Professional Development: STARTALK 2013 Boston University
I ran across the STARTALK publication of summer programs and applied for acceptance in the the Portuguese Teacher Training at Boston College. The requirement was a bachelor's degree and teaching experience. I heard about the opportunity from a coleague that I met while attending the Summer Program in Portuguese at the University of Massachusetts in 2012. She attended the first inaugural program and received a stipend. She spoke very highly of the program and was the reason why I applied.
The course took place online from July 1 - August 16. We met on the campus of Boston University from August 17 - 23, 2013. Our program started on a Saturday. It was in a very easy-to-find location. I took the train in from Quincy, MA with no problem. I have always loved cities with public transportation!
Day 1: We gave introductions in Portuguese. Most teachers were from there area. There was a very hands-on approach to learning Portuguese that was demonstrated with the first speaker. She did not sit down the entire presentation. In fact, she encouraged us to removed chairs and tables from the room to clear space for us to roam around and complete the activities. After lunch we had a Skype session with community organizations.
Day 2: We started the day with reflections from everyone regarding what they liked and didn't like about the previous days presentations. As a rusty Portuguese speaker, I always opted to speak last as it took time for me to gather my thoughts. This is something to consider as we have more reluctant students in our classrooms who need more time to process. Next we started the day with a professor from the University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth who discussed language variation in the Portuguese classroom. We discussed the role of Portuguese from Cape Verde and many of the area teachers chimed in on their experiences in the classroom. We closed out with a presentation on effective teaching practices.
Day 3: Again, we began with reflections on the previous day. We later learned about using technology in the classroom and how to use digital media in Portuguese classroom with a lecturer from Yale University.
Day 4: Today's presentation was probably my favorite because it revolved around teaching language in the community. Professor Ethel Jorge shared with us some very useful information on her projects that she has going in the Spanish language. She takes native English speakers and has them live with Spanish-speaking families. Her project seems to have built empathy in the community for future medical students. I sincerely hope this project is used as a model on how to build authentic and culturally competent language students.
Day 5: We again opened up with reflections. A Portuguese professor from Lesley University shared with us her assessment strategies and also her Global Portuguese project that she will have in conjunction with Universidade Aberta in Portugal. I will definitely look into this.
Days 6 & 7: These days were reserved for our teaching practicum. We were tasked with presenting lessons in Portuguese to students taking a Portuguese class in the summer. We were divided into groups and had to come up with lessons.
Day 8: Today was the last day which is always bittersweet. We had an amazing farewell breakfast. We talked about our recommendations for the next year for the program. Everyone agreed on how cost prohibitive Boston is. It helped that one of my best friends that I met as an undergraduate at Cornell University lives in the outskirts of Quincy, MA with her husband. I was able to room with them and take the train into Boston everyday. This cut out a lot of cost. Without them, I don't think that I would been able to have participated.
I would recommend this program to teachers who already have a good command of Portuguese as most of the participants were native and heritage speakers. I learned a lot. Also, after finishing the program, you are invited to be a member of a secret social media page where a lot of important information is shared!
Day 1: We gave introductions in Portuguese. Most teachers were from there area. There was a very hands-on approach to learning Portuguese that was demonstrated with the first speaker. She did not sit down the entire presentation. In fact, she encouraged us to removed chairs and tables from the room to clear space for us to roam around and complete the activities. After lunch we had a Skype session with community organizations.
Day 2: We started the day with reflections from everyone regarding what they liked and didn't like about the previous days presentations. As a rusty Portuguese speaker, I always opted to speak last as it took time for me to gather my thoughts. This is something to consider as we have more reluctant students in our classrooms who need more time to process. Next we started the day with a professor from the University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth who discussed language variation in the Portuguese classroom. We discussed the role of Portuguese from Cape Verde and many of the area teachers chimed in on their experiences in the classroom. We closed out with a presentation on effective teaching practices.
Day 3: Again, we began with reflections on the previous day. We later learned about using technology in the classroom and how to use digital media in Portuguese classroom with a lecturer from Yale University.
Day 4: Today's presentation was probably my favorite because it revolved around teaching language in the community. Professor Ethel Jorge shared with us some very useful information on her projects that she has going in the Spanish language. She takes native English speakers and has them live with Spanish-speaking families. Her project seems to have built empathy in the community for future medical students. I sincerely hope this project is used as a model on how to build authentic and culturally competent language students.
Day 5: We again opened up with reflections. A Portuguese professor from Lesley University shared with us her assessment strategies and also her Global Portuguese project that she will have in conjunction with Universidade Aberta in Portugal. I will definitely look into this.
Days 6 & 7: These days were reserved for our teaching practicum. We were tasked with presenting lessons in Portuguese to students taking a Portuguese class in the summer. We were divided into groups and had to come up with lessons.
Day 8: Today was the last day which is always bittersweet. We had an amazing farewell breakfast. We talked about our recommendations for the next year for the program. Everyone agreed on how cost prohibitive Boston is. It helped that one of my best friends that I met as an undergraduate at Cornell University lives in the outskirts of Quincy, MA with her husband. I was able to room with them and take the train into Boston everyday. This cut out a lot of cost. Without them, I don't think that I would been able to have participated.
I would recommend this program to teachers who already have a good command of Portuguese as most of the participants were native and heritage speakers. I learned a lot. Also, after finishing the program, you are invited to be a member of a secret social media page where a lot of important information is shared!
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