How can you empower your learners to be active agents in the classroom?

Does this sound like just a dream? Not necessarily if we intentionally design our instruction to achieve the goal of learners being active agents. To empower our learners, we need to shift from an emphasis on teacher-directed activities and move to an emphasis on learner-focused activities.

In this course, you will be introduced to strategies for empowering your learners and having them lead, discover, collaborate, take actions, make decisions about their learning, and grow as independent learners.


Presenters: Paul Sandrock and Ali Garib
Time Commitment: Up to 2 hours

Dive into the heart of Intercultural Communication with our transformative micro-course, designed to seamlessly blend culture and language learning in your classroom. This course unravels the essential bond between language and culture, guiding you through practical strategies grounded in intercultural communication research. Experience a learner-centered journey that elevates your teaching with rich insights on cultural diversity, equity, and inclusion, ensuring every student feels valued. Master the art of crafting authentic learning experiences and become a catalyst for your students to emerge as not only linguistically proficient but also empathetic global citizens, ready to embrace the world's diverse cultural landscape.

Presenter: Jacque Bott Van Houten
Commitment: One (1) Hour

In this online course, the presenter will introduce participants to frameworks of culturally responsive education (CRE) and how they connect with world language education. Rather than a checklist of behaviors or knowledge, this workshop is designed around the belief that critical reflection is a key component of culturally responsive teaching. As such, opportunities for critical reflection will be embedded throughout the course, and participants are encouraged to thoughtfully engage in each opportunity as it arises.

Presenter: Dorie Conlon

Commitment: Total of two (2) hours PD

Assessments are an integral tactic for every teacher's lesson and unit plans to gauge students' proficiency in all three modes of communication. While extremely valuable and rewarding, designing and adapting assessments for your individual lesson plans and your students' unique needs can be time-consuming. Which assessments should you use and how often? What data are we looking for? How do we design them? In this VLM, join 2012 ACTFL National Teacher of the Year, Yo Azama, to take a deep dive into the theory and practical application of assessment to guide your students' language learning. Helpful resources and thought-provoking discussion questions interspersed throughout each module make this virtual learning module a must-watch for new and veteran teachers alike.

CONTACT HOURS: 1.2. 1-year access beginning at the moment of purchase.

Presenter: Yo Azama, 2012 ACTFL National Teacher of the Year, currently teaches Japanese at North Salinas High School and World Language Teaching Method course at California State University, Monterey Bay. He is a team leader of the Monterey Bay World Language Project. Mr. Azama has 23 years of teaching experience from kindergarten to high school. He has conducted numerous presentations and seminars regionally, nationally, and internationally on various topics including; Social Issues Infused Lessons, Motivational Curriculum & Syllabus Design, Classroom Management, and Effective use of Technology in World Language Classroom. He has also served as a College Board Advisor for AP Japanese Language and Culture Development Committee. He has been the recipient of numerous awards such as the 2012 ACTFL Language Teacher of the Year, Outstanding Teacher of America Award by Carlston Family Foundation, the Robert J. Ludwig Distinguished Leadership Award, and Elgin Heinz Teaching Excellence Award just to name a few. Yo Azama's teaching has been featured in the Teaching Foreign Languages K-12 Video Library by WGBH Boston in 2003.

Explore and deconstruct research-based strategies for effectively developing your students’ language proficiency. At the same time, this series allows you to gain practical knowledge for designing real-world tasks for your classroom and curriculum.

DETAILS

The courses in this module include:

• Using the Target Language as the Vehicle for Instruction
• Interpersonal Communicative Tasks
• Presentational Communication
• Lesson Design
• Teacher Grammar as a Concept
• Authentic Cultural Text
• Providing Appropriate Feedback

Run Time: 140 minutes

Professional learning certificate available upon completion for 2 contact hours!

PRESENTER

• Dr. Eileen Glisan, Distinguished Professor of Spanish and Foreign Language Education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP).

How does Performance point toward Proficiency? Instruction is always looking ahead to the targeted proficiency level, while supporting and developing learners’ performance through a controlled context. Presenters will provide an overview to the proficiency levels of Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, and Superior and will explore the implied instructional emphases that will help language learners move from one level to the next.

DETAILS

The courses in this module include:

• Guiding Language Performance through Novice into Intermediate
• Guiding Language Performance through Intermediate to Advance
• Guiding Language Performance through Advanced to Superior

Run Time: 180 minutes

Professional learning certificate available upon completion for 3 contact hours!

PRESENTERS

• Arnold Bleciher, ACTFL OPI trainer and national consultant specializing in Spanish, World Language Methodology, and Second Language Acquisition.
• Stephanie Dhonau, Associate Professor of Second Languages and the coordinator of the Master of Arts in Second Languages Program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR).
• Fernando Rubio, Associate Professor of Spanish Linguistics and Co-Director of the Second Language Teaching and Research Center at the University of Utah.