Monthly Archives: January 2016


My Online Teaching Experience So Far

I have been very fortunate in my experience with Carmenta Online.  The Head of School is a kind scholar who supports his faculty and students alike with expertise.  I began last fall (2015) with a class of six third year students beginning in Chapter 25 in Wheelock’s Latin.  All of my students are focused and well-prepared.  They are dutiful in attending and performing and turning in their homework.  They are simultaneously enrolled in a separate Latin conversation course that supplements their foundation and understanding.  The school has a set schedule for completion of a chapter including all exercises offered in the text and workbook.  Faithful execution provides a solid base for progress.
Of course, the students vary in ages and abilities.  I have felt confident in working extra here and there with some of the younger students. Parents are mostly supportive as well.  Halfway through the semester, I picked up a section of Juniors who are much younger and working at their own rate through Lingua Latina Familia Romana.  Students are eager and polite and patient while I work with each of them and interested in the Latin and accompanying culture and history as well as etymology of the vocabulary.  It is a rich experience for us all.  The pace is gentle and encouraging with no homework unless they want more of a challenge.
I have been using my own webpage and or website for assigning homework and enrichment links for decades.  With this new position, I have shared vocabulary games for our text as well as videos of the Roman Villa, Alma-Tadema paintings, art inspired by Ovid’s Metamorphoses, a recording of Hurrian 6, the world’s oldest written song, and an article on Saturnalia customs. The students submit all homework online within specified time frame.  Classes are recorded as audio MP3’s on Quicktime for students who are unable to attend.
My students are enthusiastic about their conversation classes.  I have never sat in with them.  I have certainly derived benefit from the Conventiculum Bostoniense on Cape Cod and know full well the advantages of including in my teaching spoken language.  We do use some Latin words and phrases in our classes.  You may visit the school online to explore at:  http://www.carmentalatin.com/  Please contact us with questions and comments!
Kat Braden is a former Hawaii surfing amateur, CANE aficionado, retired teacher from Bow High School (NH), and lives in Concord, NH, with 3 cats and one dude husband, with an international travel that includes horse-races, parliamentary debate, and hobnobbing with British pop and rock stars.  She starred as Minerva ithe 2006 APA dramatic production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘The Gods Must Die’ or ‘Thespis’ (6th c. Greek poet and tragedian).


Announcements for January 24

CANE

BEYOND CANE

  • Fabulous offerings from ASCANIUS Youth Classics Institute, including opportunities to volunteer.
  • Registration for SALVI’s Rusticationes Tirorum, Veteranorum, and their Pedagogy Seminar is now open for July 2016.  For more information, or to find out how to apply for the Amy High Fellowship, point your browser at Latin.org.
  • The Boston Area Classics Calendar has a lot going on, and a weekly email digest of upcoming events.
  • If you live in the western Massachusetts, northern Connecticut, or southern Vermont area you may be interested in Amherst College’s list of upcoming and past lectures in the Pioneer Valley area.
  • The Massachusetts Foreign Language Association (MaFLA) is looking for applicants for it’s Elaine G. Batting Scholarship.
  • The Annual Harry de Forest Smith Scholarship Exam in Greek:
    • For students of Greek, Amherst College offers a freshman scholarship to be awarded on the basis of a competitive examination taken in their senior year of high school. The next examination is scheduled for Friday, February 12, 2016, in each school in which there is one or more candidate(s) for the scholarship. Announcement of the award will be made when the successful competitor is notified of admission to Amherst College, on or about April 1. In order to qualify the competitor must have made application for admission to Amherst College. (The deadline for regular applications to Amherst College is January 1, 2016.) The holder of the scholarship will be required to take one of the regular courses in the Department of Greek during the freshman year at Amherst. For more information contact:  Classics@amherst.edu
  • National Latin Teacher Recruitment Week is fast approaching.   We need more teachers ready to take up the charge, as we know from the article which Ronnie Ancona and Kathleen Durkin wrote for Amphorahttps://classicalstudies.org/amphora/there-shortage-certified-latin-teachers-please-spread-word-0.  NLTRW traditionally is the first week in March, but you can take any day or week to talk to your students about becoming a Latin teacher.  There are many resources to be found here, http://www.promotelatin.org/nltrw, including a mini-grant application.  Grants of up to $200 can be requested every other year by a program and can be put toward receptions, speakers, giveaways, and more.  It would be especially wonderful to see more K-12 teachers taking advantage of the funding opportunities available.
  • The Society for Classical Studies has some fellowships, awards, and grants with upcoming deadlines, which range from February 19th through March 4th. Check out the David D. and Rosemary H. Coffin Fellowship, the Pedagogy Awards, and the Zeph Stewart Latin Teacher Training Awards.

Events

  • The Paideia Institute is hosting a Living Latin in New York City event February 13-14, 2016.   See their website for additional programs and events!

Meetups

  • Live in western MA or northern CT and want to practice speaking in Latin? There is a large group that meets every Thursday at 7 p.m. in Hadley, MA! For details, contact TJ Howell.
  • In the Boston area? Check out the Active Latin Meetup page for events.

Jobs


WOW, so many links! Links for January 22

Teller (of Penn & Teller fame and a former Latin teacher) tells it like it is: Teaching is like performing magic
Ancient Rome and Little Italy, in the Bronx (NYT)
Tom Holland talks about his book “Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar” on “On Point”
Learn more about Hadrian and his travels in this interactive learning module.
Trying to lose weight? Try these Roman methods. (Tip: don’t try these methods!)
Have a look at these ancient roots of punctuation.
Astrology in medicine in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Why ancient Roman graffiti is so important to archaeologists.
Here is a rebuttal of sorts (“Teaching Latin to Humans,” Justin Slocum Bailey, Eidolon) to the article from the NYT featured last week about starting Greek over and over.