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In conjunction with the COFLT-WAFLT conference
in
Portland (13-14 October), Ray Verzasconi has
made
special arrangements with the Teatro Milagro,
the
northwest's award-winning Hispanic arts
and culture
organization, for a performance of Calderon's
"La vida
es sueno" (in English) on the evening of Friday,
13
October, at a special discount rate of $13.00.
In
addition, Ray Verzasconi, in cooperation with
Milagro
volunteers, will host a reception for all
theater-goers following the production.
The evening will be an opportunity for Spanish
teachers in Oregon and Washington to see one
of the
Siglo de Oro's best-known dramas performed by
an
outstanding little theater group, and to meet
after
the production for a repast of Hispanic foods,
wine
and beverages. The Teatro has also applied
for a
grant in the hopes of bringing John Clifford,
Calderon
specialist and translator of the production the
Teatro
is performing, from London so that he could give
theater-goers a brief introduction to the works
of
Calderon -- and possibly to give a session on
Siglo de
Oro theater at the COFLT-WAFLT conference.
Since the theater holds only 121 people, advance
purchase of tickets is required and will be given
out
on a first-come, first-served basis.
Advanced payment must be received by Friday, 18
August. Make check (for $13.00) payable
to: Ray
Verzasconi.
Mail to:
Ray Verzasconi
2336 NE 12th Ave
Portland OR 97212
Please enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope
with
payment so we can send you directions on how
to get to
the Teatro from the COFLT-WAFLT conference, and
so we
can also help arrange for transportation for
those who
will need a ride.
If any tickets remain after 18 August, they will
be
sold on-site at the COFT-WAFLT conference for
$17.00.
Sorry, no refunds. However, tickets are
transferrable, e.g., if you find you cannot attend,
you can sell or give your ticket(s) to someone
else.
Remember, with the reception -- this will be a
$30.00
value ... and for only $13.00. The Teatro
receivesthe
entire $13.00.
If you want more information about the Teatro
Milagro,
check their Web site: http://www.milagro.org
III. CLAMOR
Nathalie Kasselis kasselin@cwu.edu welcomes your
contributions for the October CLAMOR. Please help her out!
She's new.
IV. SUZANNE LOUDEN GOES TO MURCIA; MURCIA
TEACHER NEEDS A PLACE TO LIVE
Suzanne Louden, chair of the department at Shorewood,
will be doing next year's post-to-post exchange with a man from Murcia.
We have enjoyed getting to know Consuelo Campos and welcome Anne Waite
back to Lake Stevens High this spring when she gets home from Madrid.
Eduardo Tobar etobar@ospi.wednet.edu and Suzanne Louden suzanne.louden@shorelineschools.org
are looking to find the exchange teacher an apartment in Seattle, Shoreline
or Edmonds for about $500/month while he teaches at Shorewood in her stead.
Please contact them with any leads.
V. TEACHER OF THE YEAR 2000
It is not too late to nominate someone for Spanish
Teacher 2000. Deadline May 31. See previous BOLECTRONICOS.
VI. TEATRO MILAGRO EVENT AT WAFLT/COFLT
IN PORTLAND IN OCTOBER: RESERVE BY AUGUST WITH RAY VERZASCONI!
VII. NCLRC SUMMER INSTITUTES DEADLINES
EXTENDED
NCLRC SUMMER INSTITUTES DEADLINES EXTENDEND
Please note that the registration deadline for
the following Summer
Institutes has been extended to June 1, 2000.
TEACHING LEARNING STRATEGIES IN THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE
CLASSROOM
June 26-27, 2000
IMPLEMENTING PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT IN THE FOREIGN
LANGUAGE CLASSROOM
June 28-29, 2000
TEACHING WITH TECHNOLOGY IN THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE
CLASSROOM
June 30-July 1, 2000
Note: There are only two spaces left in the technology
institute, so
send your registration immediately if you would
like to attend.
VIII. THE POETIC MAGIC OF JORGE ELIAS LUJAN
Submitted by Gayle Smith Padgett
The “Red Cow” was sighted at The George Washington
University recently.
A new Hip-Hop group you ask? No, “La Vaca
Roja” doesn’t exactly sing.
But, it can be sung. In fact, you would
probably be humming the quirky
reprise of this whimsical children’s song right
this minute if you had
attended the February 24 presentation of the
delightfully engaging
Argentine poet, songwriter, performer, architect
and overall Renaissance
man, Jorge Elias Lujan.
Mr. Lujan, the recipient of both a first prize
for children’s poetry in
Argentina (1995) and a Fullbright scholarship
in architechture, now
lives in Mexico City where he doesn’t build buildings
but bridges--not
the tangible type, but the kind that bring children
and teachers closer
to the poets within. In his poetry workshops,
Mr. Lujan inspires his
students young and old to pick up the pen or
crayon and “get creative,”
to reveal their souls, to become writers.
This is no small feat. Just
how does he do it? It’s magic.
Mr. Lujan simply takes out his magic wand, waves
it around, and within
minutes his poetic protégés compose
fabulous works. Well, it may work
this way in some worlds but not in the real one.
Here on Earth, it
involves a bit more, like brightly colored markers.
At the GWU
presentation, Mr. Lujan used his markers to draw
some squiggles on a
flipchart. He explained that the marks
were signs written on papyrus
found in a catacomb. He asked his audience
what they meant. As the
responses came, he chose the “most mysterious”
interpretations. One
sign looked like a bow and arrow to one participant.
Another ventured
it resembled cupid. Mr. Lujan heard “Cuban”
instead, but no matter. He
simply merged the ideas, resulting in “a bow
and arrow for a Cuban.”
Some other signs were described as “a buoy making
fire in the water” and
“George Washington’s teeth.”
After “decoding” all the signs, he asked us to
close our eyes while he
connected the lines of his squiggles. With
our eyes wide open, we read,
“alfabeto.” Basically, the simple, yet
clever game prompted us to let
our imaginations roam freely. In the end, he
showed us a way to connect
the dots--to connect our thoughts with words,
which revealed meaningful
and intriguing insights.
Another approach to Lujan’s “adventure in writing”
involves reading
high-level poetry from Borjes, Octavio Paz and
Neruda Some results are
astounding. One young student wrote a poem
called “Iglesia”-- “Es una
casa invisible donde el cura cura la muerte.”
(English version:
“Church”—“It’s an invisible house where the priest
cures death.”)
Another wrote “Dragones son estufas que corren.”
(English version:
“Dragons are stoves that run.”) These examples
help explain why Lujan
says, “Children are machines of creativity.
They go to the heart of
things.”
But, it isn’t so easy to get poetry flowing, Lujan
admits. On one
occasion, he wanted to engage the students in
a discussion about elves
and dwarves, as a segue into his delightful song
called “El Duende,”
which means elf or spirit. He asked the
kids to describe a type of elf
from their respective countries. Silence.
More probing. More silence.
Finally, a small voice described a strange elf
whose feet pointed
backwards. Jorge immediately drew it on his flipchart.
Then, he asked
the child about the elf’s password, assuming,
of course, that every elf
had a password, and this child would know it.
Naturally, the student
devised a password and then full class participation
ensued.
As he demonstrated at our session, Lujan has a
way of stepping inside
the secret world of imagination. It’s not
simply Lujan’s warm, engaging
smile that is at the heart of his magic.
It’s his heart. The students
most likely sense his sincerity and his belief
in the value of their
poetic potential. They begin to trust him
to keep them safe while they
risk exploring their creativity. They understand
there will be neither
evaluations nor reprisals. In poetry anything
goes.
In fact, Lujan doesn’t recommend correcting. He
says, “You don’t have to
correct them …you’ll ruin what they’re writing.”
For Lujan, creating
poetry is “an adventure in writing” that can’t
be taught. He says, “A
teacher can’t teach poetry but can share poetry.”
His
recommendation—“Just bring the poetry and something
extraordinary will
happen.”
For concerts, workshops or publications, contact:
J.E. Lujan, Arteaga y Salazar 446-5, Contadero,
Cuajimalpa, Mexico DF
05500, Mexico or phone: (52) 5812-3672, or Fax
(52) 5202-0703, or
e-mail: jorgelujan@supernet.com.mx
In New York, you may contact: Mari Haas, Ed.D.
at Teachers College,
Columbia University, (Phone: 212-865-5382) and
in Washington, DC: Anna
Uhl Chamot, Ph.D. The George Washington University
(phone:
202-994-0331).
To order works by Jorge Lujan, e-mail a representative
of publishing
house Santillana in Miami at: vcervera@gate.net
For more information on any of these professional
development
opportunities, please visit our Web site ( www.cal.org/nclrc)
or send us
an E-mail ( nclrc@gwu.edu).
IX. ELECTIONS FOR EASTERN VICE PRESIDENT.
The resignation earlier this year of Eastern
Vice President Sonja Hokanson precipitated the appointment of Kerry Chama
of A.C. Davis High School in Yakima as Provisional Eastern Vice President.
Our constitution charges the Vice Presidents with creating a candidate
slate, so we ask that if interested in this elective post, you e-mail Paloma
Borreguero paloma@u.washington.edu. Because we have decided to stagger
the terms, this position will actually be a two year commitment.
Es todo por el momento,
Jay
Washington State Juan de Fuca Chapter, AATSP
"Todos a una."
Web Site: http://aatsp-wa.welcome.to
Chapter e-mail: waaatsp@rcia.com
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL:
Steve Green, President: steveg@cksd.wednet.edu
Kerry Chama, Eastern Vice President: cheetah101@earthlink.net
Paloma A. Borreguero, Northwestern Vice President:
paloma@u.washington.edu
Oriana Cadman, Southwestern Vice President: ocadman@kalama.com
Jay L. Adams-Feuer, Secretary: jay@alumni.middlebury.edu
Alexandra G. Porter, Treasurer: dporter@universityprep.org
OTHER BOARD MEMBERS:
Nathalie Kasselis, CLAMOR Editor: kasselin@cwu.edu
Elwin Wirkala, Portuguese Liaison: ewirkala@u.washington.edu
Eduardo Tobar, Webmaster: eledu@uswest.net
Egils Macs, Historian: EMacs@spscc.ctc.edu