Although my learning goals for ACTFL19 were overshadowed by TOY hoopla, I was pleased that I still got to attend several sessions, ALL excellent! It always helps me to recap my takeaways, so here's a brief summary of my learning in Washington. Striving for Global Competence in Today’s Political Climate with Pablo Muirhead I was in too much of a post-TOY fog to take any notes on this one, but I do remember that Pablo shared the Bennett model of cultural competency with us. He also had us do a fantastic, movement-based cocktail party simulation using different cultural norms. This was an interesting (albeit awkward!) way to see what it feels like to make conversation with folks who have different ideas about personal space, airtime, and polite greetings. Our middle school's world cultures teachers do this with 6th graders and say it makes for rich discussion. I was also touched that Pablo referred to my acceptance speech when he shared his feelings of vulnerability when speaking Spanish to his son in certain suburbs near his home in Milwaukee. Examples for Designing High-Quality Project-Based Language with NFLRC and Abby Carlisle from Meridian Academy I will admit that I initially chose this session because it's about going to Hawaii!!! (ahem, to learn about PBLL). Ironically, my biggest takeaway was meeting another Boston-area teacher who's exploring PBL in her classroom. Abby shared a great project called Museo para muchachos in which her students created a brochure for Spanish-speaking kid visitors to Boston's MFA. Stephen Tschudi of NFLRC shared a vast project repository with many in-depth examples of WL PBL projects - the best I've ever seen. Work-Life Balance Through Effective Minimalism in Assessment and Planning with Ashley Uyaguari I decided to attend this on the fly when I considered that, in my TOY year, I will probably need to more efficient and less over-the-top with my course planning. Plus I had not yet had the opportunity to congratulate Ashley on being selected as MaFLA's 2020 TOY! Although Ashley and I have very different approaches to curriculum and planning, I enjoyed chewing on this question during her session: Does assessment impact students’ proficiency? If not, why do we spend time on it? How could we spend less? Ashley also shared sample portfolios with student self-assessment documents, which I'd love to adopt in the future. Say “No” to External Rewards and “YES!” to Differentiated Instruction with Alice Lung & Valerie Aidan This session reminded me that I still haven't read anything by Alfie Kohn. As a parent and a teacher: I should! Lung shared this Kohn quote: “Rewards for learning undermine intrinsic motivation," and made the case that rewards do not promote a growth mindset. While I'm at it, I should also read Drive by Daniel Pink. I loved the classroom posters that Lung shared: these cover “guest etiquette” in her classroom, self-control, when students should and shouldn't use technology in class, and getting students to reflect before they ask for help. Spot-on for middle school teaching! • Grading to Promote Proficiency with Megan Budke and Karen Nickel Megan teaches at a SBG middle school. I love that she challenged us during her session by saying, "Let's get uncomfortable!" This really echoes Thomas Sauer's tweet before the conference: From this session, I'm think about setting a lower target for presentational speaking in my courses (as compared to other modes), and I'm questioning the role of homework (again!). According to Megan, the only homework that’s effective is personalized to that student, and we’ll never have time to create that for each learner. So, no homework for her students! Megan introduced me to the concept of replacement grading, where a later performance cancels out an earlier one within a term. Our department weights subsequent performances more heavily, but this is an approach for us to consider.
Erasing Margins and De-centering Whiteness in World Language Classrooms with Rhashida Hilliard and April Broussard I was very impressed by Rhashida and April's presentation at ACTFL18, so was eager to hear them speak again. They are among the few African-American presenters I've heard speak at world language conferences, and I'd love to see them leading full-day workshops for us in the future. This time, they shared: • Culturally-relevant teaching strategies and examples • Examining stereotypes in ads and providing counter-narratives to stereotypes • A helpful notetaker for reflection (useful for ANY session - I'm always looking to add to my toolbox of strategies for adult learners) I will write a separate post about my TOY journey, but wanted to get these learning reflections down before they are forgotten. Can't wait to keep learning across the country this year, and in San Antonio for ACTFL2020!
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Who's that dame?Middle school French teacher obsessed with building students' proficiency via thematic units & authentic materials. Smart teacher blogs:
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