two years ago, and BCATML was successful in advocating for the completion of this ministerial mandate despite the challenges of not having a dedicated Languages Curriculum Coordinator at the Ministry.
The Languages Template Team was composed of four BCATML members, one independent school teacher, and Ministry Curriculum Coordinators for Math, Science, Social Studies, and Physical Health Education. There were three specific goals for this meeting:
The Curriculum Team drafted a significantly more manageable template than the previous one. The team ensured that curriculum for grades 5 to 12 would require similar learning standards as those contained in the nine existing second languages curricula; while leaving flexibility for language specific needs not found in the other curricula. For instance, not all languages have an alphabet per se, but the team agreed that it was necessary to include an introduction to the writing system of the target language as well as teaching phonemical sounds relating to the script of the language. Additionally, highlighting cultural creative works, customs, traditions, and celebrations could also be easily included to better represent the needs of the target language. The new Languages Template will use a similar KDU framework of the other languages curricula to ensure that the teaching and evaluation of the Core Competencies remain consistent. It is expected that the Ministry will finalize the Languages Template by June 2019 for those school districts and communities wishing to develop language education programs for which there is local interest, such as Arabic, Croatian, and Russian (among many others). |
How to post:BCATML's Executive members can add news items here. Please email BCATML president at psac51@bctf.ca or your Language Rep with a news item or pro-d opportunity that you would like to share. Archives
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BCATML is the BC Association of Teachers of Modern Languages, a Provincial Specialist Association of the BC Teachers' Federation.
Website last updated September 6th, 2023 |
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