2009 AAFLT conference at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Center in Birmingham, AL.

Sessions by German teachers or relating specifically to German at the 2009 AAFLT conference:

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6:

4:10-5:00 pm

Grammar with Culture: A Few Simple Hands-On Examples
Muriel Hoequist; Alabama School of Math and Science, Mobile
This brief workshop will take instructors through a demo lesson. The goal is to give hands-on examples about accessing students’ creative ideas and making them want to find answers on their own. Students will remember answers to questions they formulate themselves! This workshop is not a cure-all, but lightens up those heavy grammar topics and energizes the small classroom dynamics. Prepositions, subject-object choices, modals and present perfect can easily be integrated as well as vocabulary expansion. Presented in German

Using Hand Puppets to Facilitate Language Production
Gunars Cazers; The Capitol School, Tuscaloosa
This session is geared primarily for FLES teachers, however the methods can be used in the high school and middle school as well. This session will give audience members simple ideas about how to use hand puppets to facilitate language production in young language learners. Teachers will be shown how to introduce simple dialogues to the learners using two puppets. A puppet will be used to elicit language from students. The activity will move from a teacher-centered to learner-centered activity as students are taught to create puppet dialogues with a learner. Finally, a simple method is shown how to film and transfer students’ dialogues to the Web so that students’ language use can be shared with parents. Ideas are shared about how to get or make puppets. Presented in English

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7:

7:30-8:00

Ein kleines Frühstuck (Ticketed Event)

8:00-8:30

AATG Chapter Meeting for all members

8:30-10:00

Minorities and the German Classroom with following Roundtable Discussion on Diversity in the German Classroom
Introduction by Rasma Lazda; University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa with participation of faculty from Auburn University, Samford University, the University of Alabama, German teachers with a traditionally large minority enrollment, as well as minority students from the various universities.
Based on the work of the AATG committee Alle lernen Deutsch devoting its efforts to continued development and dissemination of information about minorities in the teaching and learning of German, this session will present participants with ideas of how to integrate multiculturalism in the German classroom while also making an effort to recruit minorities and promote the benefits of the study of German for all students at all levels.
What can we, as German teachers, do to reach out to minority students here in the state of Alabama? How can we better recruit minorities into German classes?

10:10-11:00

WWW: Don’t Reinvent; Search
Raegan Lemmond; Auburn University, Auburn
Looking for new ideas, games, music, and lessons? Don't reinvent the wheel but take some time searching for free online resources. The presenter will show you a variety of time-saving websites and their uses with just a click of a button.

1:30-2:20

Ein bisschen Spaß muss sein?! - Schülerorientierter Deutschunterricht und seine Grenzen
Maria Baier; Universität Bielefeld, Germany
Es ist zugleich sowohl faszinierend als auch manchmal recht mühsam, eine fremde Sprache zu lernen. Im Hinblick auf die besonderen Charakteristika der deutschen Sprache werden im Plenum Erfahrungen ausgetauscht, die nach Meinungen der TeilnehmerInnen einen guten Unterricht ausmachen. Dabei wird die Aufmerksamkeit auf die Schüler gelenkt: Welche Unterrichtspraktiken kommen gut an? Wie kann ich meine Schüler motivieren? Was ist im Rahmen des Lehrplans möglich?
Presented in German.

2:30-3:20

Popmusik...wer singt mit? Music in the Language Classroom
Traci O’Brien; Auburn University, Auburn
For many instructors, it is a continuous challenge to balance “fun” with pedagogically sound teaching. One way to combine these two goals is with pop music. Through the use of catchy tunes, these sample lessons contain content as well as a grammar review all in a relatively short amount of time.
Presented in English

For the full AAFLT conference program, see the AAFLT Fall 2008 Newsletter here.