Looking forward to 2013!

As 2012 comes to a close, I am excited for what is to come in 2013.  

• I have expanded my commitment with Virtual Homeschool Group from two classes in the fall to three starting this spring.  When I reached out to VHSG about volunteer-teaching a class or two (now, three, come February!), I wasn't quite sure what I was getting into, or if it was a good idea.  But I must tell you, and I mean this with all honesty, it was one of the best decisions I made in 2012.  I've enjoyed immensely helping students learn Spanish.  I am passionate about teaching and learning, about the Spanish language, but mostly about my students.  I love the collaborative relationship that grows out of a teacher teaching and a learner learning.  It is dynamic and fulfilling, to say the least, and I look forward to 2013 with this group. 
• We have committed to setting up a booth at Great Homeschool Conventions-Cincinnati April 4-6.  I am really looking forward to getting out and personally meeting families that are looking for a solid online Spanish-language program for their families.
• I have purchased Rosetta Stone Italian!  In 2013, I will kill two birds with one stone.  I've always wanted to learn at least one other language, and everybody is always asking me about Rosetta Stone.  I always hear good things, so I will be trying it out first-hand and I will now be able to give my educated opinion when I'm asked about it.  So under the umbrella of CLA, I will be learning Italian with the intent to one day teach online Italian homeschool courses.  

All this said, here is what my husband tells me.  And I quote from an email message he sent me today:  "Remember – move slow to move fast – and “more mass equals more mess”.  At this point, remember what you are and what you are not as a business."  

Great, sound advice...  I love it.  I hope I can follow it.  :)

Glogster is cool!

Here is a project example of what my homeschool students will be doing in a couple of weeks.  Glogster is a lot of fun, for the creative-at-heart!

How best to tackle an online Spanish class

An online class is the most flexible way to learn a foreign language.  You literally can structure the class around your busy life!  But here are some tips for successfully tackling this type of project!

• Try to set a schedule and do your best to stick to it.  If your weeks vary, as they do for many folks, sit down with your calendar at the top of each week.  Decide what days and times you are going to work on Spanish and then do your best to stick to it.  Routines are best, so if there is a way to always spend the same hours on the class each day, then do so.
• Secondarily to that, things happen that change schedules.  If you needed to spend an hour in class both Monday and Tuesday, but had to miss Monday... make sure you build two hours into Tuesday.  Don't short cut your studies, your learning will suffer.
• Realize that because online classes are very independent in nature, you must first orientate to the technology and the structure of the course.  If you are just getting started with Croghan Language Academy, it is going to take you a while to orientate, know where to go, what to do, make sure your technology is compatible...  This can feel frustrating and overwhelming.  Be patient, spend as much time as you can learning your way around.  It will all come together soon!
• Make sure you know how you can get in touch with the instructor.  A quality online class will have an instructor that is available for feedback and answering questions.  Find out when open office hours are and spend some quality time with the instructor then.  At CLA, the instructor is widely available via phone, email, text message, and depending on what curriculum you are enrolled in, computer instant messaging.
• Print as much of the course material as possible and keep a notebook.  Keep the notebook with you at all times, just in case you find a few minutes to scan it.  While waiting for an appointment, while riding to your destination (if you are a passenger, of course), during television commercials, etc.  Find small opportunities to engage in the content.
• Have fun!  Remember what you are doing is really cool, and that if you stick with it, you will one day have opportunities for more friends, travel and careers!

Why CLA instead of Rosetta Stone or others?

Rosetta Stone has a great reputation as a software company offering technology-based language-learning systems.  There is other quality software out there for learning languages, but Rosetta Stone is the most widely-known today.  I often have students looking for supplemental resources to help in their learning, and they ask me about Rosetta Stone.  Although I have no hands-on experience with it, I have asked some students who have used it exactly what they like about it.  From what I've been told, the program does it right as far as immersing you in the language (as much as a computer program can, after all you will have to back away from the computer eventually).  Plus, it's nice that once you purchase the software, it's yours forever, whenever you would like to come back to it.  More importantly for some, the price is right.  But I've been looking at the Rosetta Stone website to learn more about it, and here is why I think Croghan Language Academy will function better for many students.

For homeschool students, the parent is the teacher.  Purchasing Rosetta Stone provides the lessons and the content.  It also provides data as far as exercises completed, scores and time spent on exercises and assessments.  I did not find availability of a Support Team as far as learning goes.  There is technology and sales support.  But what happens when you are in the curriculum and your student has a question, but YOU (parent) are the teacher and you don't know the answer, or feel insecure?  Even if instructional support is offered by Rosetta Stone (maybe it's just not mentioned in the advertising, but I would think that would be important information to share), you will not be assigned to one instructor.  You would be calling, emailing or chatting with different Rosetta Stone call center experts.  While they certainly would be able to answer your question, they won't know you as a student... what you've already mastered, what you are struggling with, what you are on the verge of grasping but just need a little push, etc.  I personally don't enjoy when I have an ongoing situation requiring support and I have to call in and re-explain from the very beginning.

With my courses, I am (or any instructor that I might employee is) yours for the duration of the course.  I get to know you as a student and can provide more time-efficient help and feedback.  In fact, students in my courses receive periodic elaborations on their learning... where you were, where you currently are, and how best to continue.  (And by the way, my courses also provide parents with data as far as exercises completed, scores and time spent.)  Having a living, breathing instructor helps inspire confidence in students.

For businesses, Rosetta Stone also offers some nice options.  They do offer live sessions with a native-speaking "Studio Coach" in a small group format.  But the curriculum is not specific to the needs of the company.  You may be taught to speak in contexts that are not useful.  Croghan Language Academy custom-develops it's Workplace Spanish courses to fit the needs of employees.  Additionally, the live sessions might not be convenient.  Croghan Language Academy offers both synchronous (live meetings) and asynchronous (when it fits your schedule) learning experiences.  We will work in collaboration with your company to determine the ideals for the learning experience, what content will be taught and time frame.

If your only point of comparison is price, Rosetta Stone will win.  But a hypothetical question comes to mind...  is it worth the small investment if confident learning is not achieved, you are not taught what you need, or it is inconvenient for you?  

Young Amigos Online Resource Center

Young Amigos, here are some screenshots of the resources and activities available in the Online Resource Center for our course.  Going to be a good time!

Hear the vocabulary in Spanish as well as see and learn the sign language for each term.


Read/Hear the phrases, audio is included for each phrase.


Learn words and practice pronunciation by practicing with the online flashcards.

Watch age-appropriate skits.




Play fun learning games.

Preparing for those Young Amigos!

I received my teaching materials and curriculum today, and am so excited to get going with this class!  Who wants to learn Spanish with Bella?  She is my almost-6-year-old daughter, who has a seat in the course (with her 7-year-old brother, if I can get him to stick around!) that starts on October 1.

In this next photo, you can see another view of some of the materials.  That stack on the left contains 10 Activity Workbooks that I will be mailing out to participants.  I have about half of them spoken for already, but would really like to have 10 families for this class, if you know anybody who may be interested!

Here are a couple more looks at the curriculum, including a glance at the Online Resource Center, which each family will also have access to as a part of this class.  The second photo is a shot of one of the games...  whoever can find the "tocino" first, wins!

This class starts in just a few weeks, so I will dive into planning and production shortly.  Here's what I can tell you:

• It will be an asynchronous class.  In online learning language, that just means that there are no specific meeting times where we have to be online together.  It will all be completely on your own schedule, and I will provide the directions and all instruction in Spanish.  Your family completes the work when it best fits into your schedule.  I would aim for about 2-3 hours per week, but if participants are really enjoying the "work," do more!
• Each family will receive one of the Activity Workbooks.  If you have more than one participant, you will want to either photocopy the workbook, or I can direct you to the website where you can purchase additional workbooks for $7.  
• Participants will receive lessons recorded by the instructor, play games, sing songs, view skits and videos, complete fun workbook exercises, read popular children's literature, play games and do simple language-related art projects.  All will require differing levels of assistance from parents, depending on the age of the students.  
• Participants will receive copies of certain materials from the photographs, so that they can play games and cut out flashcards.
• Participants will receive and respond to oral prompts using a computer microphone.  This is primarily how I will assess performance.

This is a 10-week course.  The cost is $130 per family which includes tuition, materials and shipping and handling.  If you are interested in joining the learning and fun, or have further questions, please contact Krista at croghanlanguageacademy@gmail.com.  Looking forward to working with my Young Amigos!!!

Day 1 was an absolute success!

So, today was the first day with my VHSG online Spanish class.  It really is the epitome of all of my professional experiences combined into one, mixing the online platform with high school and middle school ages.  I cannot tell you how excited I am about the upcoming year with this group!  I have been teaching college students for so long now that I forgot how much fun younger students are.  What energy, what zest!!!  And I finished my two live sessions with them today feeling completely energized and even more enthusiastic about what this experience is going to be for me.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE teaching college students... I just enjoy the variety I'm adding to my professional portfolio.

A few highlights, but no names will be mentioned to protect the innocent:  :)

• I held my online office hours this afternoon in Blackboard IM.  It is an instant messaging platform, but it is a special virtual office space where students can see I am holding office hours because it's posted on the "door."  So if I am already with another student, others enter the waiting room queue (where they can chat if they'd like) until I am ready for them.  Pretty neat deal! Anyway, I had a student pop in and ask a quick question.  Later on, I saw he was holding office hours of his own!  LOL!!!  So I popped into his office to see what was up.  He was just having fun with the new technology.
• I have a personal contact of my own who is not homeschooling, but just very interested in Spanish.  As it turns out, I taught her during a summer program when she was in the first and second grades.  She joined the class because she wants to, not because she was getting credit for it.  And now come to find out... her mom found out that this experience MAY potentially count as high school credit for her, since I am a certified instructor in her state (Nebraska).  That was a very cool revelation, and I hope it works out for her!
• The discussion area where students are introducing themselves is taking off like wild fire, I can't control it.  They WANT to be part of a collaborative, social group as they are learning.  This is much different than teaching adults, who are just more interested in getting to the business of what they are there to do.  I stopped setting up virtual hangouts where students can socialize, because college students don't use them.  I had better get one set up for this class!
• I greeted the 9:00 group with the text ¡Hola!  One young lady immediately inquired "How did you do the upside down exclamation mark?!?!"  I did the same thing in the 11:00 session.  This gal's sister happened to be attending that session and she actually asked the EXACT same question!  It was bizarre and hilarious!!!

Stay tuned for more...  I have a feeling it will be interesting!

Starting with the home schoolers

Tomorrow marks my first day with a group of about 20 online Spanish high school (and academically mature middle school) students.  They range from 6th to 12th grade.  I could never imagine having a group in a traditional classroom setting where I have such a wide age range of students.  But in an online format, this is going to work!  Because online learning is so individualized, each student who is capable of learning the content can do so, if they put forth the effort.  Age is not going to be that big of a factor.  I can push more advanced students to go further in their language while allowing the ones who are just trying to grasp the basic objectives of the course to meet those goals.

I believe this will be a positive learning experience for these students for several reasons.  First, there is a sense of anonymity when students are in a class together online.  They don't even have to share their ages with classmates if they don't want to.  This anonymity often causes higher confidence levels in shy or insecure students.  Not to say that younger students always have to feel more insecure than older students, but it would be natural if they do.  Being behind the computer screen can provide a huge ego boost.

Second... there will be little-to-no chance for tomfoolery, mischief or bullying in my classroom.  Cases of multiple siblings in a class sharing a web conference session may be different, but at least I don't have to discipline them! (And I do have a couple of sibling pairs taking the class.)

And third, these are home school students.  They tend to be some of the most mature, well-behaved, focused, polite students in our country.  Coming from a public high school teaching setting, I look forward to this change, this voraciousness about learning, this desire for knowledge.  When talking to a mom about whether or not her 6th grade son could handle this course, I asked her to tell me a little bit about him as a student.  When I learned that he has already studied Hebrew to translate the Old Testament from it's original language, I knew that this is a kid that will probably teach me a thing or two!  I expect him to do very well in Spanish.

I can't wait to see how this is going to work out... I anticipate it will be GREAT!

Spanish lessons for our young amigos, too!

Between 2003 and 2008 while we were living in Grand Island, Nebraska I got involved with the Central Community College Kid's College summer program.  I got to design and teach a Spanish summer camp for young elementary school-age children.  I did this for two summers, and really enjoyed the novelty of working with a different age group.  After all, I am experienced with the more "mature" students at the secondary and post-secondary levels.  There were a couple of families that expressed interest in me continuing the class throughout the school year.  I figured, why not?  So "Young Amigos" was born.  I had five 1st through 3rd graders come to my house once a week on Monday evenings to continue the fun, games, singing and art of Spanish.  They were eager and enthusiastic, another big difference from the older students.  

Although their energy and high volume voices left me seeking ibuprofen at the end of the evening, it was also rewarding and motivating to work with young children who embraced new learning.  After all, they haven't even been learning English all that long!  There hasn't been enough time for our English language rules and idiosyncrasies to set in and confuse them.  They weren't pitching "yeah, but..." fits left and right if something didn't make sense.  Because frankly, they just haven't been around as long as the rest of us who have gotten to know the world.  They were sponges, not fossils.  I noted how they were able to mimic correct pronunciation almost flawlessly.  Again, I attributed this to a lacking amount of previous-learned English.  They were more receptive, less resistant, and absolutely eager and ready to learn!

   

There is a lot of debate about early second-language education and why there isn't more of it in the United States.  While most would agree it's a good idea (I guess some would still debate that, too, but I'm trying to be an optimist here), I personally attribute the lack of this type of programming to education cutbacks and teacher shortages.  As I meet lots of students online all over the U.S. I am pleased to learn from them that there is some growth in this area.  There now are more elementary schools bringing in second-language programming.  There are magnet schools or immersion schools that offer bilingual Spanish education (English-speaking and Spanish-speaking students in the same class, having lessons in both English and Spanish).  Those advancements are in the right direction, but I don't think it's where we need to be yet to keep up with other nations who require students to learn English (or other languages) from an early age.  

I always encourage my students with a true interest in the Spanish language to pursue it as a career, preferably to teach.  The best advice I got in college was from an adviser I barely knew that suggested I teach Spanish.  Look in your classified ads almost any time of the year, but particularly in the spring and summer.  You will see several Spanish teaching openings.  There just aren't enough of us out there.  That's good job security.  But even if teaching is not your thing... whatever IS your thing, knowing Spanish will be an outstanding complement to it.  The medical field, the banking industry, law and criminal justice, real estate, the restaurant industry, business... the list goes on.  If you speak Spanish and work in those or other fields, you will be one marketable cookie!  It could mean you get the job over the other guy who doesn't speak Spanish, you get a raise, you get a promotion.  It equals opportunity.

   

So, back to our Young Amigos.  If learning Spanish at an early age is the easiest time to do it, and you want your children to have successful, opportunistic futures, doesn't it make sense to start teaching them now?  If your school does not offer Spanish (or it does, but you are looking for enrichment) or if you are a homeschool family, I encourage you to contact me about my revived, new and improved Young Amigos program.  We are now totally online, and offer 10-week courses with a rich, fun and exciting curriculum.  Email croghanlanguageacademy@gmail.com for more information, and I can answer any questions you may have!

CLA from conception, to birth and into the child-rearing years

Hello all and welcome to the official Croghan Language Academy blog!  I am so excited to embark on this adventure and have lots of dreams, hopes and wishes for it.  Sounds like a parent talking about a child, so I would like my first blog post to discuss the very beginnings, which is where we are right now!  :)

I was working as a full-time high school Spanish teacher when I got married and we started a family.  I so wished that there were opportunities for me to be both a stay-at-home-mom and a teaching professional.  I wondered about teaching online Spanish classes, and since I had my Master's degree, I am eligible to teach at the college level.  But at the time, I didn't know if online Spanish classes even existed, and I honestly didn't know where to look for answers.  None of my Google searches seemed fruitful, and I resigned myself that those opportunities must not exist.

In 2008, our family moved from Grand Island, Nebraska to Aberdeen, South Dakota in extreme northern South Dakota.  It is the home of Northern State University.  Although our plan was to live on my husband's salary alone so that I could fulfill my dream of raising my children, I felt comforted knowing that a touted university with approximately 3200 registered students was such a central part of this community, and wondered about teaching opportunities with them one day.  I only spent one semester in Aberdeen before I checked in with the language department at Northern to find out that they were looking to hire a Spanish adjunct instructor.  I was hired, and in the spring of 2009 I began teaching a Tuesday/Thursday Spanish class on campus.  It felt right.  I love the feel of Academia... everything about it.  The smells of the hallways, the chatter of students, the weather while walking on campus (yes, even when it was freezing, wind blowing and snowing!), being around professors and students in the campus coffee shop, the Student Center, the library, looking at the hallway bulletin boards with all of the flyers advertising school functions, items for sale and students looking for roommates.  I was back where I was comfortable, and it felt good.

Soon after I got started teaching, I saw that Northern was advertising a position for several online course developers/instructors, including Spanish.  I applied quickly and found out later that I got the position.  In retrospect, I owe so much to the administrators, administrative assistants and professors at Northern State University.  To name a few, Dr. Tino Mendez, Wendy Stubbs, Dr. Ginny Lewis and Mary Kost were instrumental in my success at Northern, and I hope to teach there indefinitely!  I now know how difficult it can be for online instructors to break into the field.  I belong to some online networking groups, and there is a lot of frustration expressed about many schools requiring online teaching experience.  But if you need experience to receive a position, then who will mercifully be that first school to offer one the chance at experience?  Northern State University was this school for me, and I will forever feel grateful and indebted!  The fact that I was given this opportunity was my open door to be hired by other universities and community colleges, since I now had experience teaching online.  I now have a robust and rewarding career teaching for several different colleges around the country, all from my home in Omaha, Nebraska (because we only stayed in Aberdeen for about 18 months... we were homesick!)
 
I've now been successfully teaching online for almost four years.  As far as "job stints" go, it's my longest one.  I've taught in four different public school systems (in Nebraska:  York, Omaha Westside and Grand Island and in Colorado:  Jefferson County's Arvada West High School) but I never received tenure in any of those positions because the longest I held any position before resigning was three years.  I love teaching online and I never tire of it like I did teaching in a live classroom five days a week.  Where I used to count down with the kids the number of days until school was out, I simply don't do that now.  I teach all year long, including summers, and I couldn't be happier!

But...  I wanted more.  I love what I have now, but I dream of having my own language academy, my own opportunities to reach certain markets or individuals that are looking to learn Spanish.  I made contact with an incredibly generous and helpful woman, Tammy Moore, who heads Virtual Homeschool Group (we are in one of those networking groups together) and she helped me see there is a real need for homeschool students whose families simply can't teach them foreign languages on their own.  I met with a local SCORE representative (A free small business start-up resource, thanks to the advice of some Facebook friends!) who helped me determine my goals and focus my intentions.  Over the next 90 days, I've got some pretty intensive plans about laying the framework for a successful business in teaching "Spanish on the job" courses in an online or hybrid (mostly online, some face-to-face) format.  For example, Spanish for restaurants, Spanish for business, Spanish for medical professionals, Spanish for real estate, Spanish for banking, among many other possibilities.  I intend to use my knowledge, skills, experience and expertise in the field of online language learning to add value to my local community and beyond.  

The dreams don't end there.  My plans also include involving my husband John to help me one day create Spanish learning music CDs (his degree in music will come in handy, and I plan to take advantage!), my own videos to accompany the classes and the CDs, and I hope to hire instructors as Croghan Language Academy grows.  As the name indicates, I also hope to branch out from the Spanish language and provide learning opportunities for students of other languages, hiring professionals to teach those courses.  Darn, I've already had someone contacting me asking if I offer German classes!  At any rate, my feeling right now is that the sky is the limit, but I must take this one step at a time.  I've found that having too many impending ideas on my plate makes me less efficient, so in the words of Dr. Leo Marvin to Bob, played by Richard Dreyfuss in the 1991 film, What about Bob?...  Baby steps!!!

So this baby has been conceived and born.  Now it's time to mold, shape and guide it into whatever it will become... just like my two children whom I love dearly, Noah and Bella!

So feel free to follow me along on this journey!