Signe Damdar, Vernon Center Middle School

Perhaps you’re a teacher of a less-prominent world language in your school and you’re wondering how to increase enrollment in your language classes.  Perhaps you’re a teacher who wants to connect with students in a special way outside of the classroom but you lack athletic skill or experience for coaching sports.  Perhaps you’re a teacher who admires what other schools are doing with language clubs and think that you don’t have the time, creativity, or know-how to create that in your school.  If you see yourself in any of these categories, this article is for you because I can affirm that, “Yes, you CAN start a language club!”…

Melissa Tubbs, Artwork Contest Chair

When you inherit the organization of a student event as I did with the CT COLT Poster Contest in 2020, you tread lightly and learn all you can for the first year. The Student Events Coordinator, Judith Ojeda, planted the seed about “growing” the contest right away, however, and it gradually became the lens through which I viewed the entire experience as chair. During the pandemic, I often wondered about my and my colleagues’ students’ different rates of access to things like WiFi, a quiet workspace, three square meals… and, now, I wondered about art supplies…

Samuel Merkatz, Kingswood Oxford

A diverse classroom provides a wider array of perspectives, ultimately making learning languages a more fulfilling and educational experience. I have long considered Classics a multifaceted discipline, not just on account of its sprawling curriculum, but also by virtue of its rich history…

Jill Griswold, Glastonbury Public Schools

This February, 7th and 8th grade students at Smith Middle School in Glastonbury partnered with the Pulsera Project to carry out a successful fundraiser to support Central American artisans. The after school club of about 25 dedicated students raised over $2,500, selling nearly 500 colorful, woven bracelets (pulseras) and 3o bags during their two-week sale…

Ruby Banks, Hamden High School

I am not Italian, but I have always been interested in the Italian language and culture. I can remember being 8 years old when my mom asked me “Honey, if you could go anywhere in the whole world, where would you go?” I said “Candyland” but my second choice was Italy! I do have plans to go to Venice with my mom when I graduate high school…

Karla Rivadeneira, UConn Neag School of Education

In order to graduate with my Master’s from UConn, I had to complete an inquiry project. I worked with my fellow CT COLT interns, Kat Santiago-Moltavo and Larry Sacramento, on researching translanguaging as a pedagogy in the classroom. Translanguaging pedagogy is the notion of using ones’ entire linguistic repertoire in the classroom…

Milton Alan Turner, Saint Ignatius High School, Cleveland, OH

The recent Disney film Encanto tells the story of the Madrigal family whose members often have magical gifts. But there is one member, Bruno, who has apparently deserted the family under secret and shameful circumstances. The popular song We Don’t Talk About Bruno is about the attempts of young Mirabel to get information about her uncle from the rest of the family…