Be a part of Der Spottvogel 2.0

Do you have a great tip you'd like to share with other German teachers? Or some good news about your program? Maybe you've found helpful new materials or apps? These are the sort of things we'd like to feature here on Der Spottvogel 2.0! Just send your info to Jana Engle (jengle@k12k.com) or any AATG officer and we'll upload it here. All officers are able to post to this blog and anyone is able to comment on anything posted. We want to hear from Tennessee's German teachers!!

Notes from our business meeting at TFLTA

We opened the meeting with a report on William Durden, the student we sent to Germany as winner of the TN National German exam. William wrote us a note of thanks and many agreed that this was a worthwhile use of our funds.

A motion was made to designate $500 to subsidize our chapter president attending ACTFL . The motion was approved.

Members present discussed ways to recruit new members, get more attendees at the conference and more attendees to the business meeting.

Plans for Frühlingsfest were discussed. Jana Engle and Richard Apgar agreed to serve as the Frühlingsfest planning committee, which will be responsible for preparing and running the events. Regine Schwarzmeier volunteered Belmont University to serve as our venue. Regina will be responsible for booking the spaces and the Frühlingsfest committee will be responsible for planning and running the events. Date is to be determined.

It was noted that we have no chapter website. The decision was made to send our link on the national website to our blog (newsletter).

Richard Apgar spoke about the Sewanee immersion  program. The program has lost Goethe Institut funding and Richard suggested AATG-TN might subsidize a teacher's tuition in the amount of $900 for the two week program. The officers will discuss this.

Opportunities from the Goethe Insitut

The Goethe-Institut USA would like to invite you to a professional development seminar that is specifically designed for members of the profession with less than 4 years of teaching experience at an elementary, middle or high school level, as well as for Graduate Teaching Assistants. Conducted by experienced members of the Goethe-Institut Trainer Networks, the seminar will focus on various aspects of lesson planning and language instruction in schools. It will be conducted in German.

We currently offer three seminars:

December 13-15, 2013, at the Goethe-Institut San Francisco

Topic: Preparation for the AP German Language & Culture Exam and Beyond

January 17-19, 2014, at the Goethe-Institut New York

Topic: Hallo Deutschland! Anklicken, Uploaden, Anwenden? A collaborative workshop on the meaningful integration of authentic online materials and (new) media in the standards-based classroom

January 24-26, 2014, at the Goethe-Institut Chicago

Topic: Getting students to talk in the foreign language: Fostering communication in the German classroom

All seminars will start at 5 p.m. on Friday evening and conclude at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

The Goethe-Institut will provide participants with hotel accommodations for 2 nights in double rooms and reimburse them for travel expenses up to $500.00. The number of participants in each seminar is capped at 20.

Participation requirements:

- You are a school teacher of German with less than 4 years of teaching experience or a Graduate Teaching Assistant preparing to enter German teaching profession

- You are a member of AATG (if you are not, please join the AATG before applying: http://www.aatg.org/membership)

Registration deadline is Sunday, November 17, 2013. We will inform you of our decision before November 21, 2013.

Please e-mail your completed registration form (see below; please paste into Word, fill out and send as attachment) to Olga Liamkina, Goethe-Institut New York: olga.liamkina@newyork.goethe.org. You can also download the form here: http://www.aatg.org/content/professional-development-seminar-new-teachers. If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Liamkina via e-mail or phone: 856-795-5553.

Submit a Chapter Project proposal!

Chapter projects are funded by the German government through Netzwerk Deutsch. All projects must take place between January and December 2014. Funding priority will be given to new and innovative proposals. Chapters are limited to a single proposal. Chapter project guidelines and application forms can be found here www.aatg.org/chapter-projects. Applications are due June 1, 2013.

Nominate your colleagues!

AATG awards are a great way to recognize EXCELLENCE in our profession! The deadline to nominate colleagues is approaching--it's May 15 for most awards. You'll find details on the Outstanding German Educator Award, Friend of German Award, Goethe-Institut/AATG Certificate of Merit, German Embassy Teacher of Excellence Award, and on AATG Centers of Excellence here www.aatg.org/awards. Help us recognize the achievements of German teaching professionals!

Summer Institute Opportunity

http://www3.davidson.edu/cms/x17348.xml
This link is to the Davidson College website that has the description of their summer institute opportunity for teachers. It is July 21-27, 2013 and costs only $450 and that includes lodging and meals. (Non-refundable after June 1st.)

Happy Retirement Tom!

Congratulations to Tom Dunne, who has finally retired after 27 years of teaching. We'll certainly miss seeing him handing out awards at Frühlingsfest and reporting on our finances at TFLTA, but maybe he'll pop in to visit us when we have an event in the Knoxville area. Or maybe not- he says he's loving retirement! Alles Gute, Tom!

Greetings from our President

Dear fellow German Teachers,

During our last meeting held in Cool Springs at TFLTA in November, a new set of chapter officers was elected. Maria Gallmeier of UTK is our New Vice President and as your new Chapter President, I would like to wish you all a successful 2013.

With several long standing members having retired in recent years, it will be one of my goals to increase membership as well as to increase the usefulness of our chapter  as a resource to its members. To that end I would like to encourage you to create opportunities in your district or region to meet personally with other German colleagues. We all know how lonely it can be being your own vertical team. Over the years, I have been able to meet several new German teachers in my area, by swapping ideas, materials and pastries at Joan MacDonald's house before each new school year. Please encourage these colleagues to join or renew their membership with AATG, also recently under new leadership.

If you have ideas, concerns or questions regarding the teaching of German in Tennessee, then please feel free to contact me. I look forward to hearing from you in the coming months.

                               Mit freundlichen Gruessen

                                Kurstin Bush

                                Chapter President TN - AATG