SWCOLT 2025

Visit two Phoenix-based, 50/50 (partial immersion models) Dual Language Immersion Programs in one day. The morning visit will be Tarwater School, a PK-6 Mandarin Chinese DLI program serving over 300 students in Chandler School District. This strand within the school was proudly named a top ten Chinese School by the Chinese Teacher's Association in 2022 and has a SWCOLT teacher of the year finalist teaching there. In the afternoon we will visit Kyrene Del Norte School, a K-5 Spanish DLI whole school program in Kyrene School District, serving 490 students with 10-20% average of students with Spanish as a home language.

Presenters: Maria Cristina Ladas & Patricia Fernandez

Interpersonal communication affects the hearts, minds, and actions of individuals as they function every day in the social world (Braithwaite, Schrodt 2015). In this interactive workshop, participants will explore the interpersonal mode of communication standard, which focuses on the spontaneous, two-way exchange of information and ideas in speaking and writing. Participants will first review the foundational principles of this communication mode, gaining a clear understanding of its importance in fostering authentic, real-time language use. Following this, they will engage in hands-on practice, crafting their own interpersonal communication prompts that can be effectively used in the classroom. The workshop will also introduce a variety of dynamic activities and strategies designed to enhance students' abilities in this communication mode, equipping educators with practical tools to facilitate more engaging and meaningful student interactions. Participants must bring a laptop or tablet computer to this workshop.

In this workshop, participants will explore ways to adapt tasks for authentic text to meet the needs of all learners across the proficiency continuum through tiering--providing scaffolding and support for struggling learners and open-ended, challenging tasks fro advanced learners. Participants will also explore how to tier text on the same themes and how to create generic tasks that span the tiers to challenge all learners.

This workshop will focus on effective strategies on enhancing students' language competence by integrating the six AP Chinese language and culture themes at a pace that brings a sound horizontal and vertical articulation across levels. Participants will have opportunities to explore strategies in their everyday teaching through hands-on activities. Examples from actual classroom practice will be shared.

What strategies can I use to keep my students cognitively engaged? This interactive workshop will present and model practical strategies to maintain cognitive and active engagement in tasks that address all three modes of communication, as outlined in the World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages. Drawing on examples from the Secondary Portuguese Dual Language Immersion class, the session will demonstrate how these strategies align with language acquisition theory and can be easily adapted to any level or language. Participants will explore ways to facilitate target-language comprehensibility, guide learners in interpreting authentic resources, and design oral interpersonal communication tasks, ensuring that students remain focused and actively involved in creating with the language.
Led by a highly experienced educator, this session integrates proven classroom practices with insights from language acquisition theory. Attendees will learn practical techniques to add authentic cultural resources to their curriculum and invite native-speaking guests to enrich the classroom experience. Participants will leave with actionable tools and ideas they can implement immediately to boost student engagement and proficiency.

Bio
Priscila Rebicki Prestes is the 2024 SWCOLT Teacher of Excellence Secondary. With 16 years of teaching experience, including 10 years as a Portuguese Dual Language Immersion teacher in Utah, she has excelled in the field of language education. Priscila is a researcher in Second Language Learning and Teaching and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Portuguese Pedagogy at Brigham Young University (BYU). Her professional journey spans all educational levels, from elementary to high school, showcasing a comprehensive and innovative approach to teaching Portuguese as a second language.

Want to know the secret for teaching today’s Gen Z & Gen Alpha students? Spoiler alert: it’s students having fun! In this session, you will learn how to invigorate your curriculum as you participate in new (and improved!) engaging WL activities that reflect today’s students. Whether you follow a textbook or create your own curriculum, these activities will work in every level & language. Participants will engage in a fun and interactive presentation. At times, participants will play the role of student. At other times, they will reflect with their WL colleagues and go over the new strategies they learned. Strategies presented include vocabulary introduction & review, grammar games & review, and kinesthetic & communicative partner activities. Participants can take notes on a paper handout (which will also be available digitally) to track the activities that are of interest to them. They will also have access to the slide presentation for their own future use. The goal is that they will be able to walk out of the session with activities that they can implement in their classrooms on Monday! The presentation will be in English, but samples will be from our Spanish and French students.

Presenters:Amy Kingsley & Marina Barcelona