Thursday Workshops, 10/22/20, 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.:

W1: Nicole Sherf & Tim Eagan: "The Departmental Mind Shift: Teaching and Programming for Proficiency"  (ALL)

This is an exciting time to be a language teacher!  A proficiency movement supported by research and resources is shaping the way that we now prepare, teach, program and assess world languages.  Orient to the shift with an overview of effective practices and many resources such as the six Core Practices, the MA Seal of Biliteracy, and many strategies to motivate and engage your students to proficiency development.  Come as a department, with a department member or on your own. Bring a device.

W2: Greg Duncan, "Ensuring Growth for Our Learners: Moving from Novice to Intermediate to Advanced" (ALL)

When students know that they are growing in their language ability, they are more motivated to continue study because they see and feel progress. And they need knowledgeable and skilled teachers to lay out that path for their growth. That’s what this workshop aims to do—to give teachers the information they need in order to help their Novice language learners become Intermediates and for their Intermediates to move to the Advanced range of proficiency.

W3: Leslie Grahn, "Creating a Learner-Centered Language Classroom"  (ALL)

Discover ways to create  a learner-centered language classroom with strategies that will increase student engagement and success.

W4: Manuela Wagner, "Intercultural Citizenship in Practice" (SP)

Participants will engage in hands-on activities and discussions to learn how to

a. advocate for all language learners and for language education by using the framework of intercultural communication, b. apply Michael Byram's (2008) model of intercultural citizenship in order to help students use their intercultural competence to solve problems in the here and now, c. modify a unit that integrates intercultural citizenship.

W5: Thomas Sauer, "Planning with a Purpose, Bringing Order to Your Teacher Toolbox!" (ALL)

When schools develop new curricula, there are often gaps that exist between what is written and is needed to implement the new curricula, leaving teachers confused and frustrated before they have started planning a single lesson. In this workshop, participants will learn how to deconstruct unit can-do statements into logically sequenced chunks for daily lessons. Participants will review several examples and will develop a series of learning targets and activities that move students from input to output incorporating frequent checks for learning designed to provide feedback for the learner and teacher.

W6: Kara Parker, "Problem Solved: Creating Authentic Lessons" (ALL)

Let’s talk about how to reinvigorate your next intermediate unit by addressing world challenges. You’ll see complete lessons: from the daily objective, to authentic resources, and then the communicative tasks. Collaborate with others to create your own, plus have access to the lessons presented.
Social Media Teaser: Let’s show learners how to be problem solvers.

W7: Megan Smith, "From Passions to Professions: Creating Authentic Lessons" (ALL)

Promote career connections and 21st Century skills in every unit you teach! See easy-to-replicate lessons that get learners investigating real people and their passions, comparing jobs and careers, and sharing back in the target language. Collaborate and create your own lessons to inspire them to turn their passions into professions!

W8: Barbara Barnett, "Where are You Really From?: How Teacher Identify and Biases Paint the Learning Experience of Students" (ALL)

Where are you from?... A simple, but yet ubiquitous, question that implies a progression of where you began and where you are going. Often asked out of pure curiosity, many times it can be a loaded question whose multifaceted answer may lead to feelings of exclusion and microaggressions. Are you ready to unpack this question? Come to this workshop to ponder where you are “really” from, and to explore how your own identity and biases paint the learning experiences you develop for your students.

Friday Workshops, 10/23/19, 9:00 - 12:00 a.m.

W9: Janel LaFond Paquin "Vive Le Petit Prince. Il est Revenu" (FR)

Calling all French teachers!  The Little Prince is back!  Come to this workshop and see what wonderful things you can do with this timeless treasure!  Listening, speaking, reading and writing are all addressed as well as ways to incorporate multiple intelligences and technology using this text.  A myriad of activities and a comprehensive packet await! (Conducted in French

W10: Mark Pearsall, "Quorsum? Intercultural Competency and Classics Education" (LAT)

This workshop will explore the basic concept of intercultural competency and then provide practical examples of how we can use our study of classical languages to help our students develop these real world skills. Participants will learn how their classrooms can become cultural laboratories in the target language. As time permits, participants will have a chance to work on developing their own units for ICC and share with others.

W11: Enrique Morales, "Teaching Latin@ Culture to the Latinx Generation" (SP)

What is the difference between a Latino/a and Latinx identity? Has the adoption of Latinx as a new identity impacted the ways that students understand and connect with Latino/a history?  This session will address these and other questions on how to engage Latinx students in learning about their own identities, culture and histories.  Participants in this session will engage in hands-on activities with the goal of developing activities and lesson plans that aim to engage Latinx students in the classroom.

W12: Katrina Griffin, "Let’s Give them Something to Talk About" (ALL)

Ever feel like you have taught your students a lot of vocabulary, but they still aren't speaking in class? Do some students speak all the time and others never say a word? Wondering what you need to do to motivate students to voluntarily talk to each other in the target language at all times and at all levels? This ACTFL Teacher of the Year will show you step by step what to give students in order to empower them to take control of their own learning. Students at every level can be successful at achieving meaningful output when provided appropriate supports, and soon you won't be able to get them to stop! Experience many low-prep strategies first-hand as a participant, watch videos of students using the target language in various settings, and leave with a greater understanding of what steps to take to cultivate oral proficiency in the classroom.

W13: Chin Huei Yeh, "Making Changes: Building Students' Proficiency to the Next Level in the 21st Century" (CH)

This workshop will apply ACTFL’s core practices on various levels and units to guide participants with their daily teaching and planning, including finding authentic resources and creating effective assessments. Strategies to motivate and engage students will be included as well. Participants will be eager to try all the elements when they return to the classroom.

W14: Ana Pimental and Anibal Serra, "Designing and Implementing Curriculum: Language, Culture, and Content in the Portuguese Classroom" (POR)

Using examples of curriculum units, performance assessments and classroom tasks, the presenters will model the process of planning for learning, from unit design to classroom implementation. Participants in this workshop will learn to: create unit overviews that integrate the three modes of communication with a special focus on the interpersonal mode; create unit can-do statements that integrate language, content and culture; design performance assessments aligned to unit can-do statements; create tasks to develop proficiency in the three modes of communication.
Examples used will be for teaching Portuguese as a World Language and as a Heritage Language, but the principles presented in the workshop apply to any language.
This workshop will be more meaningful for participants if they bring ideas and materials for a unit of study they are in the process of creating.

W15: Marialuisa DiStefano, "Promoting Cross-Cultural Relations in the Italian Class: An Issue of Power and Equity" (IT)

This workshop will introduce a series of classroom-proven activities designed to meet the needs of 21st Century Learners. These tried and tested strategies are applicable to all languages, even for EL learners and the digital classroom. This will be an interactive session featuring student work samples, video demonstrations, and tips on how to build a strong and cohesive student-centered learning community.

W16: Kara Parker & Megan Smith, "Get a Taste for Stations" (ALL)

Stations are great to create a learner-centered class. First experience a buffet of tasks/activities in stations. Then discuss ways to adapt for different proficiency levels. Lastly create and share your stations. Plus there will be templates so you can efficiently plan your own.

W17: Karen Sasky, "Teaching Languages Younger: Intercultural Projects for Elementary School Foreign Language Teachers"

This presentation is geared toward foreign language elementary school teachers that want to incorporate intercultural projects into their teaching. Often elementary school language classes are focused on teaching the language, but it is essential to broaden our lessons to include cultural elements that relate to the various peoples and the countries where the languages are spoken. At the end of this presentation participants can: 1) Identify intercultural project ideas where students participate in the target language 2) Develop strategies for cross-disciplinary cooperation to promote intercultural learning at school 3) Identify ways to bring in diverse people for experiential learning in the schools and classrooms 4) Collaborate with other workshop participants to share ideas. Spanish is used for several examples, but the concepts apply across all languages. Please bring a laptop if possible.

Friday Workshops, 10/26/18, 2:15 - 5:15 p.m.:

W18: Leslie Grahn, "Embedding Authentic Resources Into Lesson Plans" (ALL)

Solve the puzzle of how to embed authentic resources into your lesson plans to maximize their impact on student learning.

W19: Manuela Wagner, "Intercultural Citizenship Across the Curriculum: The Role of Language Education" (ALL)

In this workshop, The co-author of the new ACTFL publication Teaching Intercultural Citizenship Across the Curriculum: The Role of Language Education will discuss why and how language education is at the center of our educational mission, i.e. to help students thrive and survive in a world that is increasingly diverse and interconnected. In a Q&A participants will be able to ask questions as well as share success stories and how to address challenges.

W20: Thomas Sauer, "Moving Beyond Buzzwords and Edu-Labels: Identifying What Works in Real Classrooms" (ALL)

Despite a growing emphasis on teacher effectiveness, teachers struggle to identify what they don’t know about effective language teaching. Looking for quick-fix strategies, Monday morning activities, and ready-to-use resources often leaves those teachers scrambling for new solutions every year. So, what are the elements of an effective teacher? The revised Teacher Effectiveness for Language Learning (TELL) Framework has identified those characteristics and yet it's hard to see them implemented when shown on a piece of paper. In this workshop participants will view and analyze video examples from real classroom that highlight a series of core strategies bringing those characteristics to life and leaving participants inspired to make real changes in their classrooms. Get ready to ditch the buzzwords and begin focusing on actual practices that have demonstrated to have an impact on language learning.

Saturday Workshops, 10/27/18, 8:30 - 11:30 a.m.:

W21: Make Travers, "Grammar and Proficiency: But How?" (ALL)

This workshop is meant to take a look at ACTFL’s Core Practice of grammar in context. Participants will work on finding grammar’s place in their class and discover methods like PACE and Structured Input to make that possible.

W22: Dorie Conlon Perugini, "Creating Equitable Classrooms While Teaching Intercultural Competence" (ALL)

In addition to the language component of world language instruction, many early language teachers are interested in making their classrooms places where students can develop intercultural competence and enact social justice. At the same time, teachers need to give careful consideration to how to ensure their content and teaching practices result in more equitable outcomes for all students. In this workshop the presenter will give an overview of the theoretical frameworks guiding teaching intercultural competence while demonstrating how to use culturally sustaining pedagogies to create equity within their classrooms. The presenter will bring examples from her own classroom translated into English as an example of how this can be done. Workshop participants will also be guided through a process of critical reflection so they can consider how to enhance one of their own units to incorporate these practices including learning to evaluate the resources they use for bias.