Last week World Language Program Director, Dr. Maka Janikashvili, and Area Coordinator, Jennifer Chan, attended the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages’ Annual Convention. The ACTFL conference attracts over 6,000 teachers, administrators, method instructors, and foreign language students each year and features over 500 educational sessions and an exposition on newly published books and teaching materials. The Convention was opened by keynote speaker Steve Hildebrand, who served as Barack Obama’s Deputy National Campaign Director. Mr. Hildebrand expounded on the importance of learning foreign language and discussed methods that foreign language teachers can use to advocate for language education.
Dr. Janikashvili and Ms. Chan attended numerous workshops on topics such as curriculum development and integrating technology in the classroom. Technology is making it easier for foreign language learners to track and share their progress in the target language. New innovations such as iPadio.com allow students to record and upload samples of their speech via telephone. The recording is automatically transmitted to the Internet, where students can store their recordings and share them with peers for feedback. For more information on integrating technology into the classroom, Toni Thiesen’s Wikispace is an amazing resource.
Finally, A.C.E. would like to congratulate Lisa Lilley of Central High School in Springfield, MO; who was named the 2010 ACTFL Teacher of the Year. Follow Ms. Lilley’s activities as Teacher of the Year through the ACTFL website!
A.C.E. 