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April 1, 2009: January - March 2009 Highlights
March 23, 2009: French students shoot winning video, net cash for school
Madame Borton’s French students have reason to celebrate, in French of course. A team of four Florence M. Gaudineer Middle School seventh graders claimed first place among middle school contenders nationwide in the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) annual podcast contest. Michael Wang, Ricky Strobel, Jeffrey Lau and Brittney Leu teamed up to produce a 1-minute video clip on the given theme: Languages for Life. Their first place prize came with $500 for their school.
“I’m so thrilled for them,” said Madame Borton, who had challenged all of her French students to produce podcasts, both for a grade in her class and for a chance at national recognition. “All of the students produced a video… So they all found different ways that language was useful to them.”
A podcast is a video clip posted on the Internet. In this case, small teams of students from all over the country produced 1-minute podcasts in the form of public service announcements, making the case for world language study. Contestants were judged in four areas: content, creativity, execution and effect.
The winning podcast begins with a dismayed French student, played by Brittney Leu, agonizing over her French studies. She is then visited by a “good language fairy,” who inspires her to press on despite the competing advice of the mostly muted “bad language fairy.” Michael Wang and Jeffrey Lau played those two parts, while Ricky Strobel shot the video with a steady hand.
The ACTFL, a national organization dedicated to the improvement and expansion of the teaching and learning of world languages, called for podcasts in line with national standards for world language pursuits. The five C’s had to be encompassed in the video submissions: communication, culture, communities, comparisons and connections.
Michael Wang said the project made him and the others “realize that French isn’t just a language to memorize, but a culture to be studied and appreciated.” Meanwhile, Ricky Strobel, the director, said he enjoys using technology in the classroom: “Instead of a textbook, you can get better resources on the Internet.” He then added: “You can go further with projects in school with programs like PowerPoint and Excel.”
Madame Borton’s students’ success can be attributed partly to the Springfield Public School District’s one-to-one computer to student ratio. Every student at both FMG and Jonathan Dayton High School gets a laptop in September, which they use in school and at home every day through June.
Besides Madame Borton, who readily uses web-based portals for learning in her tech-friendly classroom, other teachers at FMG and JDHS have caught the technology bug. Fellow World Language teacher Mr. Krumholz, who teaches Spanish at FMG, had his students compete in the contest too. He has also experimented with discussion boards to create outlets for genuine exchanges with native speakers from Latin countries. Down the hall, Ms. Milochik, who teaches Civics, has made the public service announcement project a staple of her teaching practice. Meanwhile Communication Arts teacher Mrs. Francois is busy teaching the intricacies of PowerPoint in conjunction with effective speaking and writing skills to her eighth graders.
The FMG winning podcast, and winners from the other three categories—elementary, high school and post secondary—can be seen on the ACTFL website: www.discoverlanguages.org or www.actflvideocontest.org.
Photo courtesy of FMG seventh grader Rachel Stone.
March 10, 2009: Matt Shanes' Video: The Gift of Life
No matter who you are or where you are from you can donate blood. One donation (approximately 1 pint of blood) can save between 2 and 3 lives. All across the country blood drives are being run daily and the need for blood has become more and more great. Blood of all types is always in demand because whether it is used for a surgery patient, an accident victim or a cancer patient (like Jordan in the video), a simple 1 hour procedure can save multiple lives.
Jonathan Dayton High School senior Matt Shanes is working with the NJ Blood Services to raise awareness for the need for blood donors. In order to do this, he has created a video which can be viewed on the link below. The success of his video and campaign will be judged by NJ Blood Services by the number of times his video is viewed. Please watch the video and share the link with your email lists, family and friends as the need for blood donations at this time is so great.
Click here to view Matt's video.
March 4, 2009: Jonathan Dayton High School Second Marking Period Honor Roll
November - December 2008 Highlights
September - October 2008 Highlights
