SWCOLT 2025: Full Schedule

Welcome to SWCOLT-AZLA 2025 at Gila River Resort & Casino - Wild Horse Pass.

Be sure to check our website for complete conference information: SWCOLT 2025.
Need answers ASAP? Reach out to our event planning team at jraught@swcolt.org for info and more.

1:00pm MST

SWCOLT Teacher of the Year Interviews

Thursday January 23, 2025 1:00pm - 5:00pm MST

Ocotillo C

Thursday January 23, 2025 1:00pm - 5:00pm MST
Ocotillo C

Agenda

8:00am MST

Game on! Mit spielerischen Aktivitäten zum Lernerfolg (Exhibitor Session)

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

Ocotillo C

Feedback Survey

Um erfolgreich Deutsch zu lernen, bedarf es Motivation, Spaß und Spiel. Leichter gesagt als getan. Wie erreichen Lehrkräfte, dass sich die Lernenden aktiv am Unterrichtsgeschehen beteiligen und spielerisch die Sprache lernen? In diesem Workshop werden verschiedene Beispiele aus der Praxis für den Präsenz- und Onlineunterricht vorgestellt, die (junge) Lernerinnen und Lerner mit spielerischen Aktivitäten motivieren und den Lernerfolg steigern sollen.

Speakers

Anna Ralston-Schmid

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

60-minute presentation

Company German
Audience All Levels
Subject German
Area The Learning Experience

1:00pm MST

7 Steps to a Language-Rich, Interactive World Language Classroom

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

Ocotillo C

Feedback Survey

In this session, participants will learn 7 simple, efficient strategies to create a language-rich, interactive classroom. By participating in a short mini-lesson, we will experience all 7 steps and how they support students as they move along their proficiency journey in a communication-based classroom. The 7 Steps include procedural ideas and lesson planning components, and participants will walk away with a bank of resources and ideas for implementation in their own classroom, including a mini-lesson ready to use in a variety of languages.

Speakers

Sally Barnes

Hi all! My name is Sally Barnes and I am a consultant for Seidlitz Education and co-author of 7 Steps to a Language-Rich, Interactive World Language Classroom (2nd Edition). I am a former Spanish teacher and world language district coordinator with 12 years experience in the field... Read More →

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

60-minute presentation

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

2:15pm MST

Character & Communication: Enhancing Language Learning via Character Growth (Exhibitor Session)

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

Ocotillo C

Feedback Survey

During this session, participants will gain a clear understanding of how to integrate character development into their world language classrooms. They will acquire practical strategies, lesson plan ideas, and a renewed sense of purpose in fostering both linguistic and personal growth in their students.

Speakers

Brooke Campbell

World Language Sales Consultant, Klett World Languages

At Klett World Languages, we strive to foster a love for learning world languages by creating meaningful content that not only sparks students’ curiosity but also transitions into real-life practice. Through our inclusive, communicative, and collaborative Spanish, French, German... Read More →

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

60-minute presentation

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

4:00pm MST

Mining for Proficiency: Creating a Proficiency-Based Classroom

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

Ocotillo C

Feedback Survey

Creating a proficiency-based classroom is like mining for silver. Come join us for an adventure into a Nevada mine, where we need to prepare for our adventure, check in as we go and mine the gems as we find them; all to help our students increase their proficiency. This session will feature activities and resources that 3 teachers from a variety of educational situations (rural, magnet, comprehensive high schools) use to design a classroom environment that encourages students to embrace their proficiency journey. Come strike it rich with us!

Presenters: Jennifer Newman-Cornell, Tzeitel Borbon & Jana Arnold

Speakers

Tzeitel Borbon

Fernley High School

Jana Arnold

McQueen High School

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 →

SWCOLT Mining for Proficiency Presentation pdf

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

60-minute presentation

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

Feedback Survey

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

60-minute presentation

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

9:00am MST

HyFlex Classes: Say Goodbye to Low Enrollment and Scheduling Woes

Saturday January 25, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MST

Ocotillo C

Feedback Survey

Struggling with low enrolled classes in foreign language? Unsure what mix of in-person, online, and/or Zoom offerings to include in the schedule? Online courses cannibalizing and replacing in-person courses (or vice versa)? Disgusted with trying to guess how many sections to include and seeing too many sections unhealthily enrolled? Attendees will learn about a simple new idea - HyFlex courses. If an HyFlex scheduling paradigm were included or expanded in higher education, scheduling headaches and low-enrollment would become a problem of the past for foreign language instructors! Attendees will also learn about simple and inexpensive technology tools and techniques that could transform traditional classrooms into HyFlex-ready rooms on ANY budget.

Speakers

Curtis Kleinman

Yavapai College

Saturday January 25, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am MST
Ocotillo C

60-minute presentation

Company All languages
Audience Post-secondary
Subject English
Area Planning

10:45am MST

But How Do I Test This? Efficiently Assessing for Proficiency (Exhibitor Session)

Saturday January 25, 2025 10:45am - 11:45am MST

Ocotillo C

Feedback Survey

How can we assess efficiently when we teach for proficiency? We often struggle with how to assess students’ proficiency outcomes—without taking too much time to grade. Strategies such as project-based learning and integrated skills will be provided to help you teach and assess for proficiency even with the constraints that you may have, such as getting students ready for standardized tests. Lesson Magic by Teaching Solved will be demonstrated to help support you in this in Spanish, French, or English, but the strategies are also applicable more broadly.

Speakers

Hope Anderson - Founder & CEO - Teaching Solved LLC

Founder & CEO, Teaching Solved LLC

Helping teachers help students learn languages. Come see our supplemental print and digital materials for Spanish and French classes, including a huge resource site and ready-made lessons for your classes, as well as teacher t-shirts and other swag! We want to make it easier for you... Read More →

Saturday January 25, 2025 10:45am - 11:45am MST
Ocotillo C

60-minute presentation

Company All languages
Audience Secondary, Post-secondary
Subject English
Area Performance/Feedback/Assessment

1:30pm MST

Awarding and Motivating Students with AATSP (Exhibitor Session)

Saturday January 25, 2025 1:30pm - 2:30pm MST

Ocotillo C

Feedback Survey

Are you looking for a way to both award and motivate your students at the same time? Come learn about National Spanish Examinations, National Portuguese Examinations, and the National Spanish Challenge. This presentation will not only provide information about the exams but will also go over the numerous opportunities for scholarships and awards for elementary, middle, and high school students taking the exams, and for teachers giving them. It will also cover a comparison between the NSE, the largest and oldest national Spanish contest in the US, and the National Spanish Assessments, a newer and more flexible variant used specifically to measure progress, or as a placement test or benchmark in middle, high and, college/university levels.

Speakers

Claudia Kechkian - AATSP

AATSP Exams Director, American Association of Teachers of Spanish & Portuguese

AATSP promotes the study and teaching of the Spanish & Portuguese languages and their corresponding Hispanic, Luso-Brazilian and other related literatures and cultures at all levels of education. Founded in 1917, AATSP is the oldest, largest and most comprehensive language specific... Read More →

SWCOLT AATSP EXAMS INFORMATIVE SESSION pdf

Saturday January 25, 2025 1:30pm - 2:30pm MST
Ocotillo C

60-minute presentation

Company Spanish & Portuguese
Audience All Levels
Subject English
Area Performance/Feedback/Assessment

2:45pm MST

K-16 Dual Language Student Pathways to the Future (Exhibitor Session)

Saturday January 25, 2025 2:45pm - 3:45pm MST

Ocotillo C

Feedback Survey

Several states have created K-16 pathways that make it easier for DLI students to matriculate into postsecondary institutions. This session will look at those K-16 pathways and how some higher education institutions are already working with dual language programs. We will discuss Utah’s Bridge program, which connects high school students with university coursework, and its multiple entrance points, as well as other programs around the nation. We will also discuss the need for higher education institutions to articulate pathways for DLI students entering their programs which can lead to higher enrollments and the creation of new language for specific purpose programs.

Speakers

Roger Burt - Avant Assessment

Regional Account Manager, Avant Assessment

Avant Assessment is dedicated to creating a brighter future through the magic of language. We build and deliver effective assessments of real-world proficiency, the Avant ADVANCE teacher training tool, and Avant MORE Learning professional development to help transform language learning... Read More →

Saturday January 25, 2025 2:45pm - 3:45pm MST
Ocotillo C

60-minute presentation

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

4:00pm MST

Sounding Like a Real German: Best Practices for Pronunciation

Saturday January 25, 2025 4:00pm - 5:00pm MST

Ocotillo C

Feedback Survey

This session will showcase effective classroom strategies and exercises aimed at enhancing German pronunciation. Participants will actively engage in all activities, learn how to incorporate technology best to improve their learners' pronunciation, and gain insights into addressing pronunciation challenges for learners with learning disabilities.

Presenters: Sara Lee & Melanie Mello

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 →

Sara Lee

Arizona State University

Saturday January 25, 2025 4:00pm - 5:00pm MST
Ocotillo C

60-minute presentation

Company German
Audience All Levels
Subject German/English
Area The Learning Experience