SWCOLT 2025

U4 Ciencia y Tecnología Back to the Future SWCOLT 2025 Resources pdf

Grab your DeLorean and join us as we talk about science and technology in the AP Classroom. Where we’re going, there aren’t any roads, but there are some clear paths, and we’ll explore them together, keeping an eye out for lightning storms as we go. This session will share the parts and pieces that one group of teachers have put together to explore this theme and to teach this unit. All resources and activities will be shared with participants, and the session will be held like a classroom-lots of talking, doing, brainstorming, and expanding. Come and join us as we go back to the future!

Speakers

Jennifer Newman-Cornell

Educator, Northwest Career and Technical Academy

I teach Spanish II, Spanish III, AP Spanish Language, AP Spanish Literature and Spanish V. I love to collaborate and work in PLCs with other teachers. I am the Professional Development Chairperson for the Professional Language Association of Nevada (PLAN-the Nevada state world... Read More →

Friday January 24, 2025 8:00am - 9:00am MST
Palo Verde C

15-minute presentation

Company All languages
Audience Secondary
Subject English
Area The Learning Experience

8:00am MST

The Looming "Enrollment Cliff" and Language Learning

Friday January 24, 2025 8:00am - 9:00am MST

In higher education, one of the most recent threats has been labeled "the enrollment cliff". This demographic phenomenon will touch not only post-secondary institutions, but secondary ones as well. After reviewing the general data behind the trend, the presenter suggests challenges and potential opportunities for world-language instruction. Participants brainstorm to 1) assess their institutions' sensitivity and degree of planning for these changes; 2) discuss the implications of this looming threat to their disciplines and to their pedagogy; and 3) strategize what their unit can do to mitigate shrinking numbers (possibly and reduced staff) to reconfigure effectiveness in teaching world languages.

Speakers

Glenn Fetzer

Department Head, New Mexico State University

I teach French at the undergraduate level.

Friday January 24, 2025 8:00am - 9:00am MST
Ocotillo A

Company All languages
Audience Secondary, Post-secondary
Subject English
Area Collaboration and Professionalism

8:00am MST

Using Authentic Resources for Communication and Culture (Exhibitor Session)

Friday January 24, 2025 8:00am - 9:00am MST

Ocotillo B

This session explores how to use authentic resources in the Spanish classroom, level 1 and through upper levels. We will discuss ways to support different types of students with appropriate tasks and will focus on instructional strategies that use authentic resources to build students’ proficiency in Spanish and explore intercultural comparisons. Join us to share how the use of authentic resources can motivate our students to use Spanish in and beyond the classroom.

Speakers

Rich Sayers - Savvas Learning Company

Author/Specialist, Savvas Learning Company

I have been an educator in world languages for over 40 years. I taught Spanish in Longmont, CO for 18 years, levels 1 through A.P. I am an author of Spanish textbook programs, including the Savvas Auténtico program. I am a regular presenter at ACTFL, regional, and state conferences... Read More →

Friday January 24, 2025 8:00am - 9:00am MST
Ocotillo B

Company Spanish
Audience Secondary
Subject English
Area The Learning Experience

1:00pm MST

Best of Nevada: Conectando con confianza: Fortaleciendo la identidad y la cultura en hispanohablantes a través de la literatura

Friday January 24, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm MST

Agave

While increasing in both need for and number of programs, heritage language classes remain challenging to teach because of the diversity of heritage learners, the lack of teacher training, and the lack of available resources for many educators. "Conectando con confianza" will offer teachers specific texts and activities that can be implemented right away to help heritage learners of varying abilities build both skills and a sense of efficacy, as well as generalized strategies that can be used with a variety of texts all year long.

Presenters: Melissa Bullard & Paulina Rios

Speakers

Paulina Rios

WCSD

Melissa Bullard

McQueen High School

Friday January 24, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm MST
Agave

Company All languages, Spanish
Audience All Levels, Secondary
Subject English, Spanish
Area The Learning Experience

1:00pm MST

Has Language Teaching Gone Flat? (Exhibitor Session)

Friday January 24, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm MST

Palo Verde B

Twenty years ago, award-winning author Thomas Friedman proclaimed The World is Flat in his eponymous novel. This visionary concept addressed economics, politics, technological innovation, and telecommunications. To what extent has language education gone global? How can educators prepare our students for an interconnected world? How will this notion shape our approaches in the classroom? Come explore the latest multimedia and digital, authentic resources in Spanish, French, and German to engage a variety of learners.

Speakers

Ken Stewart - Lingco

Duke University, Lingco

Duke University Spanish Instructor; world language consultant, avid traveler, global citizenLingco is an adaptive language learning platform for schools. It provides a library of up to date, proficiency-based content, and all of the tools to build, assign, and grade tasks and track... Read More →

Friday January 24, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm MST
Palo Verde B

Company Spanish, French, German
Audience Secondary
Subject English
Area The Learning Experience

1:00pm MST

Meaning-Based Strategies to Refine Accuracy in Middle School DLI Courses

Friday January 24, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm MST

Willow

Most teachers view grammar as descriptions of the structure of a language, rules for its use, and models of accurate or effective sentences or style. But that’s not all there is to it, especially for students in DLI programs. This session explores how to treat grammar as part of communication and to discover meaning-based strategies that result in increased accuracy, including protocols such as CAPA and PACE and designing evidence-based student centered tasks and effective classroom discourse practices.

Speakers

Greta Lundgaard

Consultant, Consultant

Still enjoying sharing new ideas, strategies, and learning with language educators!

Friday January 24, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm MST
Willow

Company All languages
Audience Secondary
Subject English
Area The Learning Experience

1:00pm MST

Silly and Spontaneous Conversation Starters

Friday January 24, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm MST

Palo Verde A

In this session participants will learn how to effectively use the daily oral language strategy of "Silly and Spontaneous Conversation Starters" in the Spanish classroom by actively participating in several different activities. The attendees will listen, speak, and present ideas by responding in Spanish to various written prompts. The presenter will demonstrate how to use follow up questions in order to get all students talking in the target language throughout the lesson. This lesson is designed to provide teachers and students with more interesting and humorous conversation prompts so that every student will find something they want to talk about in the target language.

Speakers

Thomas L Gabriele

Retired

Friday January 24, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm MST
Palo Verde A

Company Spanish
Audience Secondary, Post-secondary
Subject Spanish
Area The Learning Experience

1:00pm MST

Switch to Spanish: Warm-up Routines in the Language Classroom

Friday January 24, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm MST

This presentation will explore ideas, research, and student perspectives on routines to start secondary, lower-level language classes. Some strategies to be discussed, practiced, and evaluated include opening class with free voluntary reading, weekend talks, music, Duolingo, and language-based puzzle games. The presenter will share variations on these routines that avoid repetitiveness while incorporating differentiation and student choice.

Speakers

Davita Eichner

Flagstaff High School

Friday January 24, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm MST
Ocotillo A

Company All languages (examples given in Spanish)
Audience Secondary
Subject English (examples in Spanis)
Area The Learning Experience

2:15pm MST

Now I See! Fostering L2 Digital Multimodal Literacies through Infographics

Friday January 24, 2025 2:15pm - 3:15pm MST

Palo Verde B

This study investigates how beginning L2 learners of French engage with multimodal texts to design their own infographics, a critical 21st-century skill. Despite the growing importance of multimodal communication, L2 classrooms remain largely focused on traditional, text-based approaches. Grounded in socio-cultural and social semiotic theories, this research explores how learners apply their understanding of multimodality in creating infographics on sustainable development issues. The study draws on infographics, reflective essays, and interviews to analyze learners' use of semiotic resources and intersemiotic relationships. Findings indicate that tasks designed to encourage deep engagement with multimodal texts can significantly enhance L2 learners' communicative competence, preparing them for full participation in contemporary communication practices. This research contributes to the ongoing discussion on multimodality in L2 education and offers practical insights for educators aiming to integrate multimodal literacy into their classrooms.

Presenters: Tara Hashemi & Beatrice Dupuy

Speakers

Beatrice Dupuy

University of Arizona, CERCLL

Tara Hashemi

Assistant Professor of French, California State University, Fresno

Friday January 24, 2025 2:15pm - 3:15pm MST
Palo Verde B

Company All languages
Audience All Levels, Secondary
Subject English
Area The Learning Experience

2:15pm MST

Promoting Higher Levels of Proficiency Using Current Event Panels - SESSION CANCELLED BY PRESENTER

Friday January 24, 2025 2:15pm - 3:15pm MST

This session outlines steps to promote Advanced and Superior levels of proficiency using weekly proficiency activities to prepare students to present a panel on current events, e.g., climate change. Each student presents one aspect of the topic, building their presentation around the three superior-level functions, namely in depth discussion, supporting an opinion, and hypothesising an outcome, and making use of transition and connector words to organise their prepared content. This project serves as a capstone activity for advanced level students to push their language skills to the next level. This presentation will guide educators through the preparation process and will introduce them to transition words which can facilitate organisation of student presentations and highlight where students can elaborate their individual presentations.

Speakers

Laura Catharine Smith

Associate Professor, German Linguistics, Brigham Young University

I began my professional life earning licensure as a French and History/Social Sciences teacher in Ontario, Canada (at Queen's University at Kingston) before heading to graduate school to become a professor of Germanic Linguistics. My research is two-pronged reflecting my intertwined... Read More →

Friday January 24, 2025 2:15pm - 3:15pm MST
Ocotillo A

Company All languages
Audience Secondary, Post-secondary
Subject English
Area Planning

2:15pm MST

Weaving Language and Culture: Mastering Mandarin Summer Camp Design and Implementation

Friday January 24, 2025 2:15pm - 3:15pm MST

Willow

In this session, participants will explore effective strategies for planning and implementing a dynamic and culturally-immersive Mandarin summer camp. The presenter will share curriculum development, activity design, and language acquisition techniques that cater to different age groups and proficiency levels. Emphasizing hands-on experiences, attendees will learn how to create a vibrant environment that fosters language learning through cultural exploration, interactive games, and creative projects. This session also covers logistical aspects, such as scheduling, resource allocation, and community engagement, ensuring a well-rounded program that resonates with both students and parents. Attendees will leave with actionable insights and resources to design and implement a successful Mandarin summer camp that inspires and empowers young learners.

Speakers

Lingjing Luo

Coronado Elementary School

Friday January 24, 2025 2:15pm - 3:15pm MST
Willow

Company Mandarin Chinese
Audience Elementary, Secondary
Subject Mandarin/English
Area Planning

4:00pm MST

Best of California: Effective Strategies and Activities for Interpersonal Communication

Friday January 24, 2025 4:00pm - 5:00pm MST

Agave

Interpersonal communication affects the hearts, minds, and actions of individuals as they function in the everyday social world (Braithwaite, Schrodt 2015). This workshop focuses on interpersonal communication strategies and activities that enhance instructional practices. Participants will discover and practice applications and techniques that will increase their students' engagement in developing their interpersonal speaking skills.

Speakers

Dr. Cecile Nedellec

Patrick Henry HS/CLTA

Google slides forced copy of the presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1s39UhWzkI2L0FC818eJSDuiKBGM2B83YD8Yr--SWaQQ/copy

Friday January 24, 2025 4:00pm - 5:00pm MST
Agave

Company All languages
Audience Secondary, Post-secondary
Subject English
Area The Learning Experience

4:00pm MST

Developing Global Citizenship through School Exchanges (Exhibitor Session)

Friday January 24, 2025 4:00pm - 5:00pm MST

Learn how to develop a virtual or in-person exchange with a sister school abroad and empower your students to develop their language skills and cultural proficiency while transforming your school into a truly global campus. You will receive a step-by-step planning guide, identify best practices in establishing an exchange partnership, and walk away inspired to start a group exchange at your school.

Presenters: Patricia Roque & Zachary Richardson

Speakers

Patricia Roque

Forum by Prometour

Exhibitors

Prometour USA Inc

FORUM BY PROMÉTOUR

Forum by Prométour offers immersive language and cultural experiences for students through customized study-abroad programs and language immersion trips. We combine language classes with cultural activities, allowing students to learn and experience new languages while connecting... Read More →

Friday January 24, 2025 4:00pm - 5:00pm MST
Ocotillo A

Company All languages, All Languages
Audience All Levels, Secondary, Post-secondary
Subject English
Area The Learning Experience, Planning

4:00pm MST

Envisioning and Realizing Improved Teaching: Action Research Fundamentals with Examples

Friday January 24, 2025 4:00pm - 5:00pm MST

Ocotillo B

Want to improve your classroom practice? Most teachers do! Teachers routinely re-design their practice to meet perceived needs and then evaluate how changes impact student learning. These are fundamental inquiry practices of research as well. Action research is a well-established, valuable form of practitioner-led research, which engages teachers in examination of current practice, design of a new approach, followed by systematic analysis of how a shift in practice influences student experience and/or outcomes. In this workshop, we present action research fundamentals and concrete examples from two French teachers’ current studies-in-progress, so that language teachers new to the practice can leave the session with concrete ideas and tools for getting started in their own contexts.

Presenters: Julie Monty & Fernando Trejo Rios

Speakers

Walter Fernando Trejo Rios

Elkins High School

Julie Monty

Cesar Chavez High School

Films that always make me cry : The Notebook, The Sound of Music, The TitanicLast interesting movie I saw : The LobsterI have read every novel ever written by these authors : Margaret Atwood, Isabelle Allende, Haruki Murakami, Kurt Vonnegut, Wally LambSitcoms that make me laugh out... Read More →

Friday January 24, 2025 4:00pm - 5:00pm MST
Ocotillo B

Company All languages
Audience All Levels, Secondary
Subject English
Area The Learning Experience, Performance/Feedback/Assessment

4:00pm MST

It’s Show Time: Putting Proficiency Center Stage When Assessing (Exhibitor Session)

Friday January 24, 2025 4:00pm - 5:00pm MST

Palo Verde A

You are the director, and your students have the lead roles in integrated performance assessments (IPAs). IPAs shine a light on your students and their communicative abilities. This session will break down the IPA process into three acts: 1) the context, 2) the tasks, and 3) the rubrics. You will learn how to assess your students in a way that allows them to show off what they can do with what they have learned.

Speakers

Cristin Bleess - Wayside Publishing

Instructional Strategist, Wayside Publishing

Wayside takes language learning beyond traditional drills and flashcards. Through immersive, real-world scenarios, culturally rich lessons, scaffolded, proficiency-driven activities, and gamified practice, students develop meaningful communication skills that prepare them for authentic... Read More →

Friday January 24, 2025 4:00pm - 5:00pm MST
Palo Verde A

Company All languages
Audience Secondary
Subject English
Area Performance/Feedback/Assessment

4:00pm MST

Student Engagement across Tasks, Modes, and Time

Friday January 24, 2025 4:00pm - 5:00pm MST

Palo Verde B

Student engagement, under siege from post-pandemic mental health issues, virtual distractions, and economic necessities, is of concern to administrators, teachers, and parents at all educational levels. To adress this concern, the interest session will suggest a framework for language teaching centered around student engagement by approaching instructional design based on three intersecting parameters: task, mode, and time. Attendees will become familiar with relevant theories, see the various parameters in action during instructional design, consider examples of tasks, instruments, and activities that represent those parameters, and explore the proposed approach as it applies to their own teaching context.

Speakers

Claudia Kunschak

Professor, Ritsumeikan University

Claudia Kunschak is a Professor of English Education at College of International Relations, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan. She has a PhD in Education from the University of Arizona and an MA in Interpreting from the University of Vienna. Her research interests include English... Read More →

Friday January 24, 2025 4:00pm - 5:00pm MST
Palo Verde B

Company All languages
Audience Secondary, Post-secondary
Subject English
Area Planning

5:15pm MST

Cultural Competence in Spanish Classes

Friday January 24, 2025 5:15pm - 6:15pm MST

Palo Verde C

In this session teachers will examine a wide range of cultural topics that offer rich cultural experiences, such as music, literature, films, and news. By identifying trends and conducting some research, students will take charge of the learning process, engaging in discussions, writing, reading, and listening activities in the target language. Various strategies will be provided to enhance these four core areas by incorporating current trends into the language classroom.

Speakers

Elizabeth Cisneros

UC Merced

Temas culturales en las clases de español pdf

Friday January 24, 2025 5:15pm - 6:15pm MST
Palo Verde C

15-minute presentation

Company Spanish
Audience Secondary, Post-secondary
Subject Spanish
Area The Learning Experience

5:15pm MST

A Simple and Powerful Daily Writing Practice to Improve Language Skills Learning

Friday January 24, 2025 5:15pm - 6:15pm MST

Yucca

SWCOLT Presentation 2025 A Simple and Powerful Daily Writing Practice to Improve Language Skills Learning pdf

This presentation showcases a simple and powerful routine writing practice that facilitates to reinforce grammar, vocabulary, spelling, and phonics through daily writing. This writing approach enables teachers to get immediate output from students. The audience will have the opportunity to learn and see how students get engaged to write, speak, and share what they are able to produce daily, in a short period of time. It will show how to build students’ confidence and autonomy in writing, especially when teaching a second language in a dual immersion classroom where it is necessary to counterbalance academic content and language skills.

Speakers

Leine Moratelli

DLI Portuguese Teacher, Majestic Fields Elementary

I'm currently a 5th grade Dual Immersion Portuguese teacher in the Utah State Immersion program and I'm passionate about it. I have experience in the area of Education, working mainly in the following areas: English, Portuguese for foreigners, and teaching methodologies. My main goal... Read More →

Resources Word of the Day pdf

Friday January 24, 2025 5:15pm - 6:15pm MST
Yucca

Company All languages
Audience Elementary, Secondary
Subject English
Area The Learning Experience

5:15pm MST

Chatbot Activities in the Spanish Classroom: Possibilities and Challenges

Friday January 24, 2025 5:15pm - 6:15pm MST

Willow

Chatbots are software programs powered by AI that are currently used in real-life contexts (eg., bank transactions, health advice, etc.). Recent studies have researched the affordances of chatbots to facilitate second language development. The findings look promising, because chatbot interactions seem to expose learners to authentic input and reduce their anxiety while increasing their motivation to language learning and willingness to communicate in the target language. This session addresses the benefits and challenges of using chatbots in the language classroom as tools that can simulate real-life interactions in the target language. The presenter will describe some chatbot activities implemented in Spanish classes at the college level and will present initial data of students and instructors’ perceived usefulness of this AI-powered language practice. Attendees will have the opportunity to try some of the Chatbot apps used in the activities andwill discuss their potential use in different instructional contexts.

Speakers

Yuly Asención-Delaney

Friday January 24, 2025 5:15pm - 6:15pm MST
Willow

Company Spanish
Audience Secondary, Post-secondary
Subject English/Spanish
Area The Learning Experience

5:15pm MST

Outfitting Your Tech Toolbox: OER, Avatars, and Music Videos in Today’s Classroom

Friday January 24, 2025 5:15pm - 6:15pm MST

Cholla

Attendees will learn about Open Educational Resources (OER) and how to use them in planning and preparing engaging real-world, relevant, and meaningful pedagogical products for a wide array of student populations in second-language (L2) classrooms. The presentation will emphasize techniques for adapting and remixing OER to meet specific educational contexts and learner needs. In addition to offering participants a comprehensive definition of OER and an exploration of proven pragmatic advantages of these resources, the session will provide two distinct demonstrations of how and why OER have been used in instructional design for beginning and intermediate level language learners. The first of these demonstrations discusses using authentic popular culture products to develop lessons that enhance students' communicative language skills, with an emphasis on interpretive and presentational skills, whilst the second demonstrates how existing technologies can be used to create engaging and interactive grammar tutorials.

Speakers

Sarah Butler

Midwestern State University

Philip Allen

Florida SouthWestern State College

Kyung Lee Gagum

Associate Professor of German, MSU Texas

Friday January 24, 2025 5:15pm - 6:15pm MST
Cholla

Company German & Spanish
Audience Secondary, Post-secondary
Subject English
Area Planning

5:15pm MST

Revitalize Your Classroom: Strategies for Creating an Oasis of Learning and Growth (Exhibitor Session)

Friday January 24, 2025 5:15pm - 6:15pm MST

Ocotillo C

In this interactive session, teachers will explore innovative strategies, best practices, and ideas for creating a vibrant language classroom that inspires both students and teachers.

Speakers

Laura Zinke - Vista Higher Learning

Consultant, Vista Higher Learning

Vista Higher Learning develops transformative language and literacy solutions that meet the needs of every language learner—those acquiring a new language, enhancing a second, or perfecting their native language. We empower educators with innovative, research-based programs that... Read More →

Friday January 24, 2025 5:15pm - 6:15pm MST
Ocotillo C

Company Spanish
Audience Secondary
Subject English/Spanish
Area The Learning Experience

5:15pm MST

Unmasking Vienna: Language Learning through Crime Stories

Friday January 24, 2025 5:15pm - 6:15pm MST

This session presents a unit plan for A2/B1 German learners, focusing on Vienna's criminal past through detective and murder mystery genres. Participants will learn how to engage students in interpreting literary texts using theater pedagogical methods, such as tableau, soundscapes, and atmospheric reading. The unit culminates in student-created radio plays or short films, offering a creative way to deepen language skills while exploring cultural contexts. This session is perfect for educators seeking to combine language learning with cultural immersion and creativity.

Speakers

Melanie Mello

German Educational Multiplier, German Educational Multiplier

Melanie Mello (M.A in Education) is an award-winning teacher and teacher-trainer, specializing in language acquisition and theater-pedagogy. In 2023, she was named Distinguished Alumna in Humanities and Fine Arts by her alma mater, California State University, Chico. She has taught... Read More →

Friday January 24, 2025 5:15pm - 6:15pm MST
Ocotillo A