American Association of Teachers of German

2007 Chapter Reports
Midwest Region

015 Northern Illinois - 2007

Our spring chapter meeting was held at the Goethe-Institut Chicago on February 17. Representatives from the College Board presented a variety of materials and ideas for teachers to use in preparing their students for the Advanced Placement exam.  The workshop was hands-on with a lot of teacher participation, followed by a question and answer session.  There was also time for teachers to speak individually with the representatives.

At our annual awards ceremony on May 6, our chapter honored its best students and teachers. The ceremony was held at Glenbrook South High School.  Through generous donations from the Swiss Benevolent Society and the German Education fund, we were able to send three students to the Concordia Language Villages.  Additionally, we granted scholarships to three students for the AATG summer study trips.

Our fall workshop was held at the Goethe-Institut Chicago on October 13.  The topic was incorporating reading strategies into our curriculum.  Dan Stoyak presented a lesson plan teaching fairy tales, Daniella Rossmann explained Lük texts and their value in the classroom, and Dagmar Schalliol shared a variety of reading texts that could supplement our curriculum. 

Submitted by: Sarah Moreno, Chapter President. Email: smoreno@csd99.org

016 Southern Illinois - 2007

Members of the Southern Illinois chapter attended the spring and fall meetings of the ICTFL and participated in GlobalFest, the annual high school language weekend in Urbana, IL. The chapter had a successful meeting at the University of Illinois in Urbana. Several new members were present. Anne Green conducted an excellent workshop on Kinder- und Jugendliteratur. The fall meeting was held electronically. Members from all over the region participated with tips and information about German activities. Many members were in Springfield to attend the Deutscher Tag and expressed how well it had been prepared, managed and executed.

018 Iowa - 2007

The chapter held its Frühlingstagung at Drake University on April 14, 2007. Gert Wilhelm from the Goethe Institut led the hands-on workshop about communicative language learning games. At the noon luncheon, we honored the winners of the AATG national testing program, their teachers and their families. In the afternoon Mark Cadd of Drake University informed us about Drake’s unique language learning program, which holds no formal classes. We ended the day with a short business meeting.

In the summer we had planned to have a second round of LinguaFolio workshops, but these had to be canceled due to low enrollments. We will offer the workshop again next summer.

The fall meeting was held in conjunction with the meeting of the Iowa World Language Association in Des Moines on October 7. We discussed issues with the national testing program, upcoming changes in the constitution, the low number of German presentations this year at IWLA, and membership. The appointment of Beth Martin of Iowa State as membership chair was announced, and we announced that the 2008 Frühlingstagung will be held April 12 at Simpson College.

We held elections for the positions of Vice President and Secretary. Our new Vice President is Pam Peters and our new Secretary is Kate Falvey.

Submitted by: Patricia Calkins, Chapter President. Email: patricia.calkins@simpson.edu

019 Kansas - 2007

On March 3rd, approximately 400 students of German from around the state gathered on the campus of the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, to compete in the annual KATG Schülerkongress.  Featured contests included poetry and prose recitations, a culture quiz, a spelling bee, a poster contest, and an opportunity for upper-level students to have their speaking skills rated by a native speaker.  Exchange students from the German-speaking world also participated as BergwandererInnen with whom our students could practice German and thereby earn Kongressgeld, redeemable in the Tante-Emma-Laden.  Top performers were recognized with medals at an awards ceremony.

The topics of the 22nd annual Deutsches Wochenende were Deutsche Kunst and Der Europäische Referenzrahmen.  The immersion weekend took place at the International House of Washburn University and at the Topeka Public Library. On September 28th Reinhild Janzen conducted a presentation entitled: „Deutsche Kunst und deutsche Themen in den Sammlungen des Mulvane Art Museums“.  On September 29th Gert Wilhelm of the Goethe-Institut presented information about the Europäischer Referenzrahmen and later shared tips on providing keyed feedback to students on written work and sign language feedback to students on oral work in class.  These presentations were followed by a business meeting, during which it was decided that the 23rd annual Deutsches Wochenende will be hosted by Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas, and may focus on Die neuen Bundesländer seit der Wende.

KATG members also participated in a special session at the annual meeting of the Kansas World Language Association held in Wichita, Kansas.  A teaching materials swap shop was followed by an excursion to a local German restaurant. 

Submitted by: Cynthia Appl, Chapter President.  Email: cynthia.appl@bakeru.edu

027 Minnesota - 2007

We once again experienced a successful year and an increase in participation in the Minnesota Chapter in 2007.

In March, our Minnesota Chapter was involved in the AATG Testing Program. Isolde Mueller and Shawn Jarvis from St. Cloud State University are the Testing Chairs. A number of dedicated volunteers conducted oral interviews at St. Cloud State University and Louisa Savereide, student of German teacher Cheryl Wason, won a trip to Germany. The banquet to honor all students who placed in the top twenty percent took place at the Germanic American Institute in May. We are very proud that Minnesota is again the home of a winner!

In March we held a membership meeting at the University of St. Thomas; we held elections for the officers of our chapter. German teacher Shari Fox presented an excellent workshop about techniques and the latest technology for using German music in the classroom.

The Deutsches Sprachfest took place on April 20 and 21, again at the Concordia Language Villages in Waldsee. The village offers has an intense and very valuable language experience to a smaller number of Minnesota’s German high school students and we appreciate their support! In order to increase our visibility and to promote German across our state, we have discussed and are pursuing the possibility of having an additional Sprachfest that will accommodate more students.

The German presence was tangible at the statewide conference of the Minnesota Council of the Teaching of Languages and Cultures (MCTLC) held last fall. A record number of workshops with either a German focus or workshops on other themes presented by German teachers dominated the conference. (see “MCTLC Fall Conference 2007,” at www.mctlc.org) More German teachers attended the conference than in the past years! We are pursuing the establishment of smaller networking groups around the state in order to support teachers and to share resources. 

We were also fortunate to have Sabine Heklau, from the Goethe-Institut Chicago, attend our meeting and workshops and offer valauable teaching resources.

Paul Schons continues to very ably manage our MN-AATG List Serve and the MinnesINFObahn web site, which serves as a great resource to both teachers and students.

As mentioned in a previous report, the Baden-Württemberg Exchange ended in 2007.  We are working on the possibility of setting up a new exchange through another group in Germany. We honored George Reimer at our spring meeting in March for his many years of leadership of the Baden-Württemberg Exchange.

We are encouraged and inspired by the commitment of our teachers and will continue to work on increasing professional involvement.

Submitted by: Gayle Carlson, Chapter President. Email: Gayle.Carlson@district196.org

029 Missouri - 2007

This year marked the beginning of the new Missouri Chapter website, a revived chapter newsletter and a number of interesting and motivational workshops at conferences and schools in Missouri.

The year began with a combined Chapter Meeting/Presentation. The meeting took place at the German Cultural Center on the campus of the University of Missouri -- St. Louis, once again kindly hosted by Larry Marsh. In the presentation part of the meeting, Gert Wilhelm introduced the attendees to the new exams from the Goethe-Institut and the Deutsche Kultusministerkonferenz. Both exams are correlated to the skills levels of the Common European Framework of Reference.

In March, the Rap artist, Clueso and his associate, Bates, appeared in a reception at the Central States Conference. The Missouri AATG, the German Cultural Center, and especially the Goethe-Institut Chicago sponsored the event. Clueso and Bates were on tour in the Midwest as part of a series of workshops organized by the Goethe-Institut Chicago.

Also, at CSC, Gert Wilhelm and Mark Banaszak presented a session on Teaching Vocabulary Made Easy.

Clueso and Bates didn't just perform at CSC for teachers, however; they also made several appearances in St. Louis sponsored by the Goethe-Institut Chicago. They held two workshops, one for middle school students at a Nipher Middle School in Kirkwood and one for older students on the UMSL campus. Both workshops were enormous successes for all participants, and have helped increase motivation to take German among populations generally underrepresented in the German classrooms.

The fall began with a number of conferences. The incoming Chapter President, Evelyn Meyer attended the Chapter President's Meeting at ACTFL, and Mark Banaszak and Gert Wilhelm presented a session at FLAM.

At FLAM there was also a Missouri AATG Business meeting.

Finally, the Missouri Chapter elected new officers for the coming year--2008. Evelyn Meyer from St. Louis University has moved from Vice President to President and Christie Staszcuk from Secretary to Vice President. An election to establish a chapter Secretary will ensue.

Submitted by: Mark Banaszak, Chapter President. Email: banaszm@gw.kirkwood.k12.mo.us

031 Nebraska - 2007

On March 23, 2007 Uwe Kind performed a concert at Millard South high school in Omaha. Participants came from many cities, Universities, Middle Schools and High Schools around Nebraska. Due to the hard work of Pamela Hoover, who organized, promoted and ran the event, there was much success. Over 450 people attended the event. Uwe Kind also joined the students the following day at the German Convention held at Bellevue East High School. The Convention had 330 participants this year!The spring workshop was held at the University of Nebraska-Omaha on April 28, 2007. The intent of the workshop was to honor the recent retires, Karen Mullen and Jane Reinkordt. Each of the retirees provided participants with the highlights of their careers and methods of instruction. The spring workshop was held on the same date and in the same location as the Awards Tea for high achievers on the AATG exams. The event was prepared by the Testing Chair, Arthur Beckman. Our chapter continues its tradition of hosting this event with pride and special recognition of top students and their families. The NATG fall workshop was held at the Nebraska International Language Association (NILA) Fall Conference on October 12 and 13, 2007. Volker Langeheine concluded his term as NILA president. Dr. Tony Jung from UNO received the Outstanding Service Award from NILA and Edith Zahniser, Jane Reinkordt, Tony Jung and Karen Mullen were honored as recent retirees. Jane Reinkordt was also awarded the 2007 Outstanding Nebraska German Teacher Award. Pamela Hoover recommended the development of a new teacher mentoring program. To begin the program and encourage membership in the NATG, Pamela Hoover generously donated membership fees for four new German teachers for 2008. Other teachers have expressed interest in mentoring new teachers and throughout 2008 we will work to get this program off the ground.

Thanks to the hard work of Wendy Brennan in organizing and contacting members, we continue to have a monthly Stammtisch. 10 to 20 members have gathered in various locations around Omaha once a month to keep in touch and enjoy each other’s company. The Nebraska Summer Language Camp did not take place this year. In past years we donated $100. The Camp is restructuring and we plan to donate in future years. Continuing projects: Development of a new teacher mentoring program. Nebraska scholarship fund to send our testing students on AATG trips. Enhanced communication with members and updated directories.

Submitted by Lindsey Schulz, Chapter President. Email: ljschulz@mpsomaha.org

042 North Dakota - 2007

The ND chapter of AATG held two meetings in the year of 2007.  Some of the highlights and decisions made at these meetings were:

• Dr. Jerry Bakken was made an honorary, permanent local dues-free member of ND AATG.
• The proposal to add an award for Outstanding German Educator of ND to the constitution was discussed.  The award is an excellent idea, but does not require an amendment to the constitution.  The group was reminded that the deadline for newly established ND-AATG Teacher of the Year Award would be February 1, 2008, and that this would be a new award presented at the 40th Anniversary of FLAND celebration. 
• Congratulations to Eileen Hüttlein, student of ND AATG member Aaron Gingrich, who was chosen as an alternate for the AATG National Test trip.
• A very sincere thank you was given to Jo Sanders for agreeing to present at not only our AATG sectional on Friday, but also to FLAND on Saturday.
• The ND Chapter of AATG made a donation to the Jamie Bishop Scholarship for German majors to Virginia Tech Foundation in order to foster a spirit of renewal in light of the tragedy that occurred at Virginia Tech this past week. 
• The group decided to research the age of ND-AATG in preparation for the upcoming 40th Anniversary of FLAND in February 2008.  We look forward to this.

Submitted by: Michael Netzloff, Chapter Secretary/Treasurer. Email: michael_netzloff@educ8.org

051 South Dakota - 2007

The South Dakota Chapter of AATG held their annual meeting in conjunction with the South Dakota World Language Association (SDWLA) fall conference. The SD chapter discussed the possibility of organizing a Winterfest/Christkindlmarket in conjunction with a film festival. We gathered ideas that could include folkdancing, sleigh rides, Schmeckfest, Lebkuchenhaus contests, etc. It would be most practical to collaborate on the planning phase but for each to conduct a separate Winterfest, one east river and one west river. We were also fortunate to have Andrea McKenzie present us with great ideas from the Goethe Trainer Netzwerk. During the SDWLA conference we learned about LinguaFolia from a keynote speaker, Vickie Scow. Tom Welch presented “World languages in the context of a vision for the future of education”. His presentation reinforced how important the integration of technology is, in all subject areas, for preparing the future work force and incorporating the student’s various learning styles.  Peg Henson from the SD Department of Education gave us an overview of what is available for SD teachers and how to fulfill continuing education credits online.

Submitted by: Elke Kuegle, Chapter President. Email: Elke.Kuegle@k12.sd.us

State AATG Exam and DSSV exam, were given in January, and awards were presented at Marquette University High School in May 2007. In addition to a slide presentation by the previous year's winner, the Duden Prize was presented to Karen Pfefferle of Appleton, WI.

The tenth annual immersion weekend sponsored by Northern Illinois AATG with support of Wisconsin AATG was held February 2-4, 2007. Fourteen Wisconsin teachers participated; presentations were made by Mark Wagner and Charles James (John Pustejovsky's presentation was cancelled due to illness.)

The first of two Bausteine events was held in April 2007 at Marquette University, with Jo Sanders; it was attended by 34 people, representing middle schools, high schools and universities. Three were teachers in training. Jo's presentation was titled "Building a Strong German Program."

State German Pronunciation Contest. SE Wisconsin Regional March 10th, other regionals were in La Crosse and Appleton. Finals of the Wisconsin State Contest were held April 22nd at Marquette University. There were a total of 32 participants at the finals, with breakdown as follows: Middle School: 5; Level 1: 6; Level 2: 10; Level 3: 1; Level 4/5: 10

In October, a second Baustein workshop was held at Marquette University, organized by John Pustejovsky and Mark Wagner. The topic was planning and executing better speaking activities. Twenty-one teachers attended, including several future teachers. Plans were made for the next Baustein, to be devoted to teaching literature, in Spring 2008.

The Chapter meeting was held during the WAFLTannual meeting in November 2007 in Appleton, WI. President Dan Minter presided. Funds were approved for support of the Northern Illinois/Wisconsin Immersion Weekend. Funds were also approved to sponsor travel by President Minter to the AATG Presidents Council meeting during the ACTFL Annual Meeting in San Antonio. Election results were also announced: Bobbette Leu-Timmermann was elected Vice-president; Anna Geiger elected Secretary; Charles James will serve as Treasurer.