College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

• Teachers to Caceres

  High school Spanish teachers improve skills during summer seminar.

• It was a trip high school Spanish teachers wanted and needed, and Julie Wilhelm should know.
  
  Wilhelm, Spanish lecturer in the Department of World Languages and Cultures, led a group of five high school Spanish teachers in June on an intensive seminar to Cáceres, Spain. Wilhelm spent 16 years teaching Spanish to Iowa high school students before coming to ISU. She said language teachers need a professional development opportunity like this.
  
  "Many high school Spanish teachers want to earn graduate credits in Spanish, but they're not taking the courses because they're not available, especially in rural areas," Wilhelm explained.
  
  So world languages and cultures offered the two-week graduate-level seminar to the historic city of 80,000, located in western Spain about halfway between Madrid and Lisbon. The participants - four Iowans and one from Omaha - had varied Spanish language skills. All benefited from the trip, Wilhelm said.
  
  "We focused on communication and culture because we know a lot of high school Spanish teachers have few opportunities to talk with native speakers," she said. "Their language skills can deteriorate."
  
  The teachers lived in homes with Spanish families and attended special classes during the day at a university. They spoke almost exclusively in Spanish.
  
  "We wanted them to speak the language in a comfortable, non-threatening environment," Wilhelm said about staying with Spanish-speaking families. She said a key to improving language skills is practicing without fear of making mistakes.
  
  The teachers also gained curriculum ideas for use back at their schools, said Wilhelm, who previously has led high school groups to Spain.
  
  "It's nice to go back to your classroom and tell the students what the Spanish teenagers are like - what they're wearing, what they're eating and the music they're listening to. Those are the things the students want to know."
  
  The teachers learned about bullfighting, the Spanish educational system and current issues impacting the nation.
  
  "They will be able to offer a lot to their students about the Spanish culture," Wilhelm added.
  
  Dawn Bratsch-Prince, professor and chair of the Department of World Languages and Cultures, said ISU has a long history of preparing K-12 language teachers for the state and elsewhere.
  
  "Our commitment to K-12 world language teachers extends beyond conferring a degree," said Bratsch-Prince, also director of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences International Programs.
  
  "Elementary through secondary school teachers look to the university to provide discipline-specific professional development opportunities that immerse them in the target-language culture. Our program in Cáceres was designed to provide just this type of opportunity in an intensive, but manageable, summer experience."
  
  One Cáceres participant said she benefited a great deal from the seminar beyond improved language skills, cultural knowledge and grad credits.
  
  "I gained a much better understanding of myself and of what people can accomplish by stepping outside their comfort zones," said Jennifer Savery of Humboldt High School. "I hope that is something that I will be able to transfer to my classroom and to my students."
  
  The seminar (the teachers paid for their airfare, tuition, room and board) included a weekend trip to Madrid and day trips. A 2008 seminar is in the works, Wilhelm said.

Around LAS
September 17-30, 2007

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