Dear Colleagues,

Oimoi! Would that I had known! This information would have dramatically changed my Latin classes. How often have you bemoaned the challenge of needing vocabulary help to read Latin? Do you, like I, rue all that time you spent creating vocabulary lists when you were a student of Latin? Unless you’re a masochist, I’m sure you do, too!

 

Clear your calendars for forty-five minutes next Tuesday, February 20, for Washington University in St. Louis Classics Professor Tom Keeline’s webinar “Latin Vocabulary—the Bane of Reading Latin: Challenges and Opportunities.” Keeline will present a distillation of his and collaborator Tyler Kirby’s mind-blowing analysis of Latin vocabulary necessary to read an author and their suggestions for dealing with that challenge. Make every effort to hear Keeline share some very valuable insights. Do this for your sake as teacher and, more importantly, for the sake of your students.

I should also note the webinar following Keeline’s presents another perspective on reading Latin. Veteran teacher and AP Latin instructor David Pellegrino will talk about the usefulness and student-friendly practice of scaffolding. His examples will include AP Latin selections from Pliny and Vergil.

 

Pellegrino’s webinar “Using Scaffolding with Authentic Latin to Deepen Comfort and Comprehension” takes place Tuesday, March 12.

 

As we celebrate African American History month, may I call your attention to a special exhibit on view at the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology at the University of Michigan? The display highlights pioneering black classicist William Sanders Scarborough (1852–1926), author of First Lessons in Greek. If you’re in the area, it’s another great reason to visit the museum. The rest of us can enjoy an online visit to the exhibit.

 

It was my great privilege and honor this past November to visit the home, now a museum, of the African American scholar W.E.B. Du Bois (1868–1963) in Accra, Ghana. Because the US government had confiscated his passport, Du Bois, a celebrated Pan-Africanist, could not accept an invitation to the celebration of Ghana’s independence, the first country in Africa to gain independence, in 1957. In 1961, at age 93, Du Bois and his wife took up residence in Ghana and began work on an encyclopedia of the African diaspora, the Encyclopedia Africana. He died less than two years later in 1963. DuBois was given a state funeral at the request of President Kwame Nkrumah, who had invited him to live in Ghana. In 1977, his body was reinterred with his wife’s ashes, who had died that year, at their former home, which was then dedicated as the W.E.B. Du Bois Memorial Centre for Pan African Culture.

 

While at Du Bois’s home in Accra, I did my best to take photographs of Du Bois’s Latin grammar text, the renowned Allan and Greenough. Under glass, it displays the scholar’s own notes.

 

Scarborough and Du Bois each worked at Wilberforce University, the nation’s oldest private historically black university, owned and operated by African Americans. Du Bois, who earned his doctorate in sociology from Harvard University, taught at Wilberforce from 1894 to 1896. Scarborough joined the Wilberforce faculty as professor of ancient languages in 1877 and taught until 1897. He then taught at the neighboring Payne Theological Seminary in Wilberforce, Ohio, from 1891 to 1897 when he returned to Wilberforce University. In 1908, Scarborough became president of Wilberforce and served in that capacity until 1920.

As we again commit ourselves to learning more about the African American experience and the amazing world of Africa, let us be inspired by this poem penned by Du Bois. It is mounted on a large stone at the memorial site in Accra.

 

 

Wishing you all the best,

 

Don

 

 

In recent months, AI has been on educators’ minds. We are considering the ethics of AI use, whether there are potential benefits to students and teachers, and its limitations. In this column, I’m focusing on an AI platform called MagicSchool AI. MagicSchool AI supports teachers in various aspects of their work through more than 60 individual tools that cater to the specific needs of teachers. These tools can enhance our efficiency in day-to-day tasks. There is lots to investigate within the Magic School AI platform. I have decided to focus on three specific tools within the platform that can save teachers valuable time.

 

1. YouTube Video Questions:
MagicSchool AI's YouTube video questions tool creates a set of comprehension questions connected to a YouTube video. The teacher indicates the number and type of questions and pastes the link to the YouTube video in the box. In less than a minute, the tool generates the requested questions. The questions can be used as a quick check for understanding or to spark class discussions. In testing this particular tool, I have found that it’s not perfect, but it does provide a nice starting point for me to tailor the questions to meet my needs.

 

2. Rubric Generator:
I have always really enjoyed the process of designing assessments. However, I find creating the associated rubrics tedious. MagicSchool AI's rubric generator simplifies this process by automating the creation of customized rubrics for various assignments. Teachers can input specific criteria, weightings, and performance levels, and the tool generates a comprehensive rubric instantly.

 

3. Choice Board:
MagicSchool AI's choice board tool takes the hard work out of coming up with different options for students to practice a particular skill or demonstrate their learning. Allowing students to select tasks that align with their interests and strengths is important, but it’s also time-consuming to come up with the options. This tool cuts down on that time investment by giving teachers a hand with the brainstorming.

 

Through the power of artificial intelligence, MagicSchool helps teachers enhance their productivity and enrich their instructional practices. I always like to start small when I am overwhelmed by a new technology. MagicSchool offers an accessible starting point for educators to experiment with AI. To give it a try yourself, go to magicschool.ai.

 

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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. In addition to her consulting, currently, West 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.

 

 

 

Booths 69/70
Bolchazy-Carducci Representative: Donald Sprague

 

 

 

Foreword by Ward W. Briggs, Jr.
Introduction by Michele Valerie Ronnick