New Staff Member:
I studied Spanish linguistics with a minor in Latin American and Caribbean Studies and Secondary education at the University at Albany. I am currently a doctorate candidate, investigating the outcomes of dialect contact between Dominican and Puerto Rican Spanish in Puerto Rico. I specifically look at how social factors can affect the acquisition and use of certain linguistic features in Dominican Spanish as well as how these factors can affect the identity of second-generation Dominicans in Puerto Rico. Besides my dissertation, I also have done research on heritage language acquisition, specifically the contribution of psychosocial and biographical variables to heritage language learners’ linguistic knowledge of Spanish.
I have 12 years of experience teaching Spanish, linguistics as well as cultural and methodology courses. I taught mostly in Higher Ed. (University at Albany, Florida State University, Mercyhurst University & Penn State University) with 2 years at the high school level in Tallahassee, FL, and Albany, NY.
Aside from my job duties, I have been a professional athlete and competed internationally for Puerto Rico. I also, enjoy renovating houses and bringing them back to life!
This is my first time working for Questar III BOCES and I am excited for the new chapter in my educational career as an RBERN Program Support Specialist. I look forward to working with the RBERN team to build a better support system in our district.
Ricardo Estremera
Summer Workshops:
The Capital District RBERN would like to share with you all this opportunity. Please see message below:
I’m writing today to give you an update on registrations for our summer Unit Design workshops to be held in your regions. The workshop to be held at Questar III in July has 21 registrants and the Mid-State one has 28. I’m confident these will double before we get to the summer. If there is anything you can do to promote these workshops in your region (email blast to principals/teachers in your regions), it would be greatly appreciated. You can find the information on these sessions as well as the link to our website below.
We’re also offering a workshop to be held at the Franklin-Essex-Hamilton BOCES for Northern NY teachers, a venue which may welcome teachers from regions shared by your two RBERNs. This is our first venture to help offer workshops in Northern NY, where we have not been able to visit in the past given our limited staff. I’m hoping that Northern NY teachers, several of whom have reached out to inquire if an in-person workshop could be scheduled, will come out in force to support this and future workshops in this area. Again, if this is anything you could do to support attendance at this event with your contacts in Northern NY, it would be greatly appreciated! Unit Design Workshops for Checkpoint B (Summer 2023)
In an effort to assure that as many NYS world language educators as possible are prepared to revise their Checkpoint B curricula prior to implementation of the revised NYS Learning Standards for World Languages in September of 2023, OBEWL will host unit design workshops for Checkpoint B in the summer of 2023. Although the examples given will be for Checkpoint B, these workshops are open to teachers of any level (Checkpoints A through C). The events will run from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (with a one-hour lunch on your own) on two consecutive days. Participants must commit to attending both days. Participants who satisfy the attendance requirements of this workshop will receive a total of eight (8) hours of CTLE credit. To participate, educators must register in advance using the online form. Registrations will be accepted on a first come, first served basis until the venue capacity has been reached. These sessions are offered free of charge, are in-person only, and will not be recorded for future viewing. Below are the list of dates and locations by region. Click here to access the registration form.
- Capital: Thursday, July 13th - Friday, July 14th - Questar III BOCES (10 Empire State Blvd., Castleton-On-Hudson, NY 12033)
- Mid-State: Thursday, July 27th - Friday, July 28th - OCM BOCES (110 Elwood Davis Rd., Liverpool, NY 13088)
- Northern NY: Tuesday, August 8th - Wednesday, August 9th - Franklin-Essex-Hamilton BOCES (23 Husky Lane, Malone, NY 12953)
Thank you and have a wonderful day!
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to contact below:
Candie
Candace R. Black
World Language Associate
Office of Bilingual Education and World Languages
New York State Education Department
2A Richmond Avenue, Park Lewis Hall
Batavia, NY 14020
Office: (518) 473-7505
Mobile: (585) 356-0951
Email: Candace.black@nysed.gov
Website: http://www.nysed.gov/world-languages
Have a Questions Please Contact us !
Email: enews@rbern.org
Website: rbern.org
Location: 10 Empire State Boulevard, Castleton-on-Hudson, NY, USA
Phone: 718-477-8771
Twitter: @CapitaRbern