IN THIS ISSUE: Amy's Ramblings Education Updates Legal Updates Social Services Updates Tip of the Month Volunteer Spotlight February's Vignette Bits and Pieces HOGAR STAFF: John Odenwelder Program Director jodenwelder@ccda.net Education Services: Amy White Group Manager awhite@ccda.net, x235 Kristen Gasimov Manager/Office Manager kgasimov@ccda.net, 249 Diana Gibson Manager dgibson@ccda.net, x239 Katie Mathews Manager kmathews@ccda.net, x243 Erin Maradiegue Manager emaradiegue@ccda.net, x251 Jorge Membreño Manager jmembreno@ccda.net, x231 Sheila Sullivan Manager ssullivan@ccda.net, 238 Legal Services: Michelle Sardone Group Manager msardone@ccda.net Cindy Brown Paralegal cbrown@ccda.net Nancy Carbajal Receptionist ncarbajal@ccda.net Maria Cutipa Intake Coordinator mcutipa@ccda.net Dan Macguire Staff Attorney dmacguire@ccda.net Patty Mueller Staff Attorney pmueller@ccda.net Enrique Vargas Paralegal evargas@ccda.net Social Services Dawn Dumas Manager ddumas@ccda.net (703) 443-2481 Angie Marchetto Intake Coordinator amarchetto@ccda.net (703) 443-2481 Hogar Immigrant Services 6201 Leesburg Pike Suite 307 Falls Church, Va 22044 T: (703) 534-9805 F: (703) 534-9809 www.ccda.net If you would like to have this newsletter sent to a different email address or if you would like to unsubscribe from the mailing list, please email emaradiegue@ccda.net.

Amy's Ramblings As the season of Lent begins, some people are busy deciding what to give up until Easter. (My childhood sacrifice of broccoli never seemed to impress my mother) At Hogar, however, we do not only see it as “giving up” something. Even though you’re “giving up” your valuable time to volunteer – time that could be spent with loved ones – you are also adding to both your community and your personal fulfillment. Thanks for contributing to our mission of helping immigrants! An anonymous donor gave the gift of warmth by donating a large amount of children’s winter jackets. Find out how the Western Regional Office distributed the coats to needy children in Loudoun County. Hogar’s Spring Training Series is here! You don’t want to miss some of the new trainings (like how to teach grammar using fun 80s music) and also some of the tried and true trainings (such as Immersion Works – taught in Portuguese). Also, if you didn’t make it to Bootcamp, now’s your chance! There is a special Bootcamp refresher course being offered. Don’t delay – RSVP today and spice up your classroom. Do you have free time during the day? Ever thought about helping but didn’t know where or how? We need you NOW! Our Social Services program has seen a sharp increase in demand for services as our economy worsens. Please consider volunteering at the Western Regional Office – you can get more information below. Thanks for all that you do, friends and volunteers of Hogar! I haven’t quite decided what to give up this year (I actually started liking broccoli), so maybe it will be mushrooms. Abrazos, Amy White Group Manager, Education Services Education Updates Spring 2009 Teacher Training Series We are happy to announce the line-up for our Spring 2009 Teacher Training Series. We tried to set them at convenient times so that you can attend as many of them as you would like. Please take a look below for details on the different trainings. Sign up today! Immersion Works! Saturday, March 14, 1 – 3 pm Amy and Sheila Hogar’s Falls Church Office (6201 Leesburg Pike, Suite 310, Falls Church, VA 22044) “I don’t speak Spanish. Are my students really going to understand me if I just speak English?” ESL teachers often have this dilemma. Many who don’t know Spanish are skeptical that they can be successful ESL teachers. This training will show participants that it is possible to teach students (even beginners) using only English in the classroom. A lesson will be given completely in Portuguese, demonstrating how using body language, realia, and repetition eliminate the need to speak the native language in class. Learn good techniques to use in the classroom and get a small taste of what your students feel! Juggling a Multilevel Class Saturday, March 21, 1 – 3 pm Erin and Amy Hogar’s Falls Church Office (6201 Leesburg Pike, Suite 310, Falls Church, VA 22044) Whether you teach a beginner, intermediate or advanced class, there are always students of varying levels and abilities within a classroom. How do you meet the needs of all learners and keep everyone’s attention? In this training, discover how to identify your students’ goals as adult English learners and use your students’ strengths to create an environment where everyone is engaged. Bootcamp refresher Saturday, March 28, 1 – 3 pm Holy Family Catholic Church (14160 Ferndale Road, Dale City, VA 22193) Katie and Erin If you are new to Hogar Immigrant Services' ESL program (or need to brush up on your teaching skills), this training is for you! This is an abbreviated version of our intensive 6-hour teacher training course that prepares volunteers for being in an Adult ESL classroom. The training includes step-by-step lesson planning, activity ideas, do's and don'ts of the classroom, and policies. It is also a wonderful chance to meet other volunteers. Attendance at a boot camp is mandatory for all new volunteers. Music/ Grammar Wednesday, April 1, 7 – 9 pm TBA Katie and Jorge Q: You know what is almost as rad as 80s music? A: GRAMMAR! On April Fools Day, we will turn up that pop (pop pop) music, vogue a bit and wang chung it up while demonstrating important grammar lessons. The goal of the presenters will be to provide practical tips and ideas about grammar via the classic music of the 80s. Handouts will be provided and the best outfits ever will be on display. Don’t you forget about this amazing teaching training opportunity. Games Galore! Saturday, April 4, 1 – 3 pm Hogar’s Falls Church Office (6201 Leesburg Pike, Suite 310, Falls Church, VA 22044) Jorge and Diana There is no better way to encourage your students to loosen up and have fun than by playing games in the classroom. Not only are these games enjoyable for you and your students, but they are very useful in reinforcing lessons and reviewing grammar, spelling, and vocabulary. Come to learn, get great ideas, meet other volunteers around the community, eat candy and PLAY! Pronunciation and Error Correction Saturday, April 25, 1 – 3 pm Diana and Sheila Hogar’s Falls Church Office (6201 Leesburg Pike, Suite 310, Falls Church, VA 22044) The most important skill adult ESL students need to acquire is to communicate effectively by speaking. In this training we will review useful tips for maximizing students’ speaking time during class, and introduce teachers to useful methods for correcting speech errors while building students’ self-confidence. Pronunciation techniques and accent reduction (a very popular student request!) will also be discussed. Choose as many trainings as you would like! Please RSVP to Erin Maradiegue at 703-534-9805 x 251 or email emaradiegue@ccda.net with the following information: Training Title: Name (first and last): Teaching site: Phone number: If you do not teach with Hogar Immigrant Services, but you would like to attend one of our trainings, please RSVP with your organization's name in the place of the teaching site. Trainings for non-Hogar teachers are $15/person each training. We’ll see you there! Legal Updates Legal Services Shares Success Stories After his mother’s death, Diego’s grandmother took him in and cared for him. One of the things she was most worried about was his immigration status, which led them to Hogar Immigrant Services for help. It turned out that Diego was no longer eligible for Temporary Protected Status because his mom had never renewed his status the previous year. So, Hogar tried to appeal to USCIS on the humanitarian basis of his case and won! In studying his case, the Hogar team also realized that he was eligible for legal permanent residency under the NACARA program. After seven long years, Diego applied and just had his interview this week. His approval means that he is now a legal permanent resident. Going back to school is now his top priority since he is eligible for many more scholarships. Pablo’s 21st birthday is in a month and a half. While most 20-year-olds look forward to such a milestone, Pablo has been dreading his birthday for months. Once Pablo turns 21 he would no longer be eligible for legal permanent residency on his step-dad’s application. This made his court date this week that much more important. Luckily, after months of hard work and research, our staff attorney was able to win Pablo’s case. That means that he and his mom and step-dad just became legal permanent residents and Pablo no longer has to dread his 21st birthday. Pablo (far right) and his family proudly holding up their proof of legal permanent residency. Social Services Updates Social Services Seeks Volunteers To Meet Growing Need Catholic Charities, Western Regional Office has seen a dramatic increase in the number of clients being served monthly. As a response to the increased need, the WRO is asking for more volunteers. We are currently looking for volunteers to answer phones and file. Spanish speaking a plus! If you are interested in volunteering for Catholic Charities, Western Regional Office located in Leesburg, VA, please contact Dawn Dumas at ddumas@ccda.net. ________________________________________________ Western Regional Office Celebrates Volunteers The WRO had quite a treat on January 30, 2009. The office had its first Volunteer Appreciation Lunch. All the volunteers and staff met at Tuscarora Mill, in Leesburg, for a luncheon. Everyone had a tremendous time enjoying each other’s company, outside the office. We would like to thank Tuscarora Mill for preparing an amazing lunch! We also are tremendously thankful for our volunteers, without them, the WRO would never be able to run as well as it does! ________________________________________________ Community Lends Support To Social Service The Western Regional Office is very thankful to Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church, St. Francis de Sales, and St John’s Catholic Church for their generous support of our office. We are blessed to have such amazing community partners. Tip of the Month Music is the universal language of mankind - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Music can serve as a great classroom tool for English students because of its fun and inspirational qualities that can traverse language barriers. According to a study by the Nature Neuroscience Journal, there appears to be parallels in how musical and linguistic syntax are processed. By playing music in the classroom, you can unite the seemingly separate fields of language and music to the benefit of your students A study in South Africa exposed students to instrumental music during intensive English classes. The results found that the music made a positive difference in retention of the language. One way to put this into practice is by playing background music during independent activities such as filling out worksheets or writing assignments. For example, suppose you just finished presenting new material to the class. Your students are working on a writing assignment using the new vocabulary. Piecing together full sentences with newly acquired words is not an easy task and it can be intimidating. In this case, music can be a method of stress management. "Music has a lot of power," says Joanne Loewy, PhD, director of music therapy for Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, who uses music to slow patients' breathing and promote relaxation. You might be asking yourself, "How would I know what songs or composers to use?" Three staples are Frederic Chopin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Johannes Brahms. Chopin’s Nocturnes are especially reflective of his romantic themes. If you want a bigger, fuller instrumental sound Mozart's Masterworks are your best bet. Brahms is most well known for his Lullaby. Soothing strings are the key to Brahms' music. In any case, if the music is not the primary focus of the lesson, avoid music with lyrics. It can be distracting for students to be concentrating on using the lesson’s vocabulary while hearing unrelated words. Also, be sure to not let your students fall asleep to the soothing sounds! For the more lyrically-inclined listener, music can help your students learn vocabulary. According to Tom Murphey, a writer for TESOL Quarterly, Pop music lyrics contain common, short words and many personal pronouns; the language is conversational; time and place are usually imprecise (except for some folk ballads); the lyrics are often sung at a slower rate than words are spoken with more pauses between utterances; and there is repetition of vocabulary and structures. These factors allow learners to understand and relate to the songs. The Beatles, Queen, and Elvis are a few standard choices that most students are familiar with and enjoy. For more song ideas and the language points they highlight, try www.musicalenglishlessons.org. One popular activity is to copy the lyrics onto a piece of paper and cut the lyrics into lines. Then have students put them in the correct order as they listen to the song. This can be done individually or in small groups. It will probably be necessary to play the song several times. After the lines of the song have been put in order, the song can be played once more as students read or sing along. Alternatively, the class can be divided into teams with identical sets of strips and compete to see which group can put the strips in the correct order first. Try a little music in your next lesson. The primary purpose of the music is to invoke learning, so make sure you choose your music wisely. Whether you have Mozart in the background of a writing lesson, The Beatles playing for a warm-up exercise, or a little Pop music when teaching vocabulary - the students will enjoy the added bonus of music. Every ESOL teacher has asked if the students understand and most of them time we get a head nod that says "no, I don't understand, but I will gesture as if I do." Using a little music might get a different nod. Volunteer Spotlight Recently, Catholic Charities was chosen by Management Systems International (MSI) to receive free consulting! Students from all over the world took part in a program evaluation course (the majority of them are from USAID and other government entities) The Education Services Department evaluators are from the Egypt, Afghanistan, and Colombia USAID offices. These evaluators developed a survey for both students and teachers. The surveys were anonymous and were aimed at better understanding student retention and motivation. The teacher surveys also addressed satisfaction, retention and motivation. Over 80 teachers and over 400 students participated in the survey! As soon as the data is available, we will be sharing the results with you. Thank you to Madeline, Chris, and Sayed who worked very hard to put together such a comprehensive evaluation of the Education Services Department. February's Vignette The Social Services Department has been very busy in 2009. Perhaps one of the most practical and generous donations received this January was a LARGE donation of brand-new, children’s Columbia winter jackets. The donor, who wants to remain anonymous, was very concerned that the coats go to children who are in need. The office looked like a sea of coats when they first arrived. Nervous and unsure about how to distribute them to fitting people, we called Loudoun Cares. The staff at Loudoun Cares agreed to post a sign in their office. They also contacted the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and told them of the “winter wonderland”. Within the first two days, seventeen coats were distributed to deserving children referred to Social Services by WIC and Loudoun Cares. More needed to be done to get the word out. The manager of the WRO contacted a school social worker. She explained the donation and asked for help from the school’s guidance counselors, social workers, and parent liaisons within Loudoun County. Within hours, an email came in from a parent liaison from Sterling Middle School. She had several students who had been coming to school, no matter how cold outside, with no coats! After several emails back and forth, the manager of the office agreed to take six coats to Sterling Middle School. What an amazing blessing it was to provide coats to school children who otherwise would be cold. There are currently a few coats remaining, but there is no doubt that very soon each and every coat will find a good home with a very deserving child. At the Western Regional Office, we feel very blessed to have such a close network of community partners. It is wonderful to be able to work together and to be able to distribute these goods to those who need them most. Bits and Pieces More ESOL Teacher Trainings Are Available ESOL Basics Did you not have a chance to go to a Hogar Bootcamp training? Can you not make it to the Bootcamp refresher in March? Then this training is for you!At this workshop, you will learn effective methods of teaching a new language to adults using all four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing). This workshop is designed for new teachers! When: Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM Where: 7510 Lisle Avenue, Falls Church, VA 22043 Technology Resources You and Your Students Will Love Learn how to use web-based teaching resources! This will also help those of you who are not comfortable with the wikispace. When: Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 9:30 AM - 12:30 PM Where: 2801 Clarendon Blvd, Arlington, VA 22201 To register go to the VALRC Calendar page and click on the event you are interested in. Time is running out, so sign up today!