View Full Version : Grants for professional development
Hi all, some of you know my background. I have a degreee in education, am working with afterschool care, and am very ambitious but under earning. So one goal of mine is to learn Spanish and maybe polish my French. the issue besides time is that I do not have the funds to do this on top of the time. I am pretty much done with funding anything more by myself since the masters has not paid off with teacher layoffs. I am very capable of doing the work, I got a 3.88 in my masters while working full time and raising my kids through divorce. I just need a way to pay for things. So any ideas on grants for this? I see lots of money going towards teaching our Spanish speakers English. there are free and very low cost classes that we make available for them. I still have to hire a bilingual person for every one of my schools. That is just my frustration though, The end result is that I need to make myself more marketable and earn more as more and more keeps on happening (kids age out of child support but still live with me, ex husband loses job, etc.).
Okay the wandering point is, does anyone have some ideas on grants or other ways to learn Spanish quickly, I want more than just trying to learn from my Spanish speaking staff.
iris lily
8-27-11, 12:13pm
What evidence do you have that learning Spanish, and especially French, makes you more marketable? What jobs are out there in quantity that you believe you'd qualify for that you don't now qualify for?
ApatheticNoMore
8-27-11, 12:34pm
The community college? Not free but generally cheap. Maybe even community college adult extension classes and the like. How much are teach yourself Spanish tapes or mp3s? (ok classes are better ... just these could be combined with exposure to Spanish media, reading, joining a Spanish practice group or something). I'd go with the community college if possible though. Perhaps you can find a way to barter for Spanish lessons (in return for tutoring, I don't know), but the currency there is your time. It seems quite possible that free online classes might exist for this.
I'd be amazed if anyone was handing out much in the way of free money these days, unless you can get it through your employer or for some special program for teachers.
Grants are generally given to non-profits, not to individuals; the exceptions being grants within educational institutions given to scholars. If your school is a non-profit you can research grant opportunities and ask them to assist you in applying for the grant.
Grantsource is a good place to look for likely foundations. Also, simply using any of the search engines to look for what you want will turn up some interesting avenues.
I would add that in addition to interpretation of the language, interpreters usually have cross-cultural fluency in social norms and customs. That comes best for someone learning a new language by living abroad. Maybe you could go back to school and study abroad, looking for scholarships to do so.
Zoe, Our library system was left some money from a local estate and purchased Universal Class system. There are language classes that are a part of this. The best part is that we can access the classes from our home computers. Check your library system to see if they have anything like this available. Please, don't spend any money at this time to advance yourself professionally! This economy is too fragile and fluid to make any big decisions based on what might have worked in the past. I have great empathy for your situation as I was left as an "underearner" after my divorce. Continue to do what you are doing as well as you can do it, and see how the field of Education weathers this economy. Good luck!
... Maybe you could go back to school and study abroad, looking for scholarships to do so.
? Study abroad? I can't help but think that you don't know anything about Zoe's life situation.
Thank you all for the good ideas, I will check out the library system and I found one online free course deal. You participate by correcting others work in English to earn points towards learning your language. i did a chat with a young man in India today but my Spanish is nowhere near even short sentences. I may use it for French, just for fun not for work necessarily.
I supervise schools that are generally 50-85% Spanish speaking families. The children are generally more fluent than the adults. I have to make a lot of phone calls, have conferences to work with special needs and just communicate with families in general. It is much easier if I can talk at least partially directly to the families instead of having an interpreter. Sometimes I am not sure the interpreter understands things like the special needs and accomodations for the students.
Study abroad, maybe in another lifetime. I have 3 kids who live with me. The oldest should be capable of being on her own but she now owes me over $600 for a car repair she caused this last week. I have been taking care of them with depression, anxiety and possible bipolar issues that have been needing extra attention for 4-5 years now. So we are getting generally better, kids more stable and positive but taking care of a family with mental illness issues is a big job.
My library system offers Rosetta Stone to cardholders. I'd augment that with watching Spanish-language TV on Beeline.com and looking for a conversational Spanish practice group on MeetUp or a similar community program.
My library system offers Rosetta Stone to cardholders. I'd augment that with watching Spanish-language TV on Beeline.com and looking for a conversational Spanish practice group on MeetUp or a similar community program.
I have used Rosetta Stone...it is wonderful! How wonderful that your library offers it!:)
just an idea, but continue to check Craigslist for Rosetta Stone Spanish. Put in a wanted ad too. It is amazing what you can find on craigslist and by letting all your friends know to keep an eye out.
We found an 18 episode Korean drama at our library sale. We were thinking of paying for it on Amazon. I would also check your city's freecycle ads.
loosechickens
8-27-11, 10:23pm
Honestly, Zoe.....there really IS no better place to learn to converse with the parents of your students, or your Spanish speaking staff than to use them as a resource with which to learn Spanish. Best would be if you could find several Spanish speaking people who would like to improve their English as well, so that you could be of mutual assistance to each other.
You can take all the classes in the world, and nothing will replace simply getting out there and immersing yourself in a world where Spanish is being spoken. Try talking with the bilingual children in your program, asking THEM the names for things or how to say something you want to say.
When I was learning Spanish, I often found that my most productive leaps were from talking with children. They generally have smaller vocabularies, speak in less complex sentences, and are almost deliriously happy to be the ones "in the know" with an adult and will have endless patience to sit and talk with you, read a book in Spanish out loud, and help you build vocabulary.
Classes are nice, and getting a basic grasp of grammar, etc., is wonderful, but you are SURROUNDED by resources right now. It's like "water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink" attitude.
One thing I've found in this country among Spanish speakers is that most Anglos do not even TRY to learn their language. So an Anglo who is making a sincere attempt to learn and talk with them will meet with warm and appreciative attitudes and willingness to help.
You have to be willing to be the one who is not "in the know", wanting to learn, but just sitting down at lunch, asking how to say certain things, learning the words for stuff, and making halting efforts to communicate works wonders.
And can build some degree of fluency, in at least general subjects of conversation, more quickly than you would think. You don't have to have a 10,000 word vocabulary to talk to parents about how their kids are doing, or give directions to staff whose English may be poor. Even a working vocabulary of 500 words, together with 50 or so common phrases and sentences will amaze you with your ability to communicate.
Take classes, by all means, or look for grants to help you with your education. But don't ignore the free help and resources surrounding you at every moment.
JMHO.
edited for yet another danged typo
I have tried just talking to people, I certainly have enough around me, but the way I learn is more visual like the written word. So without seeing a fair number of the words written after hearing them I find I am not getting much of it at all. I have thought about checking the library for Rosetta Stone, but I definitely need to read to get very far. I was thinking about childrens books. I can find those pretty easy and if they are ones that are also in English that will help even more. Like maybe one of those 'first 100 words' books from the library to just get enough to start talking. The sentence structure will come later because I know my families are very encouraging.
loosechickens
8-28-11, 1:55am
I'm a visual learner, myself......so always did a lot of supplementing by reading the Reader's Digest in Spanish (nice short, one paragraph or one page items, translating them with the help of an English/Spanish dictionary, painfully and slowly, writing down word after word, adding vocabulary. Also had a book I got at Barnes and Noble, a workbook of general grammar and beginning Spanish that I worked in every day, then trying out sentences I learned on the folks around me.
Children's books are great.......and also reading aloud with a child, taking turns, so that you are speaking the words, asking them to correct you if you are saying them wrong (kids LOVE to do that), and having them read as well, so you can improve your ear for accent, etc.
I've heard that the Rosetta Stone program is very good, but don't have any personal experience with that.
In the beginning it's really hard, but people are patient with you, really far more patient than I have often seen English speakers be with new English speakers. And in the beginning, you may communicate badly, but "want eat" manages to get across the idea that you're hungry, and everybody has to start somewhere.
Movies in English with Spanish subtitles, or movies in Spanish with English subtitles are also great for visual learners....in the English ones, you can read the Spanish and have a better sense of meaning, and in the Spanish ones, you develop an ear for pronounciation and tone, while understanding what is going on by the English subtitles.....
And then.....a magical moment when someone near you says something and you realize you understood it without mental translation, and there you are, speaking and understanding Spanish.
Spanish is a FAR easier language to learn than English. Far more regular.......once you learn to pronounce a few words in Spanish, you can pronounce virtually any word you come across.....a far cry from English. My heart goes out to Spanish speakers trying to learn English as adults, because English is really a very difficult language to learn....not as bad as some of the tonal languages, but still definitely not easy.
Although you interact with Spanish-speakers on a daily basis, it would be very difficult to learn the language from them without a solid grounding in at least the basics of Spanish. "Teach yourself" CDs/books are a good place to start, but you will not learn as comprehensively as you would with a proper teacher who can answer your questions. I lived in Spain for two years but there's no way I would have been able to properly learn the language had I not studied it at school & college for years beforehand!
Would your employer be willing to partly fund Spanish language classes, since it's directly related to your job?
I am hoping that my employer may be able to pay all or part of the cost. As i said I have a good track record for education and already learned one foreign language so i think I am a good risk. I have my individual meeting with my supervisor on mondays and I am going to ask more. We have specific grant money for specific reasons like bringing in families to the school or supporting family literacy with ESL classes, so there may be part of the money for professional development
fidgiegirl
8-28-11, 4:51pm
In the Twin Cities there are a number of affordable community ed or community organization-based classes. You could such a course for your written language/visual preference as a base (my language learning style is very similar - talk with me and I won't get it, but show it to me and I can use it in written AND spoken language and remember it very, very well) and then take advantage of the Spanish speakers around you, as loosechickens put so well. We also have some language circles where Spanish speakers who want to practice English and English speakers who want to practice Spanish get together. Not sure how it is structured but I believe it is low cost.
You could have an activity with your students where you have a word wall/phrase wall in many languages, generated BY those students and families. If there is a push for family literacy you will know that development of a child's first language only helps their English language development so it is a win-win-win. You (and they) would be able to see those phrases and practice them daily.
I don't want to be a naysayer but I wouldn't expect to discuss special education accommodations or high-stakes things with your families with limited Spanish, which is where you will still be in a year or two from now (unless you study abroad, already established as a non-possibility). That's not a diss on you or your abilities, it's just how language learning goes - without intensive study, one's proficiency doesn't develop all that quickly.
You mentioned the interpreter doesn't understand these topics; they don't have to (entirely). I wonder from that comment if: 1) the interpreting situation isn't being managed correctly. "Tell her that the blah blah blah blah" and leaving the interpreter to convey a long, meaning-laden message in his/her own words rather than speaking directly to the parent with the interpreter saying everything just as it was just uttered, by you or the parent, in the other language). It's a professional interpreter's job to set this up correctly. In a lot of schools "interpreters" are bilingual people who may or may not have the proper knowledge of an interpreting situation, vocabulary, etc. to manage this effectively. or 2) the interpreter's vocabulary is really lacking, because while they wouldn't have to understand every minute aspect of IEPs, they would have to know enough to choose the correct terms in the other language. Maybe I'm totally off base with these assumptions, but there they are.
Does your employer have a pathway for applying for PD funds? Our district will pay for SOME conferences or one-time-shot deals, but nothing ongoing, especially if it involves college credit. Just the way it's set up here. But maybe as a district employee they'd let you in on their community ed class for free or something like that? There I go, assuming you are employed by a school district, when I'm not sure . . . :)
Good luck! Remember what loosechickens said, anything is better than nothing! :)
Don't overlook Freecycle for Rosetta Stone, either. My local group produces surprising giveaways.
Mangano's Gold
8-28-11, 10:21pm
If you can't relocate for a period of time, I'd recommend a Mexican boyfriend/fling/fwb, and one who doesn't speak English and doesn't have much interest in learning it.
You'd still need academic study but the real-life element would be super-useful. And I'm NOT kidding. As loosechickens suggested, with a fairly limited vocabulary you can get a long way. Learn the top thirty or so verbs, three tenses, a couple hundred nouns, a few dozen phrases, and work your combinations. There are thousands of permutations of those basics.
But the key is really wanting to learn. If it is viewed as any sort of burden, then it is a hopeless endeavor and a waste of time and effort. Desire is necessary.
loosechickens
8-28-11, 11:17pm
I have to chuckle at your "solution", Mangano's Gold.......not that I don't think it's a great one. When my sweetie went to Bolivia at age 17 as a Rotary exchange student, without a word of Spanish, and encountered rooms full of girls, none of whom spoke English, his incentive and his very rapid fluency in Spanish was powerfully motivated......... As he says, he applied himself with a diligence unknown in his life up until that point. ;-)
chrisgermany
8-29-11, 3:55am
Over at http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/page/2/ they had an article on Aug. 22 on learning foreign languages without spending a cent.
Interesting stuff, maybe it helps here, too.
"without intensive study, one's proficiency doesn't develop all that quickly."
I can attest to that. I was pretty fluent in a couple of languages at one time and can still do straightforward translations well enough but my experience is that thinking on your feet in an unfamiliar language is a complicated skill. I'd say you'd need some serious immersion to get to that point.
Right now I just want to say "You must come to our after school program or call. If we cannot find your child and no one answers the phone and no emergency contacts answer the phone we will call the police to report a lost child" I ended up walking to the kids house today and trying to explain this to a house full of people who do not answer their phone (had spanish speaking liason call and leave message) because the kid could not be found. so i might not understand the answer but I could say some of that with some training I hope.
Argh, it is okay, just part of the job. And I found out that there are not funds for Spanish classes. I will look at some of the library resources next.
I was just thinking about serious immersion, there are areas of Denver that are serious immersion without leaving the city.
Hi all, some of you know my background. I have a degreee in education, am working with afterschool care, and am very ambitious but under earning. So one goal of mine is to learn Spanish and maybe polish my French. the issue besides time is that I do not have the funds to do this on top of the time. I am pretty much done with funding anything more by myself since the masters has not paid off with teacher layoffs. I am very capable of doing the work, I got a 3.88 in my masters while working full time and raising my kids through divorce. I just need a way to pay for things. So any ideas on grants for this? I see lots of money going towards teaching our Spanish speakers English. there are free and very low cost classes that we make available for them. I still have to hire a bilingual person for every one of my schools. That is just my frustration though, The end result is that I need to make myself more marketable and earn more as more and more keeps on happening (kids age out of child support but still live with me, ex husband loses job, etc.).
Okay the wandering point is, does anyone have some ideas on grants or other ways to learn Spanish quickly, I want more than just trying to learn from my Spanish speaking staff.
There aren't many places in this country where you can't find Spanish-speaking people. My suggestion would be to offer a barter of some kind to have them teach you. Childcare? Assist with Transportation? whatever you have that would be of value.
enota
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