Get Your Students Speaking! Intentionally Raising Oral Proficiency in the Language Classroom

Participants will leave this workshop with practical, easy-to-use strategies that increase the use of the target language in their classrooms. Through experiential learning, participants will gain practical tools to add to their toolkits that increase student motivation, time on task and build proficiency. We will discuss the rationale behind each strategy, tool and activity, supported by brain-based research and proven through experience in the secondary LOTE classroom. This will be a hands-on workshop with expectations of sharing, learning and gaining from each participant in the room.

This workshop is open to foreign language instructors of all languages and all levels (K-12 teachers, higher ed faculty and graduate students).

Participant Learning Objectives

• Gain practical strategies and tools to reach ACTFL’s goal of 90% target language use by the students and teachers
• Discuss the “why” behind the “what” for each strategy and tool to maximize its effective use and placement within learning cycles
• Discover ways to build the confidence and expectations of students to perform in the target language in the LOTE classroom

Bring your own device

Participants will be creating resources. Please bring a laptop or tablet to work with.

Cost

$10 for students; $25 for teachers, administrators, and others (includes complementary buffet lunch)

About the facilitator

Nina Wilson is a decorated, life-long educator and a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish as well as her LOTE K-12 teaching certification. She returned to her alma mater as a UTeach Liberal Arts professor, working primarily with preservice LOTE teachers. Ms. Wilson has taught Spanish and AVID for over twenty years. She is a current National Board Certified Teacher and has been since 2004. She has designed and facilitated a host of learning opportunities both locally and nationally, and served as a Demonstration Classroom Teacher for her school district. Ms. Wilson has dedicated her career to developing her own skills while also enhancing those of her colleagues. 

Schedule

9:30am - Coffee
10:00am - Workshop begins
3:00pm - Workshop ends

Credit

Continuing professional education (CPE) credits are given to participants who attend the whole workshop

Travel

Information about parking and lodging, for those coming from out of town, can be found on the Texas Language Center website.