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From the SEELANGS listserv: 

American Councils and ACTR are happy to invite you to apply to the 2019 Summer Russian Teachers Program.

Program Highlights
- Offered in St. Petersburg, Russia, on the campus of the Russian State Pedagogical University (Herzen)
- Four-week fellowships for U.S. teachers of Russian to update knowledge and skills in language, culture, and pedagogy
- Intensive small-group coursework and seminars led by expert faculty of the Russian State Pedagogical University
- Topics include contemporary Russian culture, literature, linguistics, and teaching/learning strategies
- Integrated cultural activities and excursion
- Housing with local host families that provide two meals per day
- Pre-departure and in-country orientation
- Comprehensive health, accident, and evacuation insurance while overseas

Eligibility Requirements
- Russian language teachers at the K-12 or university level or graduate students preparing for a career in language education

Dates: July 2019 (4 weeks)

To express interest or ask questions, please e-mail Elliott Kaduck at American Councils: ekaduck@americancouncils.org

Application Deadline: March 1, 2019

Dengub, E. [SEELANGS] Fully funded 2019 Summer Russian Teachers Program in Saint Petersburg. SEELANGS listserv (SEELANGS@LISTSERV.UA.EDU, 12 Feb 2019).

From https://geohistory.today/whos-ukrainian-politics/

Morgan Henson writes, "Nearly all of Ukraine’s political struggles can be understood as stemming from two major sources. The first is a perennial struggle against corruption, which has hindered economic growth and led a succession of political candidates to gain support as they campaign on anti-corruption platforms and to lose support as they fail to deliver on promises to reduce corruption and grow a strong, stable economy. The other major issue stems from the deep political and demographic divisions within the country, preventing a strong reform movement as Ukraine oscillates between political powers and competing ideas of how to best move forward." Read the full article, which includes introductions to the major candidates, other political players, and oligarchs, at https://geohistory.today/whos-ukrainian-politics/

We've posted before (http://caslsintercom.uoregon.edu/content/3833 and http://caslsintercom.uoregon.edu/content/4889) about MERLOT, a free and open resource curating links to online language learning materials. 

Recently, a SEELANGS listserv user posted the following: 

My name is Irene Knokh and I am a volunteer editor for the Russian section of MERLOT.org. You might think of wine when you see that acronym, but actually MERLOT is a program through California State University that provides access to curated online learning and support materials reviewed by an international community of scholars. 
 
MERLOT.org needs more reviewers with expertise in learning and teaching Russian. Reviewers are volunteers. They can do as much or as little reviewing as they wish. It’s a great way to learn about resources available for you to use in your own classroom and to contribute to the profession. It’s also a great way for graduate students and beginning assistant professors to get some professional service on your curriculum vitae AND learn about new resources for teaching with technology (a topic, I’m told, that comes up often in job interviews).
 
To learn more about MERLOT.org, please go to the website and explore.
 
If you’re interested in being a reviewer for Russian, please reach out to me directly / off-list at this address: iknokh@umich.edu
 
Sincerely,
 
Irene Knokh
University of Michigan
Volunteer editor for the Instructional Technology Board/MERLOT.org
Volunteer board member and reviewer for the Professional Development and Coaching Board Member/Reviewer/MERLOT.org
Volunteer editor for the Russian section of MERLOT.org

Drozd, A. [SEELANGS] MERLOT.org. SEELANGS listserv (SEELANGS@LISTSERV.UA.EDU, 5 Feb 2019).

An FLTEACH listserv user recently shared many of the activities that she does in her Spanish II class during an art unit. Read her summary in the FLTEACH archives: https://listserv.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind1901&L=FLTEACH&P=R4672

Another teacher also shared some helpful videos and virtual tours; read her contribution here: https://listserv.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind1901&L=FLTEACH&P=R5331

From http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_now/2019/02/how_to_differentiate_instruction_without_losing_your_mind.html

In an animated video published by Education Week last fall, Larry Ferlazzo explained that differentiating instruction is really about getting to know your students and being flexible with the ways they demonstrate their learning (https://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_now/2018/09/differentiating_instruction_its_not_as_hard_as_you_think_video.html). It is not, in fact, about spending your evenings planning a separate lesson for each student. 

In this article, Education Week publishes two more videos about differentiation featuring Ferlazzo and veteran teacher Katie Hull Sypnieski. In the first one, Ferlazzo and Hull Sypnieski describe techniques they use to differentiate lessons for English-language learners. Those include strategies like pairing up students of different language levels and playing classroom videos at slower speeds. 

In the second video, the teachers talk through the kinds of questions they ask themselves when planning a lesson for a multi-ability classroom. What will students do if they finish early? How can the materials be modified to make them useful for all types of learners? 

Access both videos at http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_now/2019/02/how_to_differentiate_instruction_without_losing_your_mind.html

From https://news.azpm.org/p/news-articles/2019/2/7/145858-arizona-lawmakers-ready-changes-to-how-english-language-learners-are-taught/

Arizona Lawmakers Ready Changes to How English Language Learners are Taught
The House and Senate are poised to pass bill changing how ELL students are taught.
by Christopher Conover
February 7, 2019

The Arizona House gave preliminary approval Thursday to a bill that gets rid of requirements that English language learners spend a four-hour block each day in language classes.

The bill's House sponsor, Rep. Michelle Udall, said that model just doesn't work.

"We know that students learn a foreign language best when they are among native-speaking peers, and this gives them more opportunities to be among native-speaking peers from the state," she told the House.

Supporters of the proposal said keeping English language learners segregated for half the school day means they also do not receive enough instruction in other subjects, like math.

An identical bill is moving through the Senate.

The proposals have bipartisan support in both legislative chambers.

From https://www.languagemagazine.com/2019/01/21/bilingualism-no-problem-for-children-with-down-syndrome/

Children with Down syndrome can and do become bilingual. Initial findings of a research study at Bangor University suggest that speaking two languages is not in any way detrimental to the language development of children with Down syndrome. Bangor University is working with the Down’s Syndrome Association in Wales to examine language in Welsh–English bilingual children with Down syndrome and children exposed to English only. Researchers tested expressive and receptive language skills, as well as phonological awareness, the ability to manipulate speech sounds, in both languages. The English of the two groups was found to be at the same level.

Rebecca Ward, postgraduate researcher working on the project, explains: “We are finding that there are no differences between the English of the bilingual children and the English of the monolingual children with Down syndrome. In addition, their Welsh skills are in line with the skills of typically developing children of the same developmental age.” The research team is led by Dr. Eirini Sanoudaki, who is senior lecturer in language acquisition at Bangor University and has been researching language in children with Down syndrome for over ten years. Dr. Sanoudaki explains: “These are exciting findings and an important step towards supporting bilingual families. Parents of children with Down syndrome have been traditionally advised against exposing their children to two languages, for fear that the children would not be able to cope. We are now seeing that there is no basis for such fears. The children are making excellent progress in both languages.

“Children with Down syndrome can speak two languages. We are happy to be able to provide information which can support and empower families in their decisions.”

From https://duallanguageschools.org/school-talk/develop-authentic-biliteracy-in-language-immersion-classrooms/1/

Angela Palmieri has written an excellent introduction to the concept of translanguaging and its importance in dual language instruction. She writes, "It goes beyond code switching and translation because it refers to the process of making meaning and simultaneous literacy. Code-switching refers to the alternation between languages in specific communicative situations, whereas translanguaging is a process of making meaning, and the focus is on how the language user draws upon different linguistic and cognitive resources to make sense. Translanguaging theory recognizes that all people, including monolinguals and bilinguals, have one linguistic repertoire, learned through dynamic social interactions, and from which they select and employ features to make meaning in context (Vogel & Garcia, 2017)."

Although the focus of the article is on the importance of translanguaging in dual language instruction, Palmieri also points out its importance in all language teaching contexts: "It is important for educators to understand that students are always translanguaging-selecting appropriate features from their language repertoire (Vogel & Garcia, 2017). Not allowing for translanguaging will promote the students' linguistic insecurity, leaving them in a state of incongruency as they evaluate their bilingualism according to isolated monolingual standards and practices. Isolating languages of instruction in all types of language education classrooms will result in the students' failure to acquire new linguistic features and will not develop their bilingualism (Vogel & Garcia, 2017)."

Read the full article at https://duallanguageschools.org/school-talk/develop-authentic-biliteracy-in-language-immersion-classrooms/1/

From http://blog.tesol.org

Betsy Gilliland interviews Lin Zhou, a graduate student at the University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa whose dissertation project involves students playing an interactive role-playing computer game in class in preparation for academic writing. Read the interview and learn more about game design for language learning at http://blog.tesol.org/online-role-playing-games-for-writing/