Iowa

Info from Iowa - June 2008

For many of our Iowa MIDTESOL colleagues, the 2007-2008 school year wrapped
up with a bit more stress than usual! Along with grading final papers and
exams, reviewing I-ELDA results, and end-of-year meetings, many communities
also dealt with severe storms, tornadoes, and massive flooding. Best wishes
go out to all those affected in both Iowa and Missouri.

Iowa Council for International Understanding

The Iowa Council for International Understanding is celebrating its 70th
year of service in 2008. While its original purpose was assisting World War
II refugees, ICIU now strives to improve local and worldwide cultural
relations via programs and services. Through its website
(http://www.iciu.org), ICIU provides resources such as translations of voter
registration forms and information regarding employment or volunteer
opportunities, as well as information regarding forums and performances.

In Memoriam

Dr. Carmen Sosa, Title III Consultant at the Iowa Department of Education,
passed away April 18 after a lengthy battle with cancer. At the time of
this submission, no announcement had been made regarding her replacement.

Iowa: Templates for Success

The 2009 Iowa Culture and Language Conference is currently scheduled for
February 10 and 11 at the Polk County Convention Center in Des Moines.
Pre-conferences will be held February 9, with Dr. Jana Echevarria as one of
the featured conference speakers. More information will follow this fall.

Info from Iowa - May 2006

o ICLC

The big event in Iowa this spring was the Iowa Culture and Language Conference, which took place in Des Moines on February 15-16, 2006. The conference, hosted by the Iowa Department of Education, celebrated its twentieth meeting with the theme "Opening Doors to a Global Community."

The mission of the ICLC, "to advocate for culturally and/or linguistically diverse students and their families, educators, and service providers," dovetails nicely with that of MIDTESOL, and many MIDTESOL members attended the conference. MIDTESOL presented a display in the exhibit hall, with the goal of attracting prospective members and informing them our the organization and the benefits of membership.

Keynote speakers and featured presenters at the conference were Dr. Margo Gottlieb (Seeing Double: Instruction and Assessment of English Language Learners), Former Iowa Governor Robert Ray, Dr. Stephen Krashen (Free Voluntary Reading - It will help first language acquisition, second language acquisition, make you smarter, and help you sleep at night).

Additionally, Dr. Concha Delgado-Gaitan (Mobilizing Communities for Children's Learning) and Dr. Timothy Rasinski (Effective Teaching of Phonetics and Vocabulary and Effect Teaching of Reading Fluency-The Neglected Goal of the Reading Curriculum) presented conference sessions.

This year's conference offered ICLC's first Job Fair; another innovation, My 20 New Best Friends, encouraged conference-goers to meet, exchange contact information, and network with new acquaintances.

Conference banquet entertainment was provided by the Orquesta de Jazz y Salsa Alto Maiz, a "Latin-jazz-dance band." (Those who were hesitant to dance along with the music were able to take salsa lessons given by Ruben Zamudio III. The Young Tai Dam Dancers performed while conference registration was taking place, and Meredith Middle School Reader's Theater from Des Moines gave a presentation on "Faces of Freedom", which told the personal stories of a number of immigrants to Iowa..

o New Saudi Students

Intensive English Programs have seen an influx of students from Saudi Arabia on Saudi government scholarships. These scholarships cover tuition, books and a generous monthly living allowance. Moreover, the students can use these scholarship funds to cover their intensive language courses. Instructors in the Culture and Intensive English Program at the University of Northern Iowa have seen their numbers swell. Instructors report that students are coming in at all levels. Some students are true beginners and some come in at a high level of language proficiency.

At Iowa State University, ten Saudis joined the Intensive English and Orientation Program spring semester. While a couple of them came in at a fairly high level, the others are rather low level beginners. Most have proved to be hardworking and eager students. IEOP is happy to have them among its students.

Thanks to Tom Riedmiller, UNI and Mary Barratt, ISU

o Where are our new members? A note to all MIDTESOL members

The phrase "each one teach one" repeated itself in my mind as I thought about how to encourage more of us who work with non-native speakers of English to join MIDTESOL.

Trying to remember the source of that phrase, I "Googled" it and found it refers to an after school tutoring program, an organization in Mumbai that assists socio-economically deprived schoolchildren, a program for mentoring young musicians, and - something!! - on the punkcast.com site - maybe a new release? My teenage daughters will be thrilled!

Suddenly I realized that "each one teach one" wasn't the phrase I wanted at all. Rather, it should be "each one reach one". Who do we MIDTESOL members know who has not joined MIDTESOL? That friend who has housed and assisted so many young men from South Sudan? The volunteer teachers in the ESL classes at a church in town? The K-12 teacher who is the ESL program in a school district and feels terribly isolated, overextended, and unsupported?

Wherever we work, whether in a post-secondary intensive English program, an AEA office, or any other place where our clients and students are learning English, we are all colleagues. We have the same goal: to encourage and assist non-native speakers to acquire the English language skills they need.

I suggest that each of us reach out to someone who would benefit from the educational, professional development and networking opportunities that belonging to MIDTESOL offers.

Let us remind ourselves that the MIDTESOL mission is:

"...to strengthen the effective teaching of English in Iowa and Missouri to people whose native language is a language other than English, while respecting their individual language rights. As a regional affiliate of TESOL, MIDTESOL, as a professional association:
1. Supports those involved with English language teaching, teacher education, administration and management, curriculum and materials design, and research,
2. Provides leadership and direction through the dissemination and exchange of information and resources, and
3. Encourages access to the standards for English language instruction, professional preparation and employment"

We all know someone who might appreciate learning about MIDTESOL. We can reach out and describe the organization, its activities and benefits. We can invite that person to join MIDTESOL and become part of a community of dedicated, supportive peers.

They can join the organization online, as well.

Let each of us help MIDTESOL grow, and share the variety of opportunities it offers.

November 2005 MIDTESOL Matters

Iowa

The new Iowa representative to the MIDTESOL Executive Board is Mary Barratt, who replaces LaDonna Brunk. Mary teaches in the Intensive English and Orientation Program at Iowa State University. MIDTESOL and Mary would like to thank LaDonna for her hard work and for her help during this transition!

however, the list of members and contact information is not complete. Please send your name and contact information to Mary Barratt: mbarratt@iastate.edu

The most important bit news from Iowa is the upcoming Iowa Culture and Language Conference, to be held in Des Moines February 15-16, 2006. The invited speakers are Stephen Krashen, Margo Gottlieb and Concha Delgado, well-known names to English language teachers. See the conference for detailed information about the conference and pre-conference workshops: http://www.state.ia.us/educate/ourkids/iclc.html

Iowans recently had the opportunity to attend two fine conferences. MIDTESOL Fall 2005 was held in October in Lee's Summit, MO. The NAFSA (Association of International Educators) Region IV conference took place in Des Moines in November.
Both conferences provided conference sessions and other information useful for educators working with non-native speakers of English at K-16.

There is a rather small MIDTESOL membership from Iowa;
As MIDTESOL members know, it is a particularly relevant organization for anyone working with non-native English speaking students to join. It has two conferences each year in either Iowa or Missouri. Membership is not expensive, there is a large emphasis on K-12 and immigrant issues, and the conferences are informative and generally easy to participate in, in terms of both location and finances! MIDTESOL is anxious for K-12 educators to become informed about the organization and its benefits. Information about the organization can be obtained form the website http://www.midtesol.org/and at the ICLC in February. MIDTESOL members are asked to encouraged K-12 teachers and other colleagues to join!

Along these lines, at the MIDTESOL conference, Linda Innes, from Center High School, Kansas City, MO, presented a very inspiring session that spoke to the needs of K-12 teachers who feel would like more professional support in their efforts to meet the challenges they face in their work. The session was entitled "ESL Networking for Survival: The ESL Support Group." In it, Linda described how to form a support group, convincing reasons to do so, whom to invite to join the group, and networking opportunities for members. The focus was on support for teachers who feel isolated from others doing the same types of work or would like to interact more with peers, engage in continuing professional discussion, and materials.

Finally, Mary Barratt was asked by Educational Testing Service (ETS) to present an information session at both the MIDTESOL and NAFSA IV conferences about the new TOEFL Internet-based Test (iBT). More information about this exam and the changes that have been made in the TOEFL is available from ETS at http://www.ets.org/. You can also download a four-page publication "TOEFL® at a Glance," a longer publication, entitled "TOEFL® iBT Tips", or request a copy of either from ETS

2003 Iowa Final Guidelines ELL

Spring 2001
By MIDTESOL's Iowa Representative, Cathy Howland

Iowa's Governor Tom Vilsack, as part of a three-pronged plan to increase Iowa's population, is working to develop a strategic community plan to encourage a smooth transition for bringing skilled workers to Iowa from outside the United States. Skilled workers from other countries can

provide a valuable resource to Iowa employers and can add cultural richness and diversity to Iowa's communities.

Governor Vilsack says, "We believe the key to creating a foundation for successful immigration in Iowa is to start with a model community. In the very near future, we will ask one Iowa community to work with us to develop a strategic plan for assimilating immigrants into its companies, schools and neighborhoods. By following a step-by-step plan, we can ensure that the newcomers and their community have the smoothest transition possible." Together with his Lieutenant Governor, Sally Pedersen, Vilsack wants to make Iowa a safe haven for those who need it. This would include providing opportunities for people across the world who are suffering the effects of war, famine, and illness. This initiative would include offering opportunities for work, and helping them provide their children a brighter future. In return, they would be expected to learn our language and become contributing members to our communities.

Also coming up in Iowa is the 2001 Iowa Language and Cultural Concerns Conference. For details, see the "Upcoming Conferences" section.

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Date: Tue, 09 May 2000 09:49:01 -0500
Subject: Iowa news To: jeannea@waterloo.k12.ia.us
From: howlandc@cedar-falls.k12.ia.us (Catherine Howland)

News from Iowa includes the initial plans for the February Conference.... It will be held at the Holiday Inn Airport (same as last year) on February 7-8. The theme will be: 2001: Iowa's Cultural Odyssey -- and congratulations for being the one who suggested the theme...

The TEAMS project (Teacher Education Addressing Minority-language Speakers) is hosting a lecture by Dr. Yvonne Freeman and Dr. David Freeman who are nationally known bilingual educators. This will take place on Saturday, May 20 from 9 am to 12 noon. The TEAMS project is a bilingual career ladder program, funded by the office of Bilingual Education and Minority Language Affairs, to enable completion of elementary teacher education for adults whose native language is other than English.

This five year project delivers an undergraduate degree for bilingual adults who are currently working as para-professionals in schools or who have recently graduated from high school. For more information contact

Deborah.Tidwell@uni.edu

I have been told that there are some available openings for interested and qualified people.

UNI is working on securing funding in a grassroots effort to assist new immigrants and refugees who have jsut graduated from high school but are still in need of assistance with their developing English language skills. Mike Janopoulos told me that this would give assistance to new graduates who wish to continue with their education but still do not have sufficient language skills. This would help with Intensive English programming and offer support through their course of study. This is similar to the TEAMS project but would be open for any course of study.

For more information contact

Michael.Janopoulos@uni.edu.

Thanks Jeanne. If I get more news I will pass it on, but this is what I have now. Cathy Howland

May 10, 1999

Official Languages posted by Colleen Hovinga (MIDTESOL member)

April 21, 1999

The Official English bill was voted down in the Iowa House yesterday, April 20. Iowa elected officials defeated the Official Language part of the bill while approving the portion to create a New Iowans Welcome Center!

By accepting and welcoming new Iowans, we honor and celebrate the diversity that exists already in our state.

The vote was very close, 48-51. So the need for continued dialogue is clear.

April 5, 1999

From Cathy Howland -- an Iowa update

Iowa had a very successful spring conference in February. Introduced were awards in memory of Dan Chavez, late Bilingual Education Consultant for the State Department of Education. Among the recipients were Cala Shields and the University of Northern Iowa for work in developing the ESL teacher certification and their support of student (both graduate and undergraduate) participation in the conference since its beginning. Congratulations, Cala!

Next year's conference is tentatively planned for February 8 and 9.

The Iowa Department of Education's new ESL / Bilingual Education Consultant is Dr. Carmen Sosa. Welcome!

The English as the Official Language Bill has been tied together with the development of Welcome Center to aid immigrants with INS forms and to offer assistance in resettlement. This bill has passed the Senate and last week passed out of the House Committee for discussion on the floor. The governor has hinted that he will veto it, should it pass the House. The bill states that English will be used for all state publications. So far it doesn't seem to have majority support in the house, but it could be close.

Thanks, Cathy