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World Language Educator's Monthly
Seattle Public Schools - February, 2023
"Nothing will work unless you do."
~Maya Angelou
Black History Month
Black History Month is not the only time black voices, justice, equality and equity should be focused on, but it is a time when collectively we should work as educators to teach and learn with a focus on black history, black legacies, and the work of black leaders in our past and current.
The first celebration of Black History Month was launched by black educators and students at Kent State University (OH) in 1970. Six years later, Black History Month was being celebrated in education settings across the United States. The annual observance has grown since then and by 2020, had grown beyond schools. It has been described as "a time when the culture and contributions of African Americans take center stage" in many cultural institutions including theaters, libraries and museums.
This year's theme, selected by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) is "Black Resistance" and is meant to bring awareness to the many ways Black people have worked to promote equality and resist racism.
Whitman Middle School Black, Brown, & Ethnic Student Union
Black History Month Whole School Performance & BBESU Chat by Hagucha Garinagu & Garinagu Houngua
Tuesday, Feb 28, 2023, 05:30 PM
Whitman Middle School, 15th Avenue Northwest, Seattle, WA, USA
Heritage Spanish Course Informational Session
Are you interested in learning more about teaching or offering a Heritage Spanish Language Course? Currently in SPS 4 high schools and 3 middle schools offer this course or a similar Spanish Language Arts course for native Spanish-speaking students. During this session I will share information about course structure ideas, resources, and why you might want to consider offering this course in the future.
This session will be Wednesday, March 8th from 4pm - 5pm on Teams. Email tbwilliams@seattleschools.org to join.
World Language Educator Initiative Work Groups
World Language Work Group Dates Scheduled - You are invited!
Initiative #1: World Language Level Outcomes & Expectations Guiding Document Sub Group. Each language and level will have a clear guiding document for expected outcomes. We will begin with Spanish 1, 2, and 3 and then move to the other languages and levels. We currently have multiple versions of level outcome documents and different resources. The work of this group will be to look at what has been created and simplify to one document for each language and level. We will meet three times between February and June. Goal is to be completed with this document for Spanish 1, Spanish 2, and Spanish 3 by June 30, 2023. 7 teachers have signed up and any Spanish teachers interested in participating in this group are invited to join. If you teach another language and are interested in this work I still invite you to sign up because we will do this work in all language areas.
This group will meet on the following dates:
Tuesday, March 7 – 4pm – 5pm
Tuesday, April 25 – 4pm – 5pm
Initiative #2: Anti-racist practices & Gender Inclusive language approaches in World Language Sub Group. I would like to provide some guiding language and tools to support world language educators in growing as anti-racist and more inclusive educators. Starting with myself, I know we can all grow in this area and the goal of this group is to develop some clear language and a few tools to support this growth and future professional development. We will meet three times between February and June. Goal is to be completed with this document and tools by June 30, 2023. I invite any interested world language educator to join. We currently have 12 educators signed up. Meetings will happen after school and you will be compensated for your time.
In both groups I am looking for diverse representation of regions, schools, and levels across middle and high school.
This group will meet on the following dates:
Thursday, March 2 – 4pm – 5pm
Thursday, March 30 – 4pm – 5pm
Lunar New Year Celebrations! Year of the Rabbit
Many schools in SPS celebrated Lunar New Year this past month. Below are some images from Mercer International Middle School, Denny International Middle School, and Rainier Beach High School. Thank you to all of the Chinese Educators in SPS!
Student Work at Rainier Beach High School
Student Work at Rainier Beach High School
Student Work at Rainier Beach High School
Washington Middle School - Duolingo "Classroom Quest" Challenge Completed!
Save the Date! World Language Department Chair meetings
WL Department Chair Meeting #3 - Wednesday, 4/5 4pm - 5pm
World language credit testing dates & site-based testing for 2022-2023
Interested in hosting a testing date at your school? Please contact tbwilliams@seattleschools.org to discuss details and schedule a date for this fall or spring. Last year over 10 schools hosted site-based testing days. Thank you educators for leading this work!
Future newsletters...please share announcements or topics
Do you have something you would like shared? Please email tbwilliams@seattleschools.org and we can work on getting that in future newsletters.
World Language & International Education in Seattle Public Schools
Email: tbwilliams@seattleschools.org
Website: https://www.seattleschools.org/departments/international-education/world-languages/
Phone: 206 252 0191