LIM-A Listserv Samples

The ACIE Newsletter, February 1998, Vol. 1, No. 2

Our LIM-A listserv currently has 147 international subscribers! A breakdown by country appears in the graph below.
For those of you new to Internet and the beauty of listservs, here are a couple of sample LIM-A communications that have taken place in the past couple of months. They represent a bit of what professional networking among immersion educators can offer. Please consider subscribing today!

Sample LIM-A Listserv INTERACTIONS
Q: Greetings: We are a Research & Develop-ment Committee at a public elementary school that is starting an immersion program next year. This will not be a magnet program, but rather will draw from within the school. Because we anticipate more applications than there will be spaces in the program, we are looking for guidance on setting up an equitable selection procedure. We would especially appreciate suggestions from those who have experience with immersion programs that are not in magnet schools. A concern that has been expressed is making sure that the immersion program does not take all of the high-acheivers, leaving the non-immersion classes unbalanced.
Thank you for sending your suggestions!
Research & Development Committee
Ridgewood Elementary School
Portland, Oregon

A: In our parish we have a lottery. Parents register and then names are placed according to the school zone. Each zone has a limited number of places available, and when the places are filled the other students are put on the waiting list. The only exception to this is that siblings of students in the program can get in automatically. I’ll forward your message to our immersion coordinator. She can give you a more detailed description of the process.
A: Our program is school-wide, so we don’t really “select” in that way, but we do have a challenge dealing with families who are in our assigned attendance area but don’t understand or support the program. We explain the program as fully as possible and try to get a commitment to remain in the program. I would suggest long-term commitment as a criterion.

Q: Do any of you have any knowledge about anyone who gives Spanish writing residencies at schools? I would love to find someone to do so for our K-5 students at our full immersion school. Any leads?
Thanks!
David Downs-Reid, Instructional Assistant
Robbinsdale Language Immersion School
Robbinsdale, Minnesota

A: Dear David,
I just talked with someone from COMPAS—an arts organization in St. Paul—and he said that they do have Spanish writing residencies through the Artists and Writers in the Schools Program. Daniel Gabriel can be reached at 292-3254.
Karin Larson, Coordinator
Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition, University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis, Minnesota