January_2000_Newsletter

When I was a teenager, I often wondered what my life would be like, far in the future, when the calendar would change from 1999 to 2000. Now, one aspect of my life in the year 2000 of which I am most proud is being President of TexTESOL III! I am excited about the goals we have set as an organization, about our thrilling upcoming events, and about serving YOU, our valued TexTESOL III member.

Congratulations and best wished to the fabulous TexTESOL I (El Paso Region) team for hosting a fun, education, and inspiring 21st Annual TexTESOL State Conference on November 5-6, 1999. In addition to a terrific roster of concurrent session presenters, including TexTESOL III member Cheryl Nuwash, and our friends Mercedes Ramos of Oxford University Press and Penny Gee of Pearson Education Group, plenary speakers included ESL and bilingual education luminaries Jim Cummins, Francisco Jimenez, Alfredo Schifini, and Margarita CalderÛn. I attended a very rewarding Presidents' Council Meeting of TexTESOL affiliate board presidents and vice presidents, hosted by TexTESOL I and chaired by TexTESOL IV" Federico Salas: this meeting proved to be a very rich idea- and issue-sharing session. I came away with many creative ideas which I have shared with our TexTESOL III board to continue to make TexTESOL III a top-rate professional organization. Kudos and thanks to Peggy Gustafson, Eliza Simental, and Rogelio Chavira for putting on a Texas-size conference TexTESOLers can be proud of!

Besides the wonderful networking and meeting with ESL friends and colleagues at the beautiful Camino Real Hotel in El Paso, TexTESOL III First Vice President Rebecca Herman, outgoing President Susan Murphy, Treasurer Teresa Baker, and myself met TexTESOL II's longtime board member Mimi Cavender-Horta and TexTESOL V's President Andrea Chaney for a fun-filled evening of dinner and entertainment in Ciudad Ju·rez, Chihuahua, across the Rio Grande from El Paso.

For me, the high point among many high points of this conference was to present the 1999 TexTESOL III "TexTESOLer of the Year" Award to outgoing President Susan Murphy. As I said to the luncheon attendees, Susan has led TexTESOL III to new heights and new, innovative endeavors. These have included an increase in TexTESOL III membership through reading new areas of our constituency, holding our first annual "Excellence in ESL Teaching" awards competition and Spring Awards Brunch last April, which honored outstanding teachers from our region, and hosting our 1999 Fall Conference, acclaimed as one of our best conferences and best-attended conferences in years. Susan is an ESL professional who holds a Ph.D. in Foreign Language Education from the University of Texas at Austin, and she is currently Assistant Director of the International Teaching Assistants Program at UT-Austin and is a lecturer in ESL courses for graduate students. Congratulations, Susan, and thank you again for your outstanding leadership for TexTESOL III!

Upcoming Events!

TexTESOL III is proud to have a full lineup of exciting and rewarding events for you for the year 2000:

We are in the midst of planning our Second Annual :Excellence in ESL Teaching" Spring Awards Brunch, to be held at the Doubletree Hotel, Austin, on Saturday, April 15th. I urge you to look at and think about your teaching colleagues at your teaching site. Ask yourself: Who is our most outstanding teacher? Who consistently demonstrates continued professional development and a solid commitment to the students? Who promotes the students' involvement in the school and participation outside in the community? Who is relentlessly committed to teaching excellence every day in the classroom?

With a colleague, nominate this teacher for "Teacher of the Year" in his or her appropriate category: Elementary School, Secondary School, College/Intensive Program, or Adult Education. Follow the nominating steps outlined in the rules and on the application form in this newsletter, and get the required paperwork in to TexTESOL III, to be received by March 20, 2000. That's all. Our panel of judges will select your TexTESOL III "Teachers of the Year," to be honored at the awards brunch.

Please stay tuned for pre-registration information about attending the brunch, our keynote speaker, and other important information. I sincerely hope to see you there on April 15th!

We are also planning our fall conference, selecting our keynote speaker, preparing our "Call for Presenters," choosing our exciting raffle prizes, etc. Let's make our Fall 2000 Conference as wonderful as our Fall 1999 Conference - and that will mean YOUR being there! Stay tuned for "Call for Presenters," pre-registration information, and other details!

Yes, in terms of planning a statewide event of 1,000 or more attendees, the state conference is right around the corner! NOTE: This conference will take place on a Saturday and Sunday, rather than the traditional Friday-Saturday configuration, due to hotel/conference space in Austin. Start to plan NOW - with your teaching friends and colleagues - and set aside Saturday and Sunday, November 3 & 4, 2001 for this very exciting conference event!

We hope to see many of you at TESOL 2000: "Navigating the New Millennium," March 14-18, 2000 at the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. We would love to see you on Wednesday morning, March 15, 7:30-8:15 a.m., at the "Meet Your Affiliate Representative" organizational meeting. Please come by and say hi! And don't forget to join TESOL International if you are not a member, and make sure your membership is updated if you are!

Second Vice President John Duke reported on January 11, 2000, that TexTESOL III now has 143 current members. This is great news! How about putting TexTESOL III over 150? Then 200? Please remember that the quality of TexTESOL III depends on YOUR membership and YOUR input and participation, and YOUR urging your friends and colleagues to join and participate. Our membership is our reason for existence: we do not have an organization without YOU!

Many thanks to the hard work of John Duke and First Vice President Rebecca Herman for tweaking and updating our databases (membership and invitational) for 21st century use! Many thanks also go to Frank Cronin, Delegate-at-Large, and team, for short-listing and researching our Keynote Luncheon and Plenary speakers for our 2001 state conference.

Former Newsletter Editor Alice Chu sends her greetings from Taiwan, where she is collecting data for her doctoral dissertation at UT-Austin. Alice says she will return to Austin in the summer of 2000. Former President Eric Dwyer continues to teach in Florida after spending Christmas in New Mexico. He continues to tell of his adventures with Alice Chu, trekking through Tibet and Nepal in the summer of 1999!

TexTESOL III received a warm holiday greeting from Manuel Ruiz of San Antonio. Mr. Ruiz is President of the Texas Association for Bilingual Education (TABE) and I had the pleasure of meeting him at the 1999 TexTESOL State Conference. We send our season's best and a Happy New Year/Feliz AÒo Nuevo to Mr. Ruiz and to all our bilingual education constituency. Please know that you are welcome to become members of TexTESOL III, and we cordially invite you to all our TexTESOL III events!

On that note, a message to K-12 ESL/bilingual teachers, adult education ESL teachers, and to other ESL interest groups: please come to our events and to our board meetings. Get to know us, become a member, and come participate! (Membership form can be found in the back of this newsletter.) We need YOUR representation and your input. Our events and board meeting dates, times, and venues are listed on our website:www.textesol.org/region3/ .

And thank you, Rebecca Herman, for another awesome TexTESOL III newsletter! Wishing all TexTESOLers a very happy, healthy, and productive New Year!

1999-2000 TexTESOL III Board

Teaching Techniques

Little pieces of paper can be used to prepare activities to be done simultaneously by a number of pairs or small groups. In these activities, many students are speaking at the same time and the students get feedback from each other rather than from the teacher. The teacher is then free to circulate and answer questions. In grammar pair drills, students do closed-ended grammar practice in pairs. The students within each pair have different questions and each student has the answers to the questions he/she asks on his/her slip. The teacher circulates and answers questions.

Advanced Grammar Example:Transform Each Question into an Embedded Question using "I'd like to know..."

Should we go? (I'd like to know if we should go.)	Where did she go? (I'd like to know where she went.)
Fall (Fell)	Speak (Spoke)

Adapted from the TexTESOL III Fall 1999 Conference presentation "15 Activities With Little Pieces of Paper," by Beverly Ingram, Letha McIntire, Mary Lou Price, and Carolyn Thompson.

Recognition Program

TexTESOL III is accepting four types of nominations for the Excellence in ESL Teaching award: Elementary, Secondary, College/Intensive, and Adult Education. Candidates should be skillful and dedicated teachers planning to continue teaching in their field.

The Process

Teachers must be nominated by two staff members from the teaching site or district. Each nomination must be accompanied by (1) the attached application form; (2) one letter of nomination, signed by both nominators; and (3) the nominee's personal statement (see attached). The deadline for entries is March 20, 2000. The winners will be honored at the Spring Banquet Awards Ceremony and announced in the subsequent TexTESOL III newsletter. Also, see our website at http://www.textesol.org/region3/ for updates on the names of the winners and details about the Awards Ceremony.

Criteria

The nominator should consider most or all of the following factors. The teacher should

Winner's Awards

Each winning teacher will receive the following: (1) complimentary tickets for you and two guests to the 2000 Spring Brunch, to be held at the Doubletree Hotel in Austin on April 15, 2000; (2) a gift certificate for ESL materials; (3) a year's free membership to TexTESOL III; (4) free registration at the next TexTESOL conference; and (5) a $50.00 check.

Who is eligible?

All ESL or bilingual teachers in grades K-12, all college/intensive program ESL teachers, and all ESL adult education teachers are eligible.

Any questions or comments should be directed to Dr. Mary Lou Price, Teacher Nominations Committee Chair: daytime phone (512) 471-2486; e-mail mlp@mail.utexas.edu

Application Form

Instructions: Please submit the following: (1) the application form; (2) one letter of nomination, signed by the two nominators; and (3) the nominee's personal statement.

Write a one-page letter explaining why this person should win, taking in to consideration the award criteria.

What are the issues that you face as an ESL teacher and how have you handled them?

Please mail the three items (application form, nomination letter, and personal statement) to the following address by March 20, 2000:

Book Review

This slim volume contains seven chapters that describe bilingual literacy practices in various grade levels. Some practices are class-wide, while others are case studies that demonstrate the wide range of literacy instructional strategies that emerging bilingual students can engage in. Each chapter ends with a brief list of suggested applications for teachers, making this a useful volume for either independent teacher development or for in-service workshops.

For example, Yvonne and David Freeman contribute practical ideas for secondary school classrooms by applying a four-level multicultural model, called multiculturation. Concerned about the "invisible student" phenomenon that many ESL high school students face, the authors urge teachers to avoid the assimilation model of subtractive bilingualism. Instead, teachers are encouraged to "acculturate" students in four ways: mainstream empowerment, intergroup understanding, group resource, and civic commitment. The curriculum should be adapted to draw upon students' own backgrounds to make the new culture a meaningful experience for students and teachers alike. This chapter includes a list of 46 books about multicultural literature for adolescents, along with a brief list of tangible teacher applications that are intended to enlighten teachers about the challenges ESL students face.

Another article by Carole Urzua, describes "nourishing literacy in classroom environments," particularly at the elementary school level. She encourages teachers to explicitly explain, demonstrate, and actively share their own literacy behaviors with children, including the many purposes and settings for literacy behavior, in contrast to literacy "skills." She is confident that this consciousness raising will motivate learners to appreciate and celebrate literacy behaviors, regardless of their purposes. Like other contributors to this book, Urzua encourages teaching applications to extend to the home setting and to the local community.

One article by Katherine Davies Samway and Carlyn Syvanen describes cross-age tutoring between ESL students at the elementary school level. These authors carefully describe the scholastic and personal growth of year-long tutoring participants. They also explain how teachers can set up their own pairings, with advice from several years' experience concerning the selection of teacher participants, and factors to consider about student pairings, reading fluency, personality, attendance patterns, student requests, and matching students based on their behavior. Teachers find that journal writing about their Buddy Reading Program elicits increased awareness and appreciation for literacy behaviors, especially in the older students.

Several other articles describe supplementary ways to respond to literacy through art and oral discussions or presentations. As one article states, "...through multiple meaning systems, children can more easily capture abstract ideas" (p. 77). These systems assist teachers who find documenting student progress in whole language programs a challenge. For example, analyzing students' writing preferences can help teachers identify and appreciate how learners make meaning of their learning. If teachers provide opportunities for students to realize what is at hand and then practice what they know, learners will be motivated to thrive in literacy.

This volume can enlighten both ESL teachers and other area teachers as to the rich background and resources that ESL learners draw upon to make meaning of their new language and culture. The clear summaries, tangible activities, and recommended reading lists that supplement each chapter make Reading and Writing in More Than One Language: Lessons for Teachers a very practical text for teacher development.

ESL and the Texas Education Agency:

Update on testing limited English proficient (LEP) students
in the 1999-2000 State Student Assessment Program

The information below was taken from the Texas Education Agency Division of Student Assessment web site at the following web site: http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/lep/testlep.htm

On November 6, 1999, the State Board of Education adopted amendments to 19 TAC §101.3 (e)-(l) relating to the participation of LEP students in the state assessment program. The rules became effective December 5, 1999. The amended rules reflect new legislative provisions of Senate Bill l03 as well as a recent recommendation by members of the Texas Legislature to delay the effective date of certain of these provisions

Major New Provisions of 19 TAC 101.3 for the 1999-2000 School Year

Beginning in the spring of 2000, reading proficiency tests in English (RPTE) will be administered to all LEP students in Grades 3 – 12, including LEP students with parental denials.

The three-year rule concerning TAAS exemptions for LEP students in Grades 3 – 8 will remain in effect for the spring of 2000, but the rule now applies only to immigrant students who have been enrolled in U.S. schools for three years or less.

All nonimmigrant LEP students in Grades 3 – 8 must take TAAS in English or Spanish.

Alternative assessments for students with a LEP exemption from TAAS will no longer be required. A one-time postponement of the end-of-course tests will be allowed for recent immigrant students who enroll in U.S. schools no more than 12 months before the test administration.

Major New Provisions of 19 TAC 101.3 Effective September 1, 2000

Beginning in the 2000-2001 school year, all LEP students in Grades 3 – 8 will take TAAS in English or Spanish unless the student is a recent unschooled immigrant enrolled in U.S. schools for 12 months or less.

The information in this document pertains only to testing requirements for the 1999-2000 school year. The provisions that become effective in the 2000-2001 school year will be addressed at that time.

Criteria for Determination of Appropriate Assessment

The language proficiency assessment committee (LPAC) is responsible for determining the assessment option for each student. It is important that the LPAC review all available information for each student to ensure that the most appropriate assessment has been selected. The following information should be reviewed for each student:

For questions concerning appropriate assessment of LEP students, contact the TEA Bilingual Program Unit in the TEA Division of Curriculum and Professional Development at 512-475-3555.

Advocacy

Teacher Empowerment Act passes House, moves to Senate

The Teacher Empowerment Act (HR 1995), a Republican measure that reorganizes federal funding for professional development, teacher hiring, and local reform programs, passed the House in late July and has moved to the Senate for consideration. The bill, which was sponsored by Rep. Howard P. (Buck) McKeno (R-CA), would restructure the President's class size reduction program and combine it with elements of Goals 2000 by creating a $2 billion program that would provide federal funds for a wide variety of activities, including teacher hiring at all grade levels. The class size reduction program has funding only through the current fiscal year, and a Democratic amendment to continue funding for the program was defeated.

Many Democrats have said the bill creates block grants to states, which would encourage them to reduce their share of education funding. According to the legislation, 95% of the federal funding would have to be spent at the local level, with portions of the funding going to teacher hiring, class size reduction, and professional development. Districts would also be held accountable for the professional development efforts, showing that they correlate to improvement in student achievement. The President has indicated he would veto the bill.

Calendar

April 7-9, 2000. International Linguistic Association. 45th Annual Conference, "Language Contact/Language Change," Washington, D.C. Contact Dr. Ruth M. Brend, 3361 Burbank Drive, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105. Tel. 734-665-2787.

April 15, 2000. Spring Awards Brunch, TexTESOL III, at the Doubletree Hotel, Austin.

April 15, 2000. TexTESOL V. Conference, "Enlivening the ESL Learner," Fort Worth, Texas. Proposal Deadline March 10, 2000. Contact Jeana Remington, 6235 Oram Street #203, Dallas, Texas 75214. Tel. 214-915-4800. Fax 214-915-4822.

November 2-4, 2001. TexTESOL State Conference: "2001: An ESL Odyssey." 23rd Annual TexTESOL State Conference; Doubletree Hotel (IH-35), Austin, Texas, USA. Contact: TexTESOL III, 1103 W. 24th St., Austin, TX 78705.
Web: http://www.textesol.org/region3/ .

TESOL Academy 2000

1. Southwest Academy The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) San Antonio, Texas June 9-11, 2000	2. Northeast Academy Boston University Boston, Massachusetts June 23-25, 2000
3. Midwest Academy The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Chicago, Illinois July 21-23, 2000	4. Southern Cone Academy Centro De Capacitcion Y Perfeccionamiento Docente Montevideo, Uruguay July 8-9, 2000

Registration materials for these summer academies may be downloaded from the TESOL website:

Call for Contributions

If you would like to contribute an article to this newsletter, please contact the newsletter editor, Rebecca Herman, at Rherman@del-valle.k12.tx.us.

Please send your contributions by e-mail as a text-only document of up to 500 words. If this is not possible, you may send a hard copy to the TexTESOL III office:

You may contribute to any section, including book reviews, research, teaching tips, literature reviews, job announcements, and the calendar. If you would like to volunteer to read books and review them for our newsletter, please contact the editor at the above e-mail address. Our newsletter is published at least four times a year.

If you would like to volunteer to read books and review them for our newsletter, please contact the editor at the above e-mail address. If you would like to contribute a book that you think should be reviewed for publication, you may donate (not loan) a book to be reviewed to the above mailing address, along with your recommendation that it be reviewed for this newsletter.

TexTESOL III Membership Form

Please tell us what you would like to see TexTESOL III do for you! Suggestions are always welcome!

Please make check payable to TexTESOL III Membership and mail with registration form to:

	immigrant status;
	number of years of enrollment in U.S. schools;
	literacy in English and/or Spanish;
	oral language proficiency in English and/or Spanish;
	academic program participation (bilingual education or English as a second
	language), language of instruction, and planned language of assessment;
	previous testing history; and
	level of academic achievement.

	1999 Fall Conference Highlights in Photos (Many pictures!)
	Halloween Happy Hour Highlights! (Many photographs!)

TexTESOL III Newsletter

TEXAS TEACHERS OF ENGLISH TO SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES

1103 WEST 24TH STREET, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78705

January 2000, Volume 2, No. 10

Reading and Writing in More Than One Language: Lessons for Teachers

Update on testing limited English proficient (LEP) students in the 1999-2000 State Student Assessment Program

Advocacy: Teacher Empowerment Act Passes U.S. House, Moves to Senate, But Faces Veto

1999 Fall Conference Highlights in Photos (Many pictures!)

Halloween Happy Hour Highlights! (Many photographs!)

The Process

Criteria

Winner's Awards

Who is eligible?

Update on testing limited English proficient (LEP) students in the 1999-2000 State Student Assessment Program

Major New Provisions of 19 TAC 101.3 for the 1999-2000 School Year

Major New Provisions of 19 TAC 101.3 Effective September 1, 2000

Criteria for Determination of Appropriate Assessment

Teacher Empowerment Act passes House, moves to Senate

Update on testing limited English proficient (LEP) students
in the 1999-2000 State Student Assessment Program

Update on testing limited English proficient (LEP) students
in the 1999-2000 State Student Assessment Program