Can I learn with you at ACTFL ’17?

The tweets and photos and haircuts (yes, #ACTFLhaircuts) have started.  It’s that time again, everyone.

Thousands of world language professionals are headed to Nashville this week for the annual convention of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.  I’m thankful the convention has come so close to home this time!

My schedule this ACTFL involves some level of involvement in 4 sessions and a few other things.  Where will I catch you?

On Thursday I’ll be…

trying my best to get to the Omni #langchat meetup after picking up Laura from the airport.  See you there at 7PM in the lobby?

On Friday I’ll be…

starting the day at the Opening General Session.  I can’t wait to meet the candidates for ACTFL TOY! (Go Kentucky!

First time at ACTFL?  First-year teacher?  At 11:00 A.M. in  Room 207C I’ll be joining an all-star cast of colleagues to talk about Everything You Always Wanted to Know (But Were Afraid to Ask).  I’m joining the likes of Mara Cobe, Martha Halemba, Brandee Mau, Nicole Naditz, Juan Carlos Morales, and Thomas Sauer.  My 5 minutes is about crafting effective Can-Do statements.

Looking for a local lunch spot?  Last year my family and I spent my birthday in Nashville and had lunch at Burger Republic.  I’m looking forward to that burger and shake again at lunch on Friday!  There’s also a sweet craft candy place nearby…

Administration or your own investigations leading you to project-based learning, but you’re just not sure how it can work in a novice language class?  It’s a very valid question.  Join Shannon Norquist and me at 3:45 P.M. in Room 106B for 48 Hours in Your Town: Real-world Project-based Language Learning (PBLL) in the Novice Spanish Class.  We’ll introduce you to our collaborative website, 48horasen.com, and brainstorm together through the steps to craft an effective PBLL unit for novice learners.

On Saturday I’ll be…

starting the day at the NNELL Networking Breakfast.  I’ve really enjoyed collaborating with Dorie Perugini (and other friends) on the #earlylang chat and look forward to seeing her again in person and hearing her keynote.

Unsure about how to create effective Can Do statements for your class and use them to drive instruction?  Join Thomas Sauer and me in the Confer-sation Corner in the exhibit hall at 11:15 A.M. for a very hands-on LangEd Hackathon session, Can You Can-do?

Have you heard the maxim “Adapt the Task, Not the Text”?  It’s a well-meaning statement meant to encourage us to use valuable authentic resources in our classroom and understand that they can be used at every level, as long as the task is appropriate.  However, this has become a sort of mantra here in the U.S. to mean that if you adapt a text, or even worse (gasp), use a text created for language learners, you’ve at least reduced and at worst eliminated its effectiveness.  Come talk with me about how this maxim is best applied to assessment and not proficiency-building tasks and we’ll take a look at a Spanish-language authentic resource to see how it might be adapted for use for a classroom activity or task.  This solo session is called Go Ahead, Adapt the Text! and it’s at 4:00 P.M. in Room 106B.

Will I see you there?