Spanish & Illinois

by Ann Abbott I always look forward to receiving the Entrepreneurship Educator newsletter , but I was doubly pleased with this issue because it features an activity developed by my friend, Tony Mendes.  Tony was the Executive Director of The Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership at the University of Illinois, and I was one of his the Faculty Fellows.  Tony is now the Director of the Murphy Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of North Texas . The activity is pasted below.  When I teach my Spanish & Entrepreneurship course again I will ask my students to go through the exercise to find "points of pain" for the Latina/o community members they meet in their community service learning (CSL) work and their community partner organizations. Points of Pain Exercise This first exercise was developed by Tony Mendes, who is the Director of the  Murphy Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of North Texas . Many entrepreneurial ideas come from...

by Ann Abbott I have five complimentary copies of the latest issue of Foreign Language Annals  sitting on my office shelf. (If you want one, let me know!)  It's always very exciting to see your work published.  Here is the reference: Abbott, Annie & Darcy Lear. "The Connections Goal Area in Spanish Community Service-Learning: Possibilities and Limitations." Foreign Language Annals  43 (2010): 231-45. The issue includes another article pertinent to Spanish community service learning (CSL): Polansky, Susan G., et al. "Tales of Tutors: The Role of Narrative in Language Learning and Service-Learning." Foreign Language Annals  43 (2010): 304-23. It describes an interesting curricular project at Carnegie Mellon University in which students studying any foreign language (including ESL) enrolled in the same service learning course.  I encourage you to read the whole article to see how "narrative" played out in the students' reading, writing...