Pav Kaur of FLE avec MmeD
Surviving the Storm: Insider Strategies for Teaching Without Prep and Dodging Burnout

Are you tired of feeling overwhelmed by the demands of teaching? In this workshop, you will discover a treasure trove of time-saving digital hacks, classroom organization strategies, and effective teaching tips that will transform your workload. Learn how to streamline your routines and lesson planning processes, empowering you to become a more efficient teacher and reclaim your work-life balance.

About Pav: 

Bonjour! I am a Core French teacher from British Columbia, Canada. I am passionate about making cultures the main meal in Core French. I am also the creator behind FLE avec MmeD where I help teachers go beyond the textbook in the French classroom. Social justice and diversity are my goals!

Amy Marshall / Zonadeprofes
Work Smarter Not Harder

Teaching has grown increasingly difficult and demanding based upon the culture and society that we live in. The demands seem to grow with each passing year and teachers are burning out and in many cases cannot be found to fill the vacancies. This session will focus on addressing how to work smarter and not harder as language teachers with grading practices, classroom activities and planning, using AI and general time management strategies.

About Amy:

Amy Marshall is a dynamic and energetic Spanish teacher who teaches with a variety of techniques that fall under the umbrella of comprehensible input. 

Tia Parnell from Parfaitement Parnell
From Chaos to Control: A Teacher's Guide to Effective Classroom Management

In "From Chaos to Control: A Teacher's Guide to Effective Classroom Management," educators will discover practical strategies to foster a collaborative learning environment where students thrive. From establishing clear expectations to nurturing positive relationships, this presentation equips teachers with the tools needed to create an inclusive and engaging classroom atmosphere for all learners.

About Tia: 

Tia Parnell is the passionate owner of Parfaitement Parnell, a thriving business dedicated to creating modern and engaging French resources for teachers. With a deep love for education and a commitment to excellence, Tia brings her expertise as a Canadian upper elementary French Immersion teacher to the forefront of her work.

With a strong educational background and years of experience in the classroom, Tia has a profound understanding of the needs and challenges faced by both teachers and students. Her dedication to providing quality resources and materials that foster language acquisition and inspire learning has earned her a reputation as a trusted educator and resource creator.

Allison Perryman, founder of The Cultural Classroom

Language Learners to Global Citizens: How YOU Can Make a Difference Using Social Justice in YOUR Class

Want to empower YOUR students as global citizens and spark a real-life incentive for language learning? Gain the tools to integrate Social Justice themes that are important to your students and the world: empowering your world language students, changing lives...and eventually, the world!

About Allison: 

Allison Perryman has over a decade experience as a classroom Spanish teacher and additional experience with other Romance languages. A passionate advocate for diversity and inclusivity, Allison emphasizes the importance of confronting biases in the Spanish classroom. Drawing from her personal experiences and upbringing in a Hispanic community, she offers a unique perspective on transforming perspectives and cultivating culture in the curriculum. Her dynamic approach involves engaging students through authentic materials, guest speakers, celebrations, virtual trips, and fostering an inclusive environment. Her commitment to these principles is at the core of her work as the founder of "The Cultural Classroom," an organization dedicated to helping teachers incorporate authentic culture into their classrooms.

Connie J Navarro / CI.Coaching.with.Connie.com

Rock Your Evaluation: teachers' guide to success

"What are evaluators looking for during a classroom observation? 

How do I translate what I do in my ADI classroom for my admin and other stakeholders?

What kind of data can I bring to data meetings that would actually be useful? 

Connie has spent 10 years evaluating World Language teachers, and training principals in accurate and equitable teacher evaluation. Come get concrete ideas for how to Rock Your Teacher Evaluation!

About Connie: 

Since 2013, Connie has observed, evaluated, and coached hundreds of World Language teachers who teach with Comprehensible Input.
In addition to working with teachers, Connie trains principals, assistant principals, deans, and other school leaders on accurate scoring of teacher observations and evaluations. Connie loves to share resources and ideas with anyone looking to go from good to great. Whether you're a Rookie, a Varsity teacher or an All-Star, CI Coaching With Connie has something for you!

Sophia Forker 

Building a thematic unit from the ground up!

If you're like me and don't have a specific curriculum to follow you're super lucky but also might feel overwhelmed about what topics to cover and how to structure your year. In this session I will share how I plan thematic units from scratch!

About Sophia: 

Bonjour! ¡Hola! Hi! I'm Sophie, a French and Spanish teacher from Brooklyn, New York. I'm passionate about language acquisition, especially in tandem with queer affirming and antiracist pedagogy. I have taught both middle and high school in NYC public schools and have worked in traditional foreign language as well as dual language settings. I love learning about facilitating language acquisition in the classroom and I'm excited to share with all of you! In my free time I love spending time with my partner and our two dogs, Kevin and Snoodles.

Bryce Hedstrom
What I've Learned About Teaching by Learning and Teaching a New Language

Bryce's adult daughter asked him to learn and teach Latin at the classical school she was starting. It's been a wild and successful ride. Tune in to see what he's accomplished and how these secrets can work for you.

About Bryce: 

Bryce has taught elementary to college level students for more than 30 years. He now teaches and coaches teachers full time. His teaching emphasizes proficiency and includes storytelling, authentic culture, reading, music, student engagement… and plenty of laughter.

Erin Coleman, M. Ed. | The Engaged Spanish Classroom
Hexagonal Grouping in World Language Classrooms: Enhance student confidence and critical thinking!

My session will outline how you can incorporate Hexagonal Grouping into your world language classroom! Hexagonal grouping is a hands-on activity that gives your students the opportunity to THRIVE. My content is Spanish-focused, but these strategies are applicable across languages.

About Erin: 

Erin has ten years of experience teaching high school Spanish in MA. She loves to incorporate games, digital activities, and culture into her classroom and lessons. Erin is a big fan of proficiency based grading and planning, and she loves sharing as she learns!

Kia D. London | Trailblaze Into Language Learning (she/hers)
Celebrating the Middle: Middle School Activities to Maintain Joy

This session takes you through a number of activities for middle school students that center around celebrating the middle and how we can continue to engage our students in ways that excite them and us!

About Kia:

Kia is a passionate educator, writer, and advocate for equity by way of reading, representation, and interculturality in the world language curriculum. She earned a B.A. in Spanish and an M.A. in Linguistics, specializing in language and identity. She carries eighteen years of experience in the classroom, and has taught Spanish to multilingual learners for all grade levels K-12. She currently teaches Spanish to 5th and 6th grade students.

Through Trailblaze Into Language Learning, Kia provides workshops, webinars, and a curriculum coaching membership program focused on student representation, second language acquisition, belonging, and intercultural competence. She has presented at local, state, and regional conferences, as well as the ACTFL conference. As a writer of comprehensible short stories and articles, she successfully designs a rich curriculum that keeps her students engaged! 

Devon Gunning | La Libre Language Learning (host)
That's so Mid. (Novice Mid!) Demystify Proficiency Levels & Craft Curriculum Like a Boss

After spending a year in the wild wild country of curriculum consulting and development, one thing is crystal clear about ADI programs: too many teachers are asked to create/revise curriculum from thin air. In this session, I'll give you the MOST ESSENTIAL tool for these two powerful outcomes: 1. celebrate your students by UNDERSTANDING them and where they're at! 2. never wonder again what belongs in your curriculum to hit your proficiency targets.  We'll use the new 2024 ACTFL Performance Indicators as well as CEFR A1-B2 to switch our mindset from constantly searching for gaps and deficits to instead CELEBRATE the amazing things our students can do with language at each level!

About Devon: 

Welcome to Practical and Comprehensible 2024: CELEBRATE!

My mission is to help world language teachers discover a practical, teacher-friendly approach to best practice and true community in your classroom: through the power of CI and meaningful social justice resources & PD.

I work with teachers & districts in curriculum work, self care planners, French & Spanish resources, and the Practical Proficiency Network - a PD membership and community to connect you with like-minded, health-conscious and CI focused teachers.  

Jocelynn Hubbard | Custom Teaching Solutions (she/her)
Communication Redefined: The Key Role of Equity

Equity is not an initiative. Let's chat about what it actually means to prioritize equity in your classroom to increase student success. Dive into the why, the what, and the how.

About Jocelynn:

Jocelynn Hubbard helps teachers spark joy during the learning experience by creating an inclusive and welcoming classroom environment for ALL their students. She is the founder and managing director of Custom Teaching Solutions, LLC and host of The Culture-Centered Classroom podcast. She has 16+ years of experience in education as an educator, speaker, professional development creator and facilitator. Driven by a passion to see the diverse people of our world feel welcomed, affirmed, and celebrated, she provides training on becoming and remaining culturally competent. As a wife and mother of five, her goals include squeezing in time for exercise, finding moments of joy each day, and parenting each of her children as unique individuals.

Jocelynn received a B.S. in Education from Miami University (OH) and an MA in Education from The University of North Carolina – Pembroke. She also has a graduate certificate in Gifted & Talented instruction from The University of North Carolina – Charlotte.

Grace V. Sotomayor Mantri
How I Turned a Generational Insecurity Into a CI Story that Celebrates Both My Students And Me

We can take our life experiences, the stories we hear over time from those we know, and celebrate diversity in our community by creating stories that fit our curricula as well as reflect our student demographics. Join me and find out how.

About Grace:

Grace V. Sotomayor Mantri is an educator with 10+ years teaching the Spanish language to all levels and ages, specializing in the age group of elementary and middle-grade students. Born in Puerto Rico, and raised Stateside, Grace’s experiences of in-betweenness and multi-faceted diversity within her own family have shaped not only her identity, but also her pedagogy, as she gives a window to her students of a world often different from their own. She is a TEDx Creative Coast 2019 speaker, a curriculum designer and Cultural Competence & Empathy director of her school community. Apart from being a heritage speaker, Grace went on to study and acquire French at university as well as Polish while living abroad in Łódź (pronounced “Wooj”), Poland. Grace’s next challenge is to learn Bengali, the native language of her favorite human, also known as her husband DJ, of Indian nationality. She values family, community, her faith, and humanity. Grace is passionate about equipping each teacher she meets with the confidence to teach using Acquisition Driven Instruction.

Jenniffer Whyte 
Celebrating Afro-Descendants from Panama

Step into the rhythm of Afro-Panamanian culture and experience a celebration like no other! Join us as we uncover the vibrant traditions, captivating stories, and rich heritage that await in our journey through Panama's Afro-descendant community.

About Jenniffer: 

Jenniffer Whyte, an acclaimed Spanish educator from the Dominican Republic, is renowned for her expertise in teaching Spanish at The Donoho School across various levels, from Intro to Spanish to advanced courses. Additionally, she imparts her knowledge to Pre-K and Kindergarten students, fostering language skills from an early age. Beyond the classroom, Jenniffer's insights on Afro-Latino culture and navigating discussions on race relations are sought after, making her keynotes and conference sessions indispensable for language instructors worldwide. Passionate about supporting fellow educators, she is dedicated to addressing crucial yet challenging topics surrounding culture and race.

Courtney Nygaard | Heritage Spanish
Celebrating Identity and Dialects in Heritage Spanish Class

Do you teach a class for heritage Spanish speakers? In this session we will unpack why identity work is important and how we can honor the language and dialects students speak at home.

About Courtney:

Courtney Nygaard taught high school Spanish in Minnesota for ten years where she resides with her husband and two children. She especially loves teaching heritage speakers! Courtney is the founder of the Ascendencia curriculum for high school heritage Spanish and the Linaje curriculum for middle school heritage Spanish. Courtney’s primary focus is on engaging students in learning through content-based instruction. She believes in empowering her students to become their best selves and that the best learning takes place when students are hooked on a topic that directly relates to their life experiences.

Claudia Elliott | Growing With Proficiency
Starting Strong: Embracing an Asset-Based Approach from Day One

Begin the school year by understanding and implementing an asset-based approach in your classroom. This session will introduce the core concepts of an asset-based approach in education and how we can incorporate them into our language classes. Discover three practical strategies that can help support this approach since day one in our classes, emphasizing a classroom culture that is all about celebrations!

About Claudia: 

Claudia Elliott is a Spanish teacher in Jacksonville, Florida. She has been teaching Spanish since 2005 and has experience with all levels, including AP and IB. In recent years, Claudia has implemented dramatic changes in her teaching practices to make her classes more comprehensible, communicative, and community-driven. She has shared her ideas and experiences with world language educators in various forums and conferences.

Claudia is the 2021-2022 FFLA Teacher of the Year (TOY) and the 2022 SCOLT TOY. She is the host of Growing With Proficiency The Podcast and the founder of Growing With Proficiency The Spanish Teacher Academy, where she helps World Language teachers build comprehensible and communicative-driven classes.

Devon & PopSuite by Longtail Education 
From Concept to Creation: The Making of Tech Tools That Put Educators First

Hot take: a classroom tech tool isn't helpful if you need training just to use it. You shouldn't need to manage 13 different apps that don't communicate with each other to run your classroom. And you actually don't have to settle for searching through giant libraries of disorganized flashcard lessons created by other users. *Shock face* Your tech tools should actually put you first and help you teach exactly the way you want to teach! Join host Devon and Zoë Burge of Longtail Education as we get real off-the-cuff about busting misconceptions about tech tools in the classroom and put TEACHERS back into the conversation about meaningful tools to get to the student outcomes you're looking for. Whether you LOVE tech or you HATE tech, this presentation is for you. You'll walk away with a transformative shift that tech should work for YOU - not the other way around. 

About PopSuite by Longtail Education:

We’re an edtech company fueled by a team of content creators, educators, developers, and designers who are passionate about supporting the educators fueling the future of learning.

We’re dedicated to helping students succeed and teachers win. This commitment led us to develop a powerful suite of digital tools designed to take classroom learning to the next level.

 We work closely with Devon to create a suite of curriculum and tech resources to unlock the acquisition-driven classroom experience that both teachers and students deserve. Our teacher-driven tools take all the content creation out of curriculum and put mastery front and center. We're excited to get to know more about you this conference in partnership with Devon. 

Allison Wienhold - Mis Clases Locas
Supportive Speaking Activities

Celebrate students speaking with activities that support conversation. Leave with engaging and differentiated speaking activities for any World Language class

About Allison:

Allison Wienhold of Mis Clases Locas has 10 years of experience as a #deptof1 secondary Spanish teacher. She has a passion for using novels, CI-based stories, music, and movement in a #deskless class. Allison loves to save busy teachers' time!

Profesora Delgadillo

CELEBRATE Output with Hexagonal Thinking!

How can language teachers creatively assess and support learners’ output? Examples of how language teachers can integrate hexagonal thinking strategies confidently to engage and elevate target language usage & processing will be shared and explained. Experience what the process of hexagonal thinking can look like in a language class and walk away with ideas to get started. 

About Profesora Delgadillo: 

Bertha Delgadillo, NBCT is a HS Spanish teacher in Savannah, GA. Originally from Tampico, Tamaulipas, México, she empowers world language teachers through sharing effective engagement & student agency strategies to create a joyful and impactful learning experience. In 2023, Bertha was the Georgia World Language TOTY.

Joshua Cabral 
Sorry (not sorry), But Your Students WILL Keep Asking to Do These Activities

Learn 10 activities that can be easily adapted to any language or level. Fill your teacher toolbox with ways for students to engage enthusiastically and authentically with the target language in all modes.

About Joshua: 

Joshua Cabral has been teaching French and Spanish at the elementary, middle and high school levels for 26 years. He regularly presents workshops on language proficiency and cultural competence at state, regional and national conferences.  Joshua has done extensive graduate work in Applied Linguistics and second language acquisition and consults with schools and districts throughout the USA working toward building and improving proficiency-based programs. Joshua is passionate about access to education and also works closely with schools in Haiti and Nicaragua where he travels to work with teachers and students.  He is also the host of the World Language Classroom Podcast.

Timothy Chávez
Languages as Lenses: Designing Thematic Units for Cultural Insights and Social Justice

Learn how to carefully design thematic units -- not to be confused with topical units -- at all levels! This session will focus largely on how the use of thematic units can help students develop cultural perspectives, particularly through a lens of social justice.

About Timothy:

Timothy is in year 9 of teaching Spanish and is a researcher by nature who adores reading about language acquisition and then putting that research into practice by developing his own, unique tasks for students. He is also a queer educator whose goal is to always find ways to incorporate the identities of marginalized groups into his curricula and lessons.

Courtney Bonino | Llearning Llama
ARTful Lesson Planning: 12 Simple Lessons for Any Art Unit

Get 12 practical and authentic art lessons that you can implement in your art unit this year! From becoming an artist to being a tour guide to analyzing artwork with your 5 senses, you’ll leave this presentation with tons of outside-the-box lessons!

About Courtney: 

Courtney Bonino of Llearning Llama is in her 8th year of teaching Spanish. Her experience is mainly as a high school teacher, but she has taught every level from preschool through Spanish 4 Honors. Courtney has a Masters in Foreign Language Teacher. She loves providing teachers with authentic and practical activities to make Spanish class fun! She has a passion for virtual field trips, proficiency based tasks, and incorporating culture in the classroom.

John Sifert, Padre de cinco Resources
Calendar Talk is WAY More Than Just Calendars!

Calendar Talk is a beginning of class routine to get student's minds engaged in the target language. It may involve basic concepts such as the date, weather, and temperature, but it can go well beyond these ideas. John Sifert will share how he uses Calendar Talk to link language to students' lives and interests in order to jumpstart the beginning of class. This session will be in English, with examples in Spanish, but relevant to all languages.

About John:

John Sifert has been a Spanish teacher in Iowa and Texas for the past 26 years. His focus in the classroom is to provide comprehensible input through stories, novels, and song. He is also passionate about teaching students about life-long skills such as perseverance, respect, and kindness. John has presented at ACTFL, Practical and Comprehensible, IWLA, CI Iowa, KSWLA, Comprehended!, Conference in the Cloud, Growing with Proficiency, and CI Reboot.

John also creates a variety of classroom materials and is the author of La isla más peligrosa, La decisión más peligrosa, Seis nombres, L'isola più pericolosa del mondo, with several other novels in the works.

Nothing is more important than family, so when not focused on language acquisition, John spends all his free time with his wife and 5 children in the tiny, (but amazing) town of Belmond, Iowa.

"World language teachers teach the world more than language."

Ben Tinsley | AfroFranco
Cultivating Global Literacy: Comprehensible Folktales in the Modern Language Classroom

About Ben: 

A teacher of almost 2 decades and a lifelong student, Ben has dedicated his professional and personal life to the pursuit of substantive diversity, equity, and belonging in education. In the classroom, he has had the opportunity to work with teachers and schools around the world to develop curricula that center Black Indigenous Communities of Color and other historically marginalized peoples.

Ben’s recent work has focused primarily on leveraging language acquisition and language education toward developing global literacy and 21st-century competencies.

Premium Presentation - All-Access Pass only

Sherry Sebesta - World Language Café
LIVE: Ideas to Get Students Speaking More Target Language in Class 

3-4 pm EST July 31 

What is the single most important thing that you can do to help your students communicate more effectively this year?  Get them speaking more in the target language!  In this presentation, you'll learn simple tips and tricks to get your students speaking more target language which will dramatically improve their language skills.

About Sherry:

Sherry Sebesta is a veteran HS French and Spanish teacher and creator of World Language Café. She blogs about best teaching practices and creates innovative resources to engage students based on her experiences raising her own kids bilingually and watching how they naturally acquire language skills.