SWCOLT 2025

How do you start your class each day? The first 5 minutes of class are a golden opportunity to build connections. Come learn simple strategies that make kids want to attend, want to use the target language, and want to interact from the very first minute of class. These warm-up strategies support SEL practices, social justice, and help build communicative fluency and accuracy.

The latest trends in the world-language classroom show a preference for classes focused on practical applications of the language in professional settings, such as medical Spanish classes. Although it may seem challenging to build a class that informs the student about specialized terminology, cultural competence, and the idiosyncrasies of the professional field while emphasizing oral and written proficiency, it is possible to create dynamic activities, exercises and assignments that help the student move from an intermediate level to advanced, or keep on working in their advanced proficiency skills. This presentation will delve into engaging strategies and tools available to the instructor in order to develop oral and written proficiency in the medical Spanish classroom, while providing the student with a holistic view of the field and the professional opportunities available when language and medicine intersect. There will be alternatives given for each activity at different levels of proficiency.