Bolchazy-Carducci Representative: Donald Sprague

 

Bolchazy-Carducci Representatives: Bridget Dean, PhD, Donald Sprague, and Amelia Wallace 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was most fortuitous that the BBC’s soon-to-be-much-celebrated I, Claudius series took to the screen each Sunday evening just as I began my first year of teaching! And, as the bullet in Teaching Tips & Resources notes, the beloved series based on the novel by Robert Graves is being relaunched! For a first-year teacher, straight out of college in a brand-new city, with three Latin preps, including AP Latin IV, and an independent study for Greek, I, Claudius was a godsend!

While my own Boston College High School Latin studies provided me a terrific foundation—my third-year elective “Roman Biography” was a particularly phenomenal experience. English chair Dan Shea taught a senior “Mahoney” (I only remember his last name as it was always “Mr. Mahoney” or “Mr. Sprague”) and myself during one of his prep periods. We met in a small conference room with Mr. Shea at the head of the table and Mahoney and I opposite each other. We read a huge amount of Latin including Nepos, Cicero, Suetonius, Tacitus’s Agricola, and Einhard’s Charlemagne. I loved my three years of Latin and two of Greek (we were also required to do three years of a “modern” language, mine was German) and my fabulous teachers Fr. John “Waterbury” Kelley, SJ, Dan Shea, Dean Nicastro, and Brian Donaher. However, I regret that those courses were devoted exclusively to language study.

No wonder that my semester studying “The Ancient City” at the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome, fall of junior year in college, proved such a watershed. When I began teaching, I resolved that my classes would always feature material culture as well. The Centro experience influenced my development of a Latin III course that similarly introduced students to the ancient city through both primary literary sources as well as through material culture.

Thus, I, Claudius offered an easy way to introduce students to the world of the Romans, their everyday (at least on the imperial level!) life, and their material culture as presented in magnificent sets showing a reconstructed Rome. So, Sunday nights, at our respective homes, students and I immersed ourselves in palace intrigue and the Roman world. And, fortunately, not a single parent expressed concern over the subject matter!

I look forward to my re-immersion in the celebrated I, Claudius series!

Wishing you a wonderful new school year!

All best,
 

Don

 

As I think about all the important things that teachers are asked to do at the start of the school year, setting the foundation for a positive learning community is right at the top of that list. Here are a few ideas to consider as you plan the start of your school year.

During the first days of class, call on your favorite icebreakers and games to begin the process. There’s a nice variety of activities shared here. We can extend our opportunities to get to know students using a tech tool called Flip. It allows teachers to post discussion questions to which students respond by using their device to record a short video of themselves. The students click on the prompt to add their recorded response and view the responses of their classmates. Flip is a video discussion and sharing app, free from Microsoft.

 

Norms are shared agreements about how a group will work together and their power rests in their capacity to build positive communities. A process that I’ve used successfully involves asking students to identify two or three characteristics of a positive classroom environment. Then, students share those characteristics and, as a class, we narrow in on the four or five most important ones. Finally, students identify behaviors that will support the agreed-upon characteristics. Those behaviors become the norms for the class.

What routines do we need to develop and teach our students in order to run efficient classes? Sitting with this question ahead of the start of the school year will save time in the long run and build a positive culture. Here are some elements to consider:

It is very important to me to help students develop their metacognition skills. How do students monitor their own learning, have the capacity to identify their strengths and struggles, set goals, and reflect? Where might we intentionally build these skills in our students? A good starting place might be to instruct students to develop a goal for themselves at the start of a unit, check in on their progress at one or two different points, and reflect at the end of the unit. Pin-pointing some opportunities throughout the arc of a unit will contribute to the classroom being an intentional learning community.

All good wishes for a great school year!

 

Lynne West is a veteran teacher and teacher leader in K–12 schools. She earned her teaching credentials at Santa Clara University, her master’s degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Los Angeles. In 2016, as a Fulbright Distinguished Teaching awardee, West studied pedagogy at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. She founded Sunodia Educational Consulting to share her passion for teaching with her fellow educators by providing creative, tailored, and patient professional development services. Currently, she serves as interim assistant principal for instruction at Bellarmine Prep in San Jose, CA.

 

Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers is thrilled with the very positive response from students and instructors alike about this Lumina content: online exercises to accompany the Caesar and Vergil selections on the AP Latin syllabus! With its comprehensive, completely original content, Lumina: Caesar and Vergil Selections is a perfect complement to Bolchazy-Carducci's print and eBook resources for AP Latin. Better yet, Lumina: Caesar and Vergil Selections works on any internet-enabled device!

Features

• Hundreds of automatically-graded multiple choice questions promote close reading of all syllabus selections and provide students with immediate feedback

• Veteran AP Latin teacher Patrick Yaggy has carefully constructed Lumina to model the formatting, terminology, and question-type frequency of the AP Latin exam.

• Multiple choice questions cover every single line of Caesar and Vergil in the AP Latin syllabus.

• Copious AP-style free response questions ensure that students develop the necessary skills to thoroughly analyze and respond to all passages on the syllabus

• Thorough practice exams prepare students for the format of the AP Latin exam

• Vocabulary and figures of speech flashcards allow for additional review.

The current version reflects additions and revisions, as well as some corrections, made in response to student and teacher feedback.

An ideal learning tool, for online or in person classes, that provides exceptional AP Exam prep!

To learn more, visit the Lumina: Caesar and Vergil Selections product page and watch the overview video.

 

 

Caelum, non animum, mutant qui trans mare currunt.
“They who rush across the sea change their sky, not their soul”
–Horace, Epistles 1.11

 

 

It is an absolute delight to attend the national convention of the National Junior Classical League each summer. The excitement, the determination, the drive, the camaraderie, the joyfulness are all palatable. The joie de vivre, absolutely infectious! Some twelve hundred fifty high-achieving Latin students, accompanied by a dedicated corps of chaperons, descended upon the campus of Emory University in Atlanta, GA, and turned it into a bustling bevy of activity. The heat and humidity could not dampen the spirits of this impressive gathering!

 

 

Amelia Wallace and Don Sprague represented Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers at the convention. They enjoyed chatting with teachers and other chaperons, and, especially with the students. It’s a special experience to watch these young Latinists peruse the books and to carefully choose the special titles that they purchase for themselves. The students’ purchases ran the gamut from B-C’s new New Testament Greek: A Reading Course to Seeding Your Soul and The Other Middle Ages.

Wallace and Sprague seized the opportunity a free afternoon offered for a visit to Atlanta’s High Museum of Art. In addition to the excellent permanent collection of works by African American artists, a special exhibit of artifacts from Nubia captured the editors’ interest. The exhibit “Ancient Nubia: Art of the 25th Dynasty from the Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston” presented two hundred objects from the peak of Nubian civilization and the kings’ capital of Napata. The museum presents a terrific selection of art works from the exhibit online.

 

 

 

Sprague and Wallace look forward to greeting contestants and chaperons at NJCL 2024 at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. See you there.

New Testament Greek: A Reading Course is a clear, step-by-step approach to the fundamentals of biblical Greek. Concepts are presented in small, manageable increments, followed by short exercises that promote mastery. In two levels, learners encounter all of the grammar that they need to read the New Testament in its original language. Each level of the student text features a wealth of drills and readings. Such abundant practice allows learners to proceed according to a pace appropriate for their goals and needs. Companion workbooks are available for those
seeking further opportunities to hone language skills.

Firmly grounded in the Koine Greek of the Bible, this text reinforces vocabulary and grammar lessons with carefully selected unadapted readings. Upon completing Level 1, learners will have read excerpts from more than 100 verses from the Septuagint and more than 400 verses from the New Testament. An additional 44 verses are used to illustrate important concepts.

 

 

Editor’s Note: New Testament Greek: A Reading Course, Level 2 is scheduled to be in print in early October. Teachers needing access sooner can email B-C president Bridget Dean, PhD, bridget@bolchazy.com.

  

 

By author: Paul Distler

This offer is valid for (1) copy per title, prepaid, no returns.