Except for the free Wayside session, individuals registering for a full-day session or two half-day sessions before October 15th will be invited to attend a complimentary luncheon. Teachers attending the Wayside session may purchase a luncheon ticket for $40.

ADDITIONAL FULL-DAY SESSIONS, 8:30am - 4:00pm 

Driving Mastery Using Proficiency-Based Teaching: A Road Map to Success for Newbies

Dr. Pablo Martinez-Torres, World Languages Curriculum Specialist, Polk County Public Schools

This session is intended for teachers with fewer than five years teaching experience.

Everybody talks about proficiency-based teaching, but what does it look like? This workshop is designed for teachers who have been in the profession for less than 5 years. We will deconstruct and explain proficiency-based teaching through a variety of comprehensible input strategies such as Clip Chat, PictureTalk, One Word Image, Storytelling, etc. Supporting strategies to foster fluency also will be modeled (Brain breaks, attention signals, cooperative structures, etc.) Participants will also learn how to create and plan lessons by blending strategies, practices, and methodologies. Several resources to facilitate lesson building will be shared.

Session Objectives

By the end of this full-day workshops teachers will be able to:

-identify different proficiency levels

-implement strategies to make language comprehensible

-apply comprehensible input-based strategies

-identify instructional resources that foster proficiency

-create a comprehensible input lesson

Songs as Authentic Resources in Your World Language Classroom

Bertha Delgadillo, 2023 FLAG Teacher of the Year, Woodville Tompkins Technical & Career High School

Songs are powerful authentic resources in our world language classrooms! In this two-part workshop, you will learn where and how to find a song and transform it to an engaging acquisition experience for your students. Discover new ways to connect your learners to the target culture through leading students to discover new artists, making lyrics comprehensible, and providing interactive acquisition driven activities leading them to output. Participants will examine, experience, and participate in a wide variety of engaging strategies to facilitate a meaningful connections with music in the target language from the target culture. Participants will also create a collaborative library of songs resources to try throughout the school year. Applicable to all languages, but examples and freebies will be in Spanish.

AM SESSIONS, 8:30am - 11:30am

Erasing the Lines: Including Everyone on the Page

Presented by Jennifer Degenhardt, Author/Storyteller, Puentas LLC

In a world that seems determined to keep us separate and separated, World Language teachers know we are in the unique position to affect change through words and actions, as the acquisition of another language (at any level) is not JUST about standards, pyramids, and rubrics. Language is, at its core, about people.

In this workshop, join author and college instructor, Jennifer Degenhardt, as she addresses the need for representation even - and especially - in the world language classroom. Information will be delivered on how humans are - and should not be - political, and how to embrace inclusion of voices that are not always represented well in the World Language classroom. Moreover, you will be gifted with the time to work with colleagues on some mini lessons given examples that appear in Jen’s books, which she will bring along for you (also a gift!). The only line to be drawn during the session, is the one colored with possibility.

Dandole Sazon a la Cultura Hispanica

Presented by Laura Zinke, 2015 AATSP Outstanding Teacher of the Year, Secondary

In this session, participants will learn innovative strategies as they explore authentic resources to teach about Hispanic culture through the eyes and voices of prominent writers, artists, and musicians.

Print, audio and audiovisual resources will focus on the needs and interests of heritage learners to celebrate their multicultural identity to center instruction on equitable and inclusive practices.

The modes of communication will serve as tools to build proficiency and scaffold authentic content. This interdisciplinary approach will facilitate literacy development and require students to make connections and comparisons. To illustrate, the presenters will highlight a variety of instructional approaches such as cooperative learning, comprehensible input, zoom out-zoom in, and extemporaneous speaking.

AFTERNOON SESSIONS, 1:00pm - 4:00pm

CULTURE IS LANGUAGE and LANGUAGE IS CULTURE!

Presented by Linda Villadoniga, 2018 FFLA President, 2019 FFLA Conference Chair, Klett World Languages Consultant 

Making good Cultural Comparisons is important in developing an understanding of other cultures. Learning about other cultures helps us better understand and appreciate the differences and similarities among us in our beliefs and practices. But...are you comfortable teaching students how to make cultural comparisons?

In this 3-hour workshop, we will take cultural comparisons to a whole new level. Take these cultural topics for example: What role do ingredients and food play in the cultures of Spanish, French, German, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and Portuguese-speaking people? How do these cultures treat the step from childhood to adulthood? What roles do family members play in each of these cultures?

We will examine these cultural aspects and more and then take them to another level as we also compare them to American culture. What are the differences? The similarities?

In this very interactive workshop, you will be the student as we go through the steps you need (choosing your topics, using authentic resources, engaging the students, etc.). Then you will become the teacher as you teach the group how to make relevant, meaningful cultural comparisons. Come join me for a fun workshop in which you will learn how to engage your students in a meaningful cultural way! 

Transform Textbook Units into CI-Based Experiences

Presented by Claudia Elliott, 2022 SCOLT Teacher of the Year, Growing with Proficiency

This workshop will provide World Language teachers with a step-by-step framework to transform textbook units into comprehensible input-based experiences that promote language proficiency and cultural competence. The training will identify at least two strategies for each mode of communication, including Interpersonal, Interpretive, and Presentational. This workshop will focus on enhancing student engagement and promoting language acquisition, increasing teacher effectiveness, and developing cultural competence among students and teachers.

At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to identify at least two strategies for each mode of communication that promote language acquisition and cultural competence. Also, participants will be able to use the step-by-step framework provided in the training to transform textbook units into comprehensible input-based experiences. Finally, teachers will be able to collaborate with colleagues to develop effective Comprehensible Input-Based Experiences that promote cultural competence and enhance student learning.