NDE World Languages Newsletter

• Nebraska Seal of Biliteracy Updates
• The 2024 NDE World Language OER Hub Development
  
• Nebraska Recognized at the 2024 Seal of Biliteracy Summit
• The 2024 NDE World Language OER Hub Development
• NDE Advisory Panel Meeting & Establishment of NE World Language Committees
  
• NILA Calls for Proposals
• 2025 Central States on Teaching Foreign Languages Conference Calls for Proposals
• Teacher Story: Dené Oglesby

Thanks to Kelly Garcia from ESU5 to review this newsletter!

World Language teachers, please continue to encourage and support your students to apply for the Nebraska Seal of Biliteracy. The upcoming application due date is August 1st, and the application form will be deactivated at midnight for data analysis and maintenance. On September 2nd, the form will be reactivated to accept applications.

Based on feedback from teachers and school districts, NDE World Language started the school application in May. In order to apply on behalf of their students, school districts need to:

- Appoint a Seal of Biliteracy Liaison. This person is responsible for administrating the seal for their district/school. Please use the sample appointment letter as a reference (see below)

- Obtain parent consent for school applications for each student to be included in the application and to be included in the upcoming NDE news release to announce the awardees.

- Create a PDF document, including evidence of English proficiency for all students - please highlight the qualifying courses.

- Create a PDF document, including proof of proficiency for other languages for all students.

- Create a spreadsheet, including all the required information for all students."

Applications will be accepted during the following time windows:
May 2nd - August 1st

September 2nd - November 1st

December 2nd - April 1st

At the 2024 Seal of Biliteracy Summit, Nebraska was among the states recognized by Dr. Miguel Cardona, the U.S. Secretary of Education, for its efforts in promoting bilingualism. Representing Nebraska were Allyson DenBeste, Academic Officer, and Chrystal Liu, World Language Specialist at the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE). The summit was a vibrant gathering filled with learning, networking, and the sharing of resources and ideas. Participants from across the state had the opportunity to meet the "godfathers" and "godmothers" of the Seal of Biliteracy, adding a special dimension to the event. Attendees were inspired by student testimonies and engaged in insightful discussions and presentations, further enriching the experience.

The 2024 NDE World Language OER Hub Development Cohort III successfully concluded, marking a significant achievement with the creation and curation of over 70 high-quality Open Educational Resources (OER) items aligned with Nebraska World Language standards. From June 18th to 21st, 24 world language teachers from nine Educational Service Units (ESUs) engaged in a dynamic four-day event filled with learning, collaboration, networking, and service. This initiative highlights the dedication and collective effort of educators in enhancing language education. Teachers are warmly invited to participate in next year's cohort to continue this impactful work. Additionally, the Nebraska International Languages Association (NILA), the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE), and ESU5 are collaborating on a workshop proposal for the 2025 Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (CSCTFL) to showcase and report on the World Language OER Hub Development from 2022 to 2024 in Nebraska.

On May 31st, the NDE World Language Advisory Panel, facilitated by NDE World Language Education, held an in-person meeting attended by 16 dedicated World language Educators from across Nebraska, representing K-12, higher education, public and private schools, and various languages. The panel discussed a range of important topics, including updates on Nebraska World Language initiatives such as the recently signed MOU with the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) to bring Indigenous and Heritage language assessments to Nebraska students for the Seal of Biliteracy. They also reviewed newly approved guiding documents on Competency-based Credit and High Ability Learners (HAL) in World Language Education. Looking ahead to 2025, the panel discussed upcoming initiatives such as standards revision, proficiency training, and World Language Week, which will be held from February 17 to 23. Additionally, the panel reviewed the curriculum map for Level 1 and student self-assessment documents for advanced levels. The 2024 Fall NDE World Language Guest Speaker Series, which started in the spring of 2022, was also highlighted as a continuing effort to provide valuable insights and professional development opportunities for educators. With deep appreciation, the meeting acknowledged the establishment of various NE World Language Committees, including the Public Awareness Committee, Seal of Biliteracy Advisory Committee, Mission/Vision Purpose Committee, Communication Committee, Competency-based Credit Committee, HAL in World Language Committee, and the World Language Week Advisory Committee, all aimed at further advancing language education in the state.

The Nebraska International Languages Association is calling for proposals for its 2024 Fall Conference. The conference is in-person and the theme is ”Access, Agency & Advocacy". If you are interested in sharing your expertise, please submit a proposal by June 30th. For more details, please check this Facebook post for details.

The conference will take place on Saturday, October 26 at Lincoln Northwest High School, 4901 W Holdrege St, Lincoln, NE 68528. The keynote speaker is Alicia Shoemaker, the 2024 ACTFL Teacher of the Year. Alicia will also lead a pre-conference workshop from 3:00 to 5:30 pm (CT), Friday, October 25th. More details will come soon.

Nebraska World Language teachers are encouraged to participate in the 2025 Central States Conference on Teaching Foreign Languages (CSCTFL), scheduled from March 13-15, 2025, at the Sheraton Kansas City (MO) Hotel at Crown Center. This conference offers a valuable platform for educators to share innovative teaching practices, research findings, and effective strategies in language education under the theme "Global Goals, Global Languages." Teachers are encouraged to submit proposals by June 30, 2024, highlighting their expertise and experiences, contributing to the advancement of language education and fostering connections through language for a better world. For more information and to submit a proposal, please visit CSCTFL Proposal Submission. View the step-by-step guide here.

Dené Oglesby is a French and Spanish teacher with a BA (2008) and MA (2012) in Modern Languages from UNL, an MA in Education (2022) from UNK, and an anticipated MS in Educational Leadership (2025) from UNO. Awarded the 2015 NILA New World Language Educator of the Year, Dené has taught ESL and English in Nebraska and France, French at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Ralston High School, and Abbey Road Programs in Nice, France, as well as adult French at Alliance Française d’Omaha. She currently teaches French and Spanish at Benson High School in Omaha, Nebraska.

Bonjour! Je m’appelle Dené Oglesby. My students call me Madame O.

I chose to become a teacher to pay forward what I gained from the effort of all the wonderful educators and mentors who continue to inspire me on my path of language learning. Teaching and language were concepts I was lucky to be introduced to at a young age by volunteering in my mother’s special education preschool classrooms in Wahoo Public Schools and later at the Jewish Community Center. Learning Spanish and appreciation of other cultures was instilled in me when I began kindergarten in 1990 at Westside Community Schools. The district had just launched a pilot program for a Spanish teacher to visit K-6 classes twice a week which I benefited from greatly throughout my elementary years.

I've always been interested in following demographic trends and continued my language learning in Spanish through middle and high school and later in college to prepare myself for a multilingual future in Nebraska. My high school Spanish teacher organized a tour of Southern Spain and Madrid which I was fortunate to attend as a 15-year-old in 2000. That trip changed the trajectory of my life by inspiring me to further my language studies in order to study and eventually work abroad. I wanted to have a chance to study ways other societies approach the same problems we all face so that better solutions might be found. Taking advantage of the first possible term I could to study abroad after one year of college, I spent six weeks studying Spanish in Querétaro, México in 2004. Upon my return to UNL, I began studying French, quickly advancing through the basic sequence and eventually bookending my undergraduate studies with a semester abroad in Besançon, France. Thanks to the mentorship of Dr. Marshall Olds and Dr. Chantal Kalisa, I spent two years (2008-2010) as a graduate exchange student teaching English at Université de Marne-la-Vallée (now Université Gustave Eiffel) and at École des Ponts ParisTech just to the east of Paris. I lived in the 10th arrondissement around the corner from Place de la République for two years and greatly improved my French, Spanish, and teaching skills while befriending other expats from around the world in Paris. When I returned to UNL, I loved being able to share my in-country experiences in the French classroom as a graduate assistant. Shortly after I obtained my Masters in Modern Languages, I began teaching at Ralston. On a personal note, I also credit my French studies for helping me find someone as passionate as me about all things linguistic and cultural as I met my husband and future fellow French teacher, Paul Callahan, in 19th Century French Poetry at UNL.

Colleagues tell me that I excel at world-building in the classroom. When you enter my classroom, French music is always playing, high frequency phrases are plastered around the walls, students are engaging with authentic materials and relying on each other to decipher language together, and I'm constantly using the target language to the point students question my nationality. A couple of years ago, I gave myself a work uniform of a black dress and scarf. One of my students said I looked like a flight attendant and I agreed the next best thing to taking them to France was to lead them to consider diverse viewpoints through our exploration of French language, music, food, culture, and history. My big Cs that I wish for any student to take away from my classes are Cognates, Context, Curiosity, Compassion, and Collaboration.

My greatest goal in my last position was to make international student trips available and financially feasible to students at Benson High. After restoring the Benson French Program to a full-time position, going from 60 to 180 students over a couple of years, I began to research possible community donors. Thanks to supportive principals - Tom Wagner and Melinda Bailey (both former world language teachers!) - and the Benson Alumni Foundation, we were able to fundraise $10,000 which was split between six Benson students for an unforgettable trip to France last summer. The Benson Bunnies were exceptional travelers and made me so proud!

At this point in my career, I have chaperoned five total student trips to France. I believe authentic cultural exchanges during a student's formative years is of utmost importance to develop lifelong curiosity and compassion for people of all backgrounds. It is humbling to experience life in another country not of your own. It is inevitable that our students will encounter a person who doesn't share the same language and culture. Whether individuals navigate those encounters with grace and understanding makes a world of difference.

To this end, I am happy to be continuing my teaching career with ESU 5 next year. I will be joining seven other amazing Nebraska educators who teach Spanish to districts across the state via the World Language Distance Learning Program directed by Dr. Nick Ziegler. I'm excited to help directly address the need for Spanish instruction in smaller districts outside of Omaha and Lincoln as well as research the nexus of personalized AI and world language learning. We hope to be able to offer French soon as an option within this program.

NDE World Language Education will continue to offer customized professional development opportunities to meet the unique needs of Nebraska Educational Service Units (ESUs) and school districts. Our comprehensive offerings for the 2024-2025 academic year encompass a variety of enriching themes. Please check the document for details or contact Chrystal Liu at chrystal.liu@nebraska.gov for questions.

Please check this document for the 2024-2025 annual events for Nebraska World Language Education. If you or your organization have events to share, please email Chrystal Liu (chrystal.liu@nebraska.gov) to add your events in the shared calendar.

Email: chrystal.liu@nebraska.gov
Website: https://www.education.ne.gov/worldlanguage/
Location: 500 S 84th St 2nd Floor, Lincoln, NE 68510
Phone: 402-430-8147

Facebook: https://secure.smore.com/n/g35ek
X: @NDE_WorldLang