Faculty and Staff Meeting and Workshop Minutes
Spanish-American Institute
December 12, 2009
Schedule: The Faculty and Staff Workshop started at 10:30 am and ended at 12:00. The business part of the meeting started at 12:00 noon and adjourned at 1 pm. Mr. Ferraro invited attendees to lunch at the Firebird.
Attendance: J. Arbai, T. Bobrysheva, Z. Batchaeva, F.A. Bush, M. Chalek, D. Compaore, V. Covic, A.M. Diaz, G. Diaz, L. Dolina Rusk, L. Dombre, L. Eco, A. Ergashev, L. Fallarme, D.V. Ferraro, C. Gallardo, L. Grajo, L. Hernandez, L. Klavsen, A. Lisitsyn, E. Manliclic, M. Marcus, Z. Matiychyk, B. Mumkaya, Y. Nakamura, E. Nibeyro, N. Panganiban, C. Prager, E. Ramos, T. Schwenke, S. Sergeeva, S. Shcheglova, S. Shukova, A.Tuldanes, B. Zouhairi.
President’s Report: Mr. Ferraro welcomed everyone.
Chair and Other Faculty Reports : No reports.
Academic Dean's Report
Faculty and staff should advise students that the handout’s stated correlations for NorthStar Listening and Speaking do not mean that students can score at that level since TOEFL test scores are based on reading and writing as well as listening and speaking.
Michelle Bugay, a Pearson Education ESL specialist, provided an overview of changes in NorthStar 3 classroom and on-line materials
She provided workshop participants with handouts comparing the 2nd and 3rd editions and sample copies of 3rd edition texts for review
Ms. Bugay emphasized NorthStar 3’s integration of unit activities. For example, each unit is now divided into only three major sections: Focus on the Topic, Focus on Listening (or Reading), and Focus on Speaking (or Writing). Activities prompt students to more structured and independent language production in keeping with NorthStar’s 3rd ed. emphasis upon purposeful integration of critical thinking and academic language skills.
Ms. Bugay also provided an overview of the new digital support provided students and teachers online at www.mynorthstarlab.com. MyNorthstarLab provides:
· online practice with immediate feedback corresponding to each textbook unit in all four language skills;
· audio, video, and test preparation on demand (including allowing students to download textbook listening passages to their IPods) ; and
· customizable resources for teachers.
Upon request, Ms. Bugay will provide access to individual Spanish-American Institute teachers to MyNorthStarLab. Dean Prager will request individual faculty member’s access as the Institute phases in NorthStar 3.