Your Name and Title:
Dr. Thomas Moncrief
School or Organization Name:
North Carolina Virtual Public School
Co-Presenter Name(s):
Ellen Hart, Division Director, World Languages
Teryn Odom, Spanish Instructional Leader and Teacher
Bridget Beaver, Japanese Instructional Leader and Teacher
Katya Decker, Russian Instructional Leader and Teacher
Area of the World from Which You Will Present:
North Carolina, United States of America
Language in Which You Will Present:
English
Target Audience(s):
Educators and School Administrators
Short Session Description (one line):
Connecting Students to the Language and Culture through a Statewide Culture Cafe
Full Session Description (as long as you would like):
The North Carolina Virtual Public School (NCVPS) is the 2nd Largest Virtual School in the United States. NCVPS offers courses in Spanish, French, Latin, Arabic, Russian, Japanese and Mandarin Chinese to thousands of students across North Carolina each year. Part of the connections that NCVPS teachers and guest speakers provide for students occurs during multiple Culture Cafe sessions that occur online in the Blackboard Collaborate Environment. These sessions discuss and unique perspectives and are used to support the curriculum and provide for an opportunity for students to interact in the target language with other students from across the world. When the 2014 Winter Olympics were happening in Russia, our Culture Cafe was bringing the students as close to the action through the history and culture of that area of Russia. With staff all across the world, our Culture Cafe presenters may be in Egypt, sharing information about that culture with students of North Carolina in real-time. The connections that foster a deeper understanding of the Globe are a hallmark of this program and the instructional style for NCVPS courses.
Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session:
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