Pav Dhadwal | FLE Avec Mme D 
PRESENTATION: Teaching the Whole Student: SEL in the French Classroom

Description:

I am sharing 5-10 SEL activities for French class, each with a different purpose. Some will be quick activities you can implement, and others will help tackle some of the common challenges we're encountering in our high schools in this age.

 About Pav: 

Pav has been teaching high school Core French in British Columbia for over a decade and is the creator behind FLE avec MmeD. She is deeply committed to equity and justice in French language education and is passionate about creating meaningful change within the field. Pav believes in teaching French through culture, helping students connect with the language in authentic, engaging, and inclusive ways.

What does community mean to you? 

 To me, community means accountability, connection, safety, acceptance, belonging, and celebration. A true classroom community must intentionally foster all of these elements; otherwise, it falls short of what students truly need in order to learn, grow, and feel supported.

Allison Wienhold - Mis Clases Locas
 

PRESENTATION: Positive Classroom Community from Day 0 

This session focuses on positive class community-building activities in your World Language classes from the first day of school. How to set yourself up for success to build a positive classroom community before school starts, week one, and routines to sustain all year long. Specific examples of how to build, maintain, and sustain a positive classroom community this school year.

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!

Lynne Hendrick

PRESENTATION: Building a Community of Collaborators: How to be a leader and collaborator in your school, district, and region

Join Lynne to see how you can draw from the teacher community around you to rejuvenate your practice. You'll walk away with concrete ideas on how to become a leader in your area and how to benefit from becoming a collaborator.  

About Lynne: 

Lynne Hendrick is a German teacher with 20+ years of experience in public schools.  Lynne discovered comprehension-based instruction about 10 years ago and has been on a journey of learning and growing ever since.  She teaches all levels of German plus Adapted World Language and Culture (a course designed for students with moderate to severe disabilities). Lynne enjoys collaborating and mentoring teachers and has presented at regional, state and local conferences and has led professional development classes for world language teachers in her district.  In addition to these opportunities, she has teamed up with Maris Hawkins for the past 9 years to organize and host an Edcamp-style, one-day conference for teachers in and around Virginia. In her free time, Lynne enjoys baking, reading, and spending time with her family.

What does Community mean to you? 

Community is the place I go for new ideas and renewed energy, but also for rest and support. My community is the teachers I have chosen to surround me and from whom I have learned and gathered strength.  Community is how I stay sane and how I grow as a teacher and a person. Community is everything! 

Sierra Wessels | Profe Sierra

PRESENTATION: Watch and Learn: Bringing Language to Life with TV Shows

 Description: 

My step-by-step guide on how to choose, show, and comprehensify an authentic tv show with my intermediate level students and the benefits of community, common pop references, and being able to circle structures from other units alongside my year long tv show units.

About Sierra: 

Sierra Wessels is a second-generation Spanish teacher that loves sharing her life, experiences, and learning as a language teacher using acquisition driven instruction and comprehensible input approaches on her Instagram and blog as Profe Sierra. You’ll see that she puts an emphasis on connection over curriculum focusing on using resources and methods tied to music, authentic tv shows, and leveled novels to help keep her students engaged and acquiring new language. While she has taught everything from 6th grade -Spanish IV over the last 7 years she has found her passion in working with intermediate level students and loves helping other teachers do the same.

What does community mean to you? 

 Community in my classroom means building genuine connections where we feel comfortable learning and making mistakes together. It’s filled with laughter, shared interests, and encouragement, helping us grow in language skills while becoming kinder, better people.

Amy Marshall | Zona de Profes

The Power of Pause: Micro-Moments That Maximize Comprehension

Description: 

 Amy will show you how pauses and strategic silence aid in comprehension and class cohesion. 

 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. 

What does community mean to you? 

 Community in my classroom means creating a safe, supportive space where students feel valued and connected. Through shared experiences, laughter, and communication, we build relationships that encourage risk-taking, growth, and success together.

Diane Neubauer, PhD

PRESENTATION: Community-Building Target Language Interaction with Novice Learners 

Session Description:

Interacting with novice learners through the target language *in ways they can understand and care about* is a core passion of mine as a language teacher. I will share 3 go-to instructional activities and specific techniques for teachers to interact through the target language with their students. These strategies allow even novice level students to share their imagination, opinions, and experiences even before they are ready to speak at length in the target language. Working with students in these ways affirms their identities and sustains classroom community across a variety of instructional strategies. 

About Diane: 

Diane Neubauer, 杜雁子, taught Mandarin Chinese for 10 years in elementary, middle, and high schools before completing her PhD in Foreign Language and ESL Education at the University of Iowa in 2022. She is Clinical Assistant Professor of Multilingual Education at the University of Louisville, teaches Chinese online, and facilitates language teacher training. She is especially interested in how language teachers can facilitate students’ comprehension of target language, engagement in classroom learning, & development of intercultural competence. She has a podcast with Reed Riggs, Conversations about Language Teaching. Check her YouTube channel for language learning, sometimes featuring her flock of backyard chickens!

What does community mean to you? 

Community means in the classroom, we know and learn to care for each other. It also means going beyond the classroom to joining the community of language users we join when we add an additional language. 

Pamela Parks, "Madame Sensei"

PRESENTATION: Using Minecraft Education for Collaborative Projects

Description:

I teach Spanish, French, Japanese, and English in a tiny little portable. My classes are 32-39 students, and I want them to work collaboratively. It is too hard for me to say, “Hey class! We are playing store today!” and then set up a bunch of painted refrigerator boxes, only to have to take them down in a hurry before the next class walks in. With Minecraft Education, I have taken my French students undersea to meet Jacques-Yves Cousteau and help him observe the glow squid in its natural habitat, I have taken my Spanish students on an escape room adventure to help La Matadragones slay the dragon and win the heart of the prince, and my Japanese students learn the rules of the Japanese garden and then have to demonstrate that they understood by creating their own authentic garden. And of course, it’s easy to get students navigating a Minecraft airport, load them on a Minecraft plane, and take them on a virtual field trip to Paris or Buenos Aires… To be successful, students have to speak to each other in the target language for the entire hour and twenty minutes of class, even the first-year students. They can do it if I lay the groundwork correctly.

 About Pamela: 

My name is Pamela Parks, but my students call me "Madame Sensei." I teach French, Spanish, and Japanese to highschoolers in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. (Plus I had to cram more than 30 students into each of my classes so that I could take on an ELA class this year... Talk about whiplash...) I decided long ago that I dislike grading long exams, and what I really want to do is the fun stuff. So I moved to a game-based and project-based curriculum. I find that I get more authentic language production that way -- Students aren't worried about the sounds coming out of their mouth, they just want to win the game. Affective Filter lowered, students are 100% engaged, and I enjoy myself, too. It's a win-win-win.

What does community mean to you? 

 Community means every student builds each other up.  It is so important to keep the Affective Filter low for  students -- that little voice inside your head that says, "I can't do this.  I'll sound stupid if I talk out loud.  Everyone will laugh at me."  Community means students support each other.