PS- I love my students because they make really cool shirts!!!

This one is for Debbie....while she writes final papers and looks for internet shopping bargains...she might just pass by katelandia and see that I miss her mucho!!
I HEART DEBI WEBI!

Mi querido amigo David...uh...what were you doing in this picture anyways??
Who cares-
YOU ARE AWESOME!!!

So, in November I was inducted as an official North Atlanta (Buckhead) ROTARACT member!!!

Rotary is a great organization and I'm so thankful to have found such a wonderful group of young people who dedicate their time and energy to figuring out how to better service the community one project at a time.

I HEART HALLOWEEN and THE NETHERLANDS (HAUNTED HOUSE IN ATL)!!
Storm (melissa), VS Angel (stacy), Elvis (mickey) and Evil Hockey player/scary Jasonette (me).

We decorated my boss's office....he's an LSU grad..yes...i love my job.

Team NAFTA at easter service in Gainesville, FL. 2006

Maggie (Melissa's cat)...is holding my GA cups hostage!! hahahaha

Stacy and I steppin on Andrew Jones' Georgia bathmat (which he refuses to step on when getting out of the shower)...hahaha...good times.

So...what's with the costume? Stacy, Georgia and I roll into Andrew Jones' place...we give ourselves the self tour and wander into Scott's closet....low and behold: an ELVIS costume....of course, I've had a few pops and I put it on backwards! The best part is...the three of us wander out to the living room...playing the guitar and dressed up...and no one even noticed because the Georgia game was on!! WTF!? Fun times.

Yup, that's a python in my hands! Don't let the smile fool you...that IS sweat beading on my forehead!

Me voy para Mexico...hijole!

Kate, Eva y Rey...we were celebrating after the comps. Why am I not overjoyed with happiness in this foto...hmmm...let's see...I was just about to leave the house...I had done my hair and make-up, dressed up for a change...and when I stepped out the door on my way to the post-comps event, I saw my car and Debbie's car submerged in a mini lake in front of the house. What did I do? I rolled up my pants, waded through the mirky water in sandals, in the pouring rain and moved both cars (Debbie was in Cali)...then I changed and voila...a pisco sour or two later and some IHOP and the night was salvaged...good times.

A lil gator kiss Alberto and Joy, sois los mejores!
Princess x 2

Joylandia y Kate que no es Joy

Nayi, Patricia, Fernando, Belinda en Francia...I can't wait to see them (and Iris and Fer) again soon...Viva el cachondeo espanol!!!

In the spirit of Jennifer Gray and Patrick Swayze: the lift. Love this foto.

Audioblog Project:

After a trip or two around the ODEO handout to re-acquaint myself, I had a blast creating audio posts and a little activity for the L2 classroom centred around the above painting "Las Meninas" by Diego Velazquez and questions that incorporated relevant chapter vocabulary for the students (in my case, Spanish-SPN1131) to respond to. Play the ODEO audio below to try it for yourself!
Or follow this link.




Holaoooodeoooo!

Mini Project #3
“The purpose of education is to bring out the best in you” – Gandhi

My life plans changed after a successful year-long exchange experience in Spain. I decided that I was going to major in Anthropology AND Spanish at University…I also decided that teaching was in my future. Interestingly enough, my teaching journey during the past two years of my M.A. degree has followed a similar path to my second language acquisition process. That is to say, I had almost no previous knowledge but armed with a positive attitude, the appropriate environment and a large period of time in which to learn and progress, voila, I have become a Spanish teacher.

During my M.A., I have been privileged to take courses on foreign language methodology and technology in the foreign language classroom while simultaneously teaching beginning level Spanish classes. This shock method for how to become a teacher has proved to be a valuable learning experience all on its own. Both the material from my foreign language teaching methodology class and the daily trial and error class time forced me to continuously evaluate and modify my teaching style and approach. When I became comfortable in the classroom with my greatest resource, myself, I began to integrate technological tools that suited my teaching style, my needs and served to enhance my lesson plans. Overall, I have benefited extremely from this learning/teaching process because it has helped me to become a dynamic teacher.

However, in order for this dynamicity to be effectual, I believe that every trained teacher who wishes to be a great teacher must also acquire and develop a personal approach to education. In forming this conceptual approach I recognize that students must be engaged and challenged academically in a positive environment created by the teacher who educates by engaging and challenging the students.

As an expressive and energetic person, my personal teaching style and work ethic is infused with my passion for the Spanish language. I strive to instruct in a highly communicative, interactive and contextual manner while incorporating cultural sensitivity and real-world relevance. In the classroom I exude a positive nature and encourage academic excellence while seeking to create an environment conducive to equitable education. I promote the learning of language and culture in a societal ‘real world’ context as it helps the students to foster a broader social concept of Spanish speaking countries and can increase the interest level in the target language. I also integrate my linguistic expertise with the lessons learned from my personal experiences to assist and motivate students in the often daunting process of second language acquisition. I believe that it is fundamental to share my enthusiasm for education while encouraging students to set personal goals for academic development.

In the classroom, I enjoy incorporating technology into my lesson plans and I welcome the integration when, and only when, it will assist and/or improve the objectives of the lesson. I think that technology can greatly assist teachers as a tool, but it is important for me that it remain a tool and that it does not become a classroom crutch. At the moment I most often use power point as a visual aid and to relay information quickly as it can greatly save time (i.e.: review sessions). I also use a blog occasionally to post audio files for my class.

In the future however, I want to incorporate the more innovative technology that I have spent the past semester learning about and fawning over into my classroom (i.e. the Cultura Project, specialized chat tools etc.). Computer mediated communication has a place in the foreign language classroom, justified through Social-Cultural theory, helping both the teacher and the students to achieve new possibilities and make new cultural connections that include guest speakers from half way around the world – projected on a screen, chats with ‘key-pals’ in other countries and question and answer periods with professionals in other states through discussion boards. Technology is a part of my educational and foreign language teaching journey and I plan to use it, maintain it and advance with it.

Ultimately, I have chosen the teaching profession because of my desire to contribute to the educational and personal development of students. As a teacher I want to encourage my students to enjoy the learning process (+ to love Spanish!) and I want to see them shine! Education should inspire just that, as Gandhi said, it should “bring out the best in you”.

BLOG/DB Evals:

(above) The Bowler hat of Bolivia
(above) El baile de la Jota, Espana

The WIKI and its use in the classroom:
-Since the Wiki is of a collaborative on-line nature and can foster a sense of responsibility and community, I would try a class 'cultura' project: Students would be put into smaller groups (4) and they would be responsible for contributing information on a specific cultural practice/element of their choice from an assigned country - to avoid repetition. This repository of information, built by the students (cross-checked by the teacher...), could then serve as a group presentation to the class at the end of the semester.
Potential ideas:
-Baile de la Jota, Spain
-Los tejidos de Guatemala
-The bowler hat and tradition of Bolivia
etc...
Considering there are many organizational/grading/individual participation wiki factors to think about...this would hopefully be a good starting point to test wiki boundaries in the L2 classroom.
I think that grading of the final group presentations and student group member evaluations would be an integral part of the success of the wiki project.

Practica para el examen oral

SPN1131: La vida social

Preguntas de: 'Puntos de Partida' pagina 468

B. Entrevista #1

To listen click here or use the ODEO media player below.

Practica para el examen oral

SPN1131: Las profesiones y el dinero

Preguntas de: 'Puntos de Partida' pagina 490

D. Entrevista # 1-3

(Check comments section for questions)

To listen click here or use the ODEO media player below.

Practica para el examen oral

SPN1131: El arte y la cultura

Preguntas de: 'Puntos de partida' pagina 411

D. Entrevista #1

To listen click here or use ODEO media player below.

This commercial was very popular for a long time...and now that I'm living outside of Canada, I can laugh a little louder...yes the Beaver is a mighty animal and I am Canadian!!

Bloggity blog...
Response to MP2 ideas. TIFLErs are creative, I tell you...:
http://russellwusctifle.blogspot.com/
http://mariatifle.blogspot.com/

CHATHAM, ON CANADA- my hometown...
The former city of Chatham began as a naval dockyard in the 1790's, as it straddles the Thames River.
In the War of 1812, the Battle of the Thames took place at Moraviantown, near Chatham on October 5, 1813.
During the 19th century, the area was part of the Underground Railroad. As a result, Chatham is now part of the African-Canadian Heritage Tour.
In 1998 the former Chatham city government merged with that of Kent County to form the Municipality of Chatham-Kent. In 2003, the population within the boundaries of the former city of Chatham was 43,348.
The Municipality of Chatham-Kent consists of 23 communities.

Dre for Prime Minister!

(could you imagine!? I'd move home if you were PM!)

...you know what they say about those Chatham girls...

Straight out of Nintendo...

A snapshot of pre-comps studying...too bad I don't have a pic of friday afternoon post-comps activities...same deal but alcohol induced.

I'm taking Shasta to the airport tomorrow, she's going to Germany to do an MA in Linguistics! I'm so happy for you Shas...I'll work on living close to the ATL airport so you can fly in direct
hahaha. love that Alison Krauss song, you picked the perfect one for me!

The Comps? Less than pleasant.
Day 1: disaster.
Day 2: much better.
Day 2 afternoon: The five of us, the Swamp, a pitcher to myself...followed by the best nap I've ever had and then a sleepless night.
This week: I'm betting on a hot date at the orals...
Big picture: graduation*/moving!/working!/life or something like it!

Thinking of a happy place before the comps:

Patones, Espana. Pueblo no encontrado por Bonaparte durante la invasion francesa...

Even Frisbee superstars fall, awww

FYI: FOUND MY PHONE
(it was on top of the fridge....sad, I know).
Bloody Comps...
turningmybrainintoonebigpileofmush...*gasp of air*...
soallicanthinkaboutisspanishliterature....ayayay...

The Comps are turning my brain into MUSH...I LOST MY CELL PHONE...and I can't even follow the ring because I MUTED IT!!! So if you find it please tell me!!!!

Alberto enchilada? yes, slightly disturbing...hahaha...that funny
Mexi-can!
PS- I'm not responsible for any of this...Joy was apparently fighting to get the sheets to wash...and well there you have it...a wrapped up dormilon!

Umm...for some reason, I can't get over this...the funny thing is that Matthew generally does this much higher up on a light post...

Debbie's crazy happy about those comps handouts!!

Debbie:"Thanks soooo much guys!"

Shortly after I had a near heart attack because Matthew walked around the corner unexpected...from Georgia...

Happy green sibs
Joy and Matthew
Saturday at Lake Alice

VIVA REAL MADRID!!!
Matt y Erin en Madrid juntos, que bonito el amor...can't wait to hear your Spanish Matt and your marcha stories Erin...I bet you didn't get your camera stolen by a fugly prostitute!

If freezing cold nights and a lack of appropriate clothing were my only concerns...

I went to the CUNY MOO: what a trip. Cyber MOO space is a freaking jungle to the untrained MOO-guest. Obviously my inexperience with the commands plays a large part in my feeling this way, but being in a strange MOO, not knowing anyone and less than comfortable with the commands was tricky. I definitely felt much more comfortable in the UF MOO – I was with my classmates, the MOO atmosphere was familiar, I felt less inhibited…so what does this mean?
I can understand how once you get involved in a community of MOO-ers and familiar with the commands/‘terrain’, this could potentially be a useful tool to assist L2 learners.

With regards to the level of the L2 participants, I believe it would have to be beginner advanced or intermediate in order to participate actively and truly enjoy the experience.
I was in an ESL MOO and struggling to not get too frustrated about being trapped in one area and so I think that some command over the L2 would be highly beneficial.

In a MOO, I would expect that FL students navigate the MOO with a focus on seeking out dialogue/communicative exchange with fellow FL participants.

I’m not sure that I personally would implement this type of activity into the FL classroom as I can’t fully justify its value yet, but I would be willing to further investigate the advantages and disadvantages.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!!!!!
March 29th, 2006
THE BIG ?-?!!! Uhhh I mean forty-, or fifty uh, or whatever...
tee hee...anyway:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Have a great day!!
Love,
Kate

Kate Price
TIFLE
Dr. Lord
Mini Project 2: Vocabulary Blog
In preparation for this mini project, I was thinking about what CMC activity I might possibly incorporate into the beginning level II Spanish class that I teach (SPN 1131) and what areas are in dire need of attention. In a class like SPN 1130 or 1131 at UF, each chapter vocabulary receives one in-class day of instruction, and then of course it is incorporated into the grammar and lessons for the rest of the chapter. However, students have often expressed to me their dismay with the monotonous task of learning vocabulary at home and asked what they could do to better learn it on their own.
This CMC activity – a student vocabulary blog activity – is meant to help the students study and practice their chapter vocabulary after the in-class vocabulary lesson. Students will vocabulary blog in an asynchronous yet creative and communicative manner in the target language with classmates where meaning can be negotiated to some degree. It will also, hopefully, foster a greater interest in the vocabulary…or at least force the students to bond with their textbooks while blogging.
Assuming the mini project were to be carried out in my section of SPN 1131 at UF, the project would function as follows:
The vocabulary covered in this project would come from the chapters studied in the course textbook for the semester, Puntos de Partida.
The teacher would maintain an on-line blog such as www.blogger.com and students would be required to create their own personal blogs.
Students would be placed into groups of four and have to choose a group name collectively (based on vocabulary from the textbook), which would then be the main title of their blog plus their name i.e.: Las chuletas chulas – Blog de Jenny.
In-class chapter vocabulary lesson comes before any blogging. This is the introduction to the new vocabulary and first preparation for the blog assignment.
Students would then go to the teacher’s blog after the introduction of each new chapter and read a list of questions pertaining to the vocabulary i.e.: 1. ¿Qué haces para llevar una vida sana?. The students would then choose a question and elaborate a short response (3-5 sentences) in the target language on his/her personal blog. The focus is to create a personal response that incorporates the vocabulary.
The students are also responsible for creating one spin-off question in the target language for their group-mates. Each member of the group is then responsible for responding to one group member’s question and including chapter vocabulary in the response.
This vocabulary blog activity would take place with every new chapter throughout an entire semester and each activity must be completed before the start of a new chapter.
The goals of this project are to practice the vocabulary and individual writing skills in context while responding to the teacher/student’s questions, to creatively dialogue using the vocabulary and to negotiate meaning when necessary.
In addition to the semester long project tasks of vocabulary blogging, there would also be two follow up activity projects: a mid-semester vocabulary blog composition (i.e. covering chapters 8-11) and a final vocabulary blog composition (chapter 12-16). Several broad topics would be provided by the teacher for these compositions and the students would have to integrate a certain quantity of the covered vocabulary in context. These two compositions would be graded by the teacher on content, grammar and vocabulary under a different grading rubric than the vocabulary blogging rubric. These compositions should reinforce the importance of vocabulary acquisition and correct grammatical usage for communicative competence.
The grading of the vocabulary blogging would depend upon creativity and vocabulary content totaling 6% of the final grade and the blog compositions would be worth 2% each and graded similarly to an SPN 1131 composition but with a focus on the successful integration of Spanish vocabulary.
The ultimate goal of this CMC project is to provide the students with a unique and fairly autonomous outlet to practice vocabulary and negotiate meaning outside of class. The students will be required to complete an anonymous questionnaire at the end of the semester providing feedback regarding the project.

Queridisima Raquelilla,
I stole your foto and posted it here so I could specifically blog about how much I miss you and can't wait to see you...hopefully soon...of course if you come back to EEUU then you must finally make a visit to see me...as much as I love Texas, I mean come on, everything is bigger in Texas...I want to show you around Florida or Georgia!! Bueno guapisima, I love you, y'all have fun over there in Madrid and say Hi to the fam! (Honestly...I wouldn't even recognize Michael and Ana all grown up!) VIVA EL CACHONDEO ESPANOL!

Bistro should have paid us for this add!
hahahaha
Dave and Kate, March 2006
Dave maybe you should come visit more often... next time we'll film a commercial?

Oscar Wilde...that crazy Irish dandy said:

"You must not find symbols in everything you see. It makes life impossible."
-- “Salome”

"People who count their chickens before they are hatched, act very wisely, because chickens run about so absurdly that it is impossible to count them accurately."
-- Letter from Paris, dated May 1900

Urban living turtle style...