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Die Mitteilungen A publication of the Indiana Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of German
Fall 2013
Letter from the President Laura Wilson Greetings Colleagues! The new academic year has started, and hopefully you classes are all in full swing, and your students are enjoying German. I hope everyone has had a good year so far. The main event we had this fall was the 2014 Immersion workshop at Indiana University in Bloomington. Our topic was to be “Curriculum in the European Style” and was led by Caroline Blank from the Goethe Institut in Chicago. There were 18 of us who attended, and I’m sure any of us would be happy to share about their experiences. Look further in the Mitteilungen to see a short summary (page 3). This year’s Indiana Association of Students of German Staatskongress at Ball State University was on Saturday, February 15. Thanks to all the teachers, students and parents who help make this event happen every year. Stay well and take care Laura Wilson AATG Indiana President
Inside:
Seite/n Seite/n Immersion Recap 3 Teachers of the Year 4-‐5 Contest 6
WANTED:
Think about getting involved with our state board. We need a *Secretary (two-‐year term) *Either a northern rep or webmaster (term length determined by personal preference!)
Contact any board member if interested. Vielen Dank to Fran Reigel, our outgoing Secretary, and to Josh Payne, our Treasurer, who agreed to another term!
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Indiana AATG Executive Board
President Laura Wilson [email protected] Dept. of Modern Languages and Classics Ball State University 2000 W. University Avenue Muncie, IN 47306 Tel. (765) 285-‐2446 Fax (765) 285-‐5877 Vice President Candis Carey [email protected] Portage High School 6450 U.S. Highway 6 Portage, IN 46368 Tel: 219-‐764-‐6264 Fax: 219-‐764-‐6062 Secretary Fran Reigle [email protected] Hamilton Southeastern High School 13910 East 126th Street Fishers, IN 46037 Tel. (317) 594-‐4190 Fax (317) 594-‐4199 Treasurer Joshua Payne jpayne@Cathedral-‐Irish.org Cathedral High School 5225 E. 56th Street Indianapolis, IN 46226 Tel. (317) 542-‐1481 Fax (317) 542-‐1484
Past President Beth Moller-‐Tank [email protected] Westfield High School 18250 N Union St Westfield, IN 46074 Tel. (317) 867-‐6800 Fax (317) 867-‐0092 Membership Chair Hannelore Weber [email protected] University of Notre Dame 305 Decio Hall Notre Dame, IN 46556 Tel. (574) 631-‐7751 Fax (574) 272-‐9248 Testing Chairperson Troy Byler Senior Lecturer and Outreach Coordinator [email protected] Germanic Studies Indiana University 1020 E Kirkwood Ave Ballantine Hall 644 Bloomington IN 47405-‐7103 Tel. (812) 855-‐7013 Fax. (812) 855-‐8927 Newsletter Editor Kim Warner [email protected] Tipton High School 619 Main St Tipton, IN 46072 Tel. (765) 675-‐7431 ext 199 Fax (765) 675-‐9519
Northern Rep Annemarie McClung [email protected] Jay County High School 2072 West St. Rd 67 Portland, Indiana 47371 Tel: (260) 726-‐9306 Fax: (260) 726-‐9760 Central Rep Claudia Grossmann, Ph.D. German Program Director [email protected] Dept. of World Languages and Cultures -‐ IUPUI 425 University Blvd. Indianapolis, IN 46202 Tel. (317) 274-‐3943 Fax (317) 278-‐7375 Southern Rep Erika Cantin [email protected] Terre Haute North High School 3434 Maple Avenue Terre Haute, IN 47804 Tel. (812) 462-‐4312 Fax (812) 462-‐4204 Webmaster
See you at: 2014 IFLTA Conference November 6 – 8
Theme: Languages: Integrating Global Communities Sheraton Hotel at Keystone at the Crossing
See www.iflta.org for registration materials/workshop forms
Plan to bring your students to the Indiana Association of Students of German State Convention Saturday, February 14, 2015 at Ball State University. Watch http://indiana.aatg.org/iasg/ for information and registration.
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Fall Immersion Workshop 2014 Laura Wilson, AATG Indiana President Thanks to the Goethe Institut in Chicago for making our immersion workshop possible this fall. We met on Saturday 6 September and enjoyed networking and learning in German. It was great to see eighteen Indiana teachers from schools all across the State of Indiana. The topic was “Curriculum in the European Style” and was led by Caroline Blank from the Goethe Institut. She presented information about the European Framework of standards for foreign language teaching. All of us learned how to evaluate writing and speaking with actual examples. We worked in small groups as well as with partners to learn hands on techniques. At the end of our workshop, we learned about the newest and best materials for teaching German as a foreign language. Hope you all plan to attend our next immersion, which will be in the fall 2015. Currently our plan is to meet at Marian University in Indianapolis. We will keep you informed once we choose a date and topic. Participants in the 2014 workshop:
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Indiana AATG Post Secondary Teacher of the Year meet…. Jennifer Bjornstad
I took my first German class at Heritage Hills High School in Southern Indiana. I suppose I chose German initially because it was the default language in my school for the “smart kids,” but my family ties to Germany, strengthened through the connections my dad made via his genealogical work, also played a role. One summer a cousin came to stay with us for a few weeks, and when I spent a semester abroad during my studies at St. Olaf College, that same cousin picked me up at the airport in Frankfurt. It was wonderful to have a cadre of Germans, many of whom I had never met before, who welcomed me into their lives just because we were family. Upon my return to St. Olaf, I decided to major in German and become a teacher. Disappointingly, I discovered during my student teaching semester that I wasn’t really suited for teaching at the high school level. (What a challenging job! You high school teachers are amazing.) After a year spent on a Fulbright Teaching Assistantship in Germany and a year working out in the “real world,” I entered the graduate program at UW-‐Madison and was happy to discover, in my role as Teaching Assistant, that I was well suited to teaching at the collegiate level. I found that I really liked working with students in the 18-‐ to 22-‐year-‐old group and that I was good at creating learning experiences in all sorts of courses. In 2001, as I was finishing up my dissertation, I was offered a position at Valparaiso University, and I now am in my 14th year at Valpo. I especially enjoy helping students make the transition from high school to college, and I love sharing my enthusiasm for language and literature with them.
Indiana AATG Teacher of the Year, Secondary Level meet… Tara Deppert
I have loved hearing the German language since I was a child. My great grandparents were second generation German Americans and when I was younger would sometimes speak German with me. My grandfather knew a few nursery rhymes and phrases and we would play games and reminisce. When I had the opportunity to learn German at Plainfield High School, I was so excited and my enthusiasm for learning and teaching German has been the one consistent interest that I have had throughout my life.
I attended Indiana University Bloomington for 2 years and continued my studies at IUPUI. In 1994, Claudia Großman recommended I participate in a work exchange in Villingen-‐Schwenning, where I was able to gain office experience working for Deutsch Thomson Brandt. In 1996, my German instructor Gabrielle Bersier encouraged me to study abroad through a DAAD program at the University of Regensburg. Then in 1997/1998, I was named German student of the year at IUPUI. I also taught German at the IUPUI Child Care center and taught on Saturdays at the IUPUI Samstagschule for children. I completed my student teaching at Southport High School.
The Monday after I finished student teaching, I took a temporary substitute teaching position teaching at Hamilton Southeastern in Fishers, Indiana. I then took a year off of teaching and worked full time, while I had my first child. Then in 1999,
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I started at Jasper High School as a full time German teacher. It was joy and a unique opportunity to have such intense support from the school administration and the community. I was on the Sister City Committee and an active member of the Jasper Deutsche Verein as well as the coordinator for our exchange with our sister city in Pfaffenweiler and a second exchange with Pößneck in Thüringen, so I was quite busy with a newborn. When my support person, my mother-‐in-‐law, was diagnosed with terminal cancer, I decided to step back from teaching again. I had to reevaluate my priorities and decided with a very heavy heart to resign my position at Jasper High School. I felt that I would not be able to maintain the level of commitment required.
I completed long-‐term temporary teaching positions at Franklin Central High School, Eastern Greene, Hamilton Southeastern, and Clay City High School. I hope that my final teaching position will be at Bedford North Lawrence High School. I am committed to promoting and teaching German, especially encouraging students to study overseas. I have recently sent 3 students to study for a year in German through the Rotary student exchange. I look forward to returning to Staatskongress with my new group of dedicated students this year. I have enjoyed teaching German for 10 years and can’t wait to teach another 10.
Indiana AATG Rising Star meet... Rachel Windell Growing up in Northwest Indiana, my maiden name was Schroeder. So when offered the opportunity to take German in middle school, I jumped at the chance to learn the language of my ancestors. I had four very different teachers throughout my high school career, and they helped me become the well-‐rounded learner that I am. My junior and senior year of high school, I studied under (Herr) Mike Hensley, who unfortunately passed away a couple years ago from cancer. He was an amazingly compassionate person, and even though my teaching methods are very different from his, I feel that my passion for German really blossomed in his classroom. In college I latched onto whatever I could learn. All the professors at Ball State had an influence on me, but especially Ron Warner, as my advisor, and Laura Wilson with German Club and as a colleague after graduation. Ball State afforded me the opportunity to study abroad in Regensburg, Germany as well as student teach on Baumholder Military Base. Both trips just confirmed how much I love the German language and culture and encouraged me to keep learning. Since graduation, I only had to wait one semester until I found my first position at Lewis Cass High School. I remained there for four years, during which time I got married and had my first daughter! The students were absolutely amazing and made my first few years of teaching a blessing. I have since started a new position this year at Oak Hill High School. The program is double the numbers of what I had last year and the German Club is a very active one. The transition from the former teacher is proving much more difficult than my first year teaching, but I'm sure it will all adjust eventually! I'm excited to be with new students and colleagues, continuing to enlighten our youth to the cultures and differences outside of what they can see here!
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German-American Day Essay Contest
Sponsored by: Indiana German Heritage Society Deadline: October 31, 2014
Prizes:
1st prize: $ 300.00, 2nd prize: $ 200.00, 3rd prize: $ 100.00 Several prizes for runner-ups
“German Trachten and/or German Fashion Designers”
On the occasion of German-American Day (October 6), the Indiana German Heritage Society is sponsoring an essay contest for Indiana high school students. Participants do not have to be currently enrolled in a German class in order to be eligible. However, they should be able to write a brief biographical statement in German. Description: Clothing has always been an expression of culture and cultural traditions. Traditional GermanTrachten are still popular in several parts of the country or for special occasions. Modern fashion designers have also picked up on the Landhausmode or Trachtenmode to create a new style of clothing popular among young people. Furthermore, there have been notable high fashion designers from Germany who enjoy an international reputation. In your essay, you may write about one or both of the topics above. Your essay should include a historical as well as a contemporary aspect. You may also include a German-American perspective. Factual evidence/ research and personal analysis will both be considered equally. Contest Requirements:
• Essay, appr. 750-1000 words (in English) • PowerPoint presentation, including pictures and other images (in
English). • One page statement of student’s background (in German), highlighting
any experiences with German language and culture which have influenced their personal life and educational career, or their own German-American heritage (where applicable).
CASH PRIZES !!!
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Submit entries to Dr. Claudia Grossmann, IUPUI German Program,
[email protected], Ph. (317) 274-3943, Fax (317) 278-7375
