Standards for Latin Teacher Preparation

The American Classical League has just announced that the newly published ACL-APA Standards for Latin Teacher Preparation document is now available for free on its website.

Professor Ronnie Ancona, Vice President of the American Philological Association comments, "This is a valuable document for anyone teaching, planning to teach, or training those to teach Latin. It was written by a joint task force from ACL and APA. There will be a Plenary Session on the Standards at the ACL Institute this summer. We hope to also have a session on them at APA in San Antonio."

The Standards describes "the knowledge, skills, and understanding" of the beginning Latin teacher (a professional with 2 years or less experience in the classroom) in the areas of Content Knowledge, Pedagogical Knowledge and Skill, as well as Professional Development. The document is 22 pages, including a table of contents, and is quite readable.

The American Classical League has other reports available on its website, including the Standards for Classical Language Learning (referenced in the Standards for Latin Teacher Preparation) and the Report for State Certification Requirements for Teachers of Latin from the Joint Committee on Classics in American Education, a committee of the American Philological Association and the American Classical Association.

Bestiaria Latina: Zoo

Take a virtual field trip to a Latin language zoo! Laura Gibbs has done it again, creating an online bestiary of animals. Each entry in this menagerie includes the Latin name of the animal, alternative terminology, a photo, plus links to Latin language stories and proverbs! You can even add a Latin Zoo widget to your blog or website!

London Mayor Wants More Latin in State Schools in England

A couple more articles about Boris Johnson's call for a resurgence of Latin in English state schools:

"Call for Latin Lessons At Schools"

BBC News, March 17, 2010

"Teach More Latin in Schools, says London Mayor"

Yahoo News/Reuters, March 17, 2010

"More State Schools Should Teach Latin"

Daily Telegraph, March 17, 2010

"Boris Johnson Lobbies Tories to Add Latin to State-School Curriculum"

The Guardian (UK), March 17, 2010

"Boris Johnson Hits Out at 'Absurd Decline of Latin in State Schools'"

London Evening Standard, March 17, 2010

Mr. Johnson studied Latin and the Classics as a student and is a graduate of Eton College secondary school and Balliol College, University of Oxford. A product of private education, he is a critic of Latin being reserved for tuition-based schools only.

Latin in the News

It's March and so it's not surprising to see a lot of stories about the Latin language in the news. We have just commemorated the Ides of March (which took place on March 15) and we're gearing up for Rome's birthday on April 21st.

Here's a round-up of recent news stories:

"PLC students battle against Roman empire"

Australian students compete in European CICERO Latin Competition
North Shore Times

March 16, 2010

"BEWARE THE IDES: THS Latin Club recreates Caesar’s funeral march"

Taunton Daily Gazette
March 15, 2010

"Latin Keeps Class Enrapt: Boonville teacher mixes culture, history with language study"

Latin teacher Pamela Koleszar takes proactive measures to keep her Latin program active.

Evansville Courier and Press

March 16, 2010

"Student Spotlight"

Interview with the Colorado Intermediate Level Latin Speaker Film Contest Winner

The Daily Camera
March 13, 2010

Hadrian's Wall Illuminated in a "Line of Light"

Over 1000 volunteers lit beacons along Hadrian's Wall to celebrate British Tourism Week. You can see a video and read the story at the BBC News website: "Volunteers Illuminate Hadrian's Wall 'Line of Light."

The Mayor of London Defends the Teaching of Latin in England

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, wants to "weep with rage" over the disparagement of Latin and Classics education by Edward Michael Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families in Britain.

Pompeiiana, a Rich Resource for All Latin Teachers and Students

Andrew Reinhard, Director of eLearning for Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, recently announced the completion of the Pompeiiana Newsletter blog project. The Pompeiiana Newsletter was a publication for Latin students which enjoyed a nearly twenty year press run, with 229 issues released betwee the years 1974 to 2003. Material published in the newsletter included both Latin and English language comics, stories, games, and articles. As a gift to the Classics community, Bolchazy-Carducci has digitized all the extant issues of Pompeiiana Newsletter and made them available for all to enjoy in Adobe Acrobat format (.pdf) at the Pompeiiana Newsletter Blog.

Classics and Careers

Three timely articles for aspiring students of the Classicson the Psychology Today Career Transitions blog!

"Classics Majors Find their Future in the Past"

"Branding and Marketing the Classics Major"

"Careers in Education for Classics Majors"

National Latin Teacher Recruitment Week

It's that time of year again! National Latin Teacher Recruitment Week is here! NLTRW runs from March 1-5. The National Committee for Latin and Greek has created an eight-minute video that you may wish to share with your students. You can click on the link below to watch it via YouTube or you can download it from the Promote Latin website to show offline.

In Memoriam, Hans Oerberg 1920-2010

Sad news from Focus Publishing:

Dear all friends and customers of Hans Orberg

I am very sad to announce the death of my beloved father, Hans Henning Orberg. He passed away peacefully, without pains and surrounded by his children on the 17th of February.

Although very weak and disabled in his last month, he was very happy that he managed to finish his "Ars Amatoria" and see it published. He also leaves this world with peace in his mind, confident that his children will carry on his publishing firm, Domus Latina.

The funeral will take place Wednesday the 24th of February at 2 pm in the church of Grenaa: Grenaa Kirke, Torvet 12, 8500 Grenaa, Denmark.

We would be grateful if you would pass on the sad news to friends and customers that you know of and who are not in the mailing list above.

Yours sincerely

Anders Orberg

Latin Vs. English, the Liveliness Factor

By popular demand, Claude Pavur has posted his chart De Linguae Latinae Vivacitate, demonstrating the continuing relevance and vitality of the ancient language, on the St. Louis Latin Teaching Materials website.

Also noted, his version (singable!) of the Star Spangled Banner in Latin!

Latinum Has a New Home

Evan Millner has set up a new website for his Latinum project, which was previously somewhat difficult to navigate. The new website organizes the various parts of the course by difficulty level, making it easier for learners to follow the sequence of the lessons.

Prepping for the National Latin Exam

Karen Moore at the Latin Alive! blog just posted a link to a new online prep test program to help students prepare for the Level 1 National Latin Exam.

Carpe Diem! Seize the Day!

Thanks to Rose Williams for pointing out the wonderful selection of English language poetry centered around the theme Carpe Diem or "Seize the Day!" at Poets.org.

Happy New Year!

Novum annum laetum omnibus exoptō!

Merry Christmas!

Gaudete! Hodie Christus natus est! (Rejoice! Today Christ is born!)

Felicem Diem Christi Natalem Omnibus Exopto! (Merry Christmas to All!)

Joyful Latin Learning!

Are you reading Justin Schwamm's Joyful Latin Learning blog? If you aren't, you really ought to be! This is an interactive web project with the aim of building a collaborative and "joyful learning community" focused on Latin and the Roman Empire. Building on the principles of Paideia and the Trivium, as well as integrating the two main pedagogical approaches to Latin, Joyful Latin Learning aims to create and share content and stories with a wide online audience.

Teaching Classical Languages: A New Online Electronic Journal

We have just received an exciting new announcement from John Gruber-Miller, professor of Classical and Modern Languages at Cornell College and the author of When Dead Tongues Speak: Teaching Beginning Greek and Latin.

Teaching Classical Languages is a peer-reviewed electronic journal dedicated to exploring how we teach (and how we learn) Latin and Greek. It is meant for all who teach Latin and Greek, graduate students, coordinators, and administrators. Teaching Classical Languages is the successor of CPL Online and is sponsored by the Classical Association of the Middle West and South.

The mission of Teaching Classical Languages is to provide accessible, high quality research that offers Latin and Greek teachers immediate classroom applicability and long-term theoretical approaches that can help them become better teachers. As an electronic journal, Teaching Classical Languages has a unique global outreach. It offers authors and readers a multimedia format that more fully illustrates the topics discussed, and provides hypermedia links to related information and websites.

The first issue offers innovative articles about social networking in the Latin classroom, using music in beginning Greek, and core vocabulary in beginning Greek textbooks. All three articles take advantage of online publication, offering screen shots, audio of the songs, handouts for the classroom, or appendices that list the common core vocabulary in two popular Greek textbooks.

Andrew Reinhard, "Social Networking in Latin Class: A How-To Guide"

Georgia L. Irby-Massie, "'That Ain't Workin'; That's the Way You Do It': Teaching Greek through Popular Music"

Rachael Clark, "Greek Vocabulary in Popular Textbooks"

Teaching Classical Languages welcomes articles offering innovative practice and methods, advocating new theoretical approaches, or reporting on empirical research in teaching and learning Latin and Greek. Please take a moment to take a tour through the new journal and spread the word.

Take a Trip to Pompeii Without Leaving Home

BBC News reports "Ancient City of Pompeii Added to Google Street View."

Saint Nicholas and the Legenda Aurea

Advent is upon us and it's time to start thinking toward Christmas!

Blessed Jacobus de Voragine, a medieval archbishop and biographer, chronicled a number of stories about the saints in a book entitled the Legenda Aurea ("The Golden Legend") , including the biography of a certain Sanctus Nicolaus, whose story you can read, in Latin, on the Latin Library website. The feast day of St. Nicholas is December 6th and in some European countries this is the day that children wake up to find gifts and sweets left in their shoes . De Voragine also recorded the story of Sancta Lucia, whose feast day is December 13th, another joyful holiday celebrated in many European countries with parties, angel costumes, candles and sweets.

If you'd prefer, you can read two English versions of the St. Nicholas story from the Legenda Aurea:

http://weber.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/scriptorium/Nicholas.html

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/goldenlegend/