Professional Development SIG

ATJ Professional Development SIG Meeting at ACTFL 2003

Dear ATJ Professional Development SIG members.

ATJ's Professional Development SIG will have a meeting during the ACTFL Annual Convention in Philadelphia, P.A. It will be on Friday 21, November at 3pm - 4pm in Philadelphia Marriott Hotel Conference Rooms 414-415. ATJ members who are interested in professional development/teacher training are welcome.

The main discussion item of this meeting will be "how to support NBPTS Japanese candidates". I assume that you already received a letter from AATJ about the recruitment of NBPTS candidates by now. If more than 50 Japanese secondary-school teachers don't apply for NBPTS certification before December 31, 2003, the Japanese certification for 2003-2004 will be closed. If this happens, I don't know if NBPTS will offer Japanese certification again in the future. Having many NBPTS-certified Japanese teachers is important for the future of our field in many respects. I ask you to encourage secondary-level Japanese language teachers around you to apply for NBPTS certification. If you are secondary-school teachers, please give a serious consideration to applying for NBPTS certification. If you need any information about NBPTS, please go to http://www.nbpts.org/ or write to me.

If you are a candidate or considering of becoming one and plan to attend the ACTFL Annual Convention, please note there is an NCJLT sponsored-session titled "Pursuing Accomplished Teaching: Preparing for National Board Certification" on Friday 4:30 PM - 5:45 PM. If you can arrive early, there is a pre-conference workshop titled "W-10 National Board Certification: Processes For Supporting Accomplished Teaching" Thursday afternoon.

Our SIG is planning to provide Japanese candidates with as much support as possible. We are planning to start a mailing list for candidates, where NBC teachers and those who are familiar with NBPTS certification process will answer candidates' questions. We will discuss other means to assist candidates at the business meeting in Philadelphia. I hope that many of you will be able to be there.

If you have any question, please feel free to write me anytime.

Best regards,

Y.-H. Tohsaku
Chair, ATJ PD SIG
University of California, San Diego
ytohsaku@ucsd.edu

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