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SWCOLT 2025

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.

8:00am MST

AI As a Tool in the Language Classroom YuccaElizabeth Cisneros Best of Hawai‘i: Fostering Engagement: Fun Classroom Routines for Novice & Intermediate Learners AgaveJennifer Stevens Ditch the Textbook! Heritage Spanish Curriculum Design Using Only Authentic Resources Palo Verde ANallely Morales Enhancing Foreign Language Speaking Skills by Using Interagency Language Roundtable WillowBozo Dzakula Game on! Mit spielerischen Aktivitäten zum Lernerfolg (Exhibitor Session) Ocotillo CAnna Ralston-Schmid Reflecting, Innovating, and Designing Action Research ChollaPompeya Gettler Talking Pictures Palo Verde BAl Martino The Looming "Enrollment Cliff" and Language Learning Ocotillo AGlenn Fetzer Using Authentic Resources for Communication and Culture (Exhibitor Session) Ocotillo BRich Sayers - Savvas Learning Company

1:00pm MST

7 Steps to a Language-Rich, Interactive World Language Classroom Ocotillo CSally Barnes Best of Nevada: Conectando con confianza: Fortaleciendo la identidad y la cultura en hispanohablantes a través de la literatura AgavePaulina Rios • Melissa Bullard Has Language Teaching Gone Flat? (Exhibitor Session) Palo Verde BKen Stewart - Lingco How to Adapt Classroom Conversations into Accessible Texts ChollaMira Canion Interactive Intercultural Learning for the Language Classroom YuccaJill Woerner - AFS Intercultural Programs USA Meaning-Based Strategies to Refine Accuracy in Middle School DLI Courses WillowGreta Lundgaard Silly and Spontaneous Conversation Starters Palo Verde AThomas L Gabriele Switch to Spanish: Warm-up Routines in the Language Classroom Ocotillo ADavita Eichner Where Language Learning Meets Neuroscience (Exhibitor Session) Ocotillo BJJ Morgan - Voces Digital

2:15pm MST

Best of New Mexico: Gamifying Teaching, Learning, and Speaking AgaveKayla Scheer Character & Communication: Enhancing Language Learning via Character Growth (Exhibitor Session) Ocotillo CBrooke Campbell Empowering Diverse Learners: Student Agency in the Language Classroom ChollaLeslie Grahn Now I See! Fostering L2 Digital Multimodal Literacies through Infographics Palo Verde BBeatrice Dupuy • Tara Hashemi Promoting Higher Levels of Proficiency Using Current Event Panels - SESSION CANCELLED BY PRESENTER Ocotillo ALaura Catharine Smith Quench their Thirst for Belonging: Warm-up Routines That Build Community YuccaLiz Matchett Reading: Why, What, and How (Exhibitor Session) Palo Verde AElicia Cárdenas - The Comprehensible Classroom The Linguistic and Cultural Value of Authentic Materials in the L2 Classroom Ocotillo BClaudia Kechkian - AATSP Weaving Language and Culture: Mastering Mandarin Summer Camp Design and Implementation WillowLingjing Luo

4:00pm MST

Best of California: Effective Strategies and Activities for Interpersonal Communication AgaveDr. Cecile Nedellec Cultivating Cultural Competence in Dual Immersion Secondary Education YuccaPriscila Prestes Developing Global Citizenship through School Exchanges (Exhibitor Session) Ocotillo APatricia Roque • Prometour USA Inc Enhancing Cultural Competence through Virtual Reality in Language Learning WillowStefania Herrera Leon Envisioning and Realizing Improved Teaching: Action Research Fundamentals with Examples Ocotillo BWalter Fernando Trejo Rios • Julie Monty It’s Show Time: Putting Proficiency Center Stage When Assessing (Exhibitor Session) Palo Verde ACristin Bleess - Wayside Publishing K-16 Pathways to the Future! ChollaJill Landes-Lee Mining for Proficiency: Creating a Proficiency-Based Classroom Ocotillo CTzeitel Borbon • Jana Arnold • Jennifer Newman-Cornell Student Engagement across Tasks, Modes, and Time Palo Verde BClaudia Kunschak

5:15pm MST

A Simple and Powerful Daily Writing Practice to Improve Language Skills Learning YuccaLeine Moratelli ACTFL Teacher of the Year: Marigolds and Mindsets: Choosing Sustainable Optimism AgaveKei Tsukamaki - ACTFL Chatbot Activities in the Spanish Classroom: Possibilities and Challenges WillowYuly Asención-Delaney Innovative Vocabulary Acquisition through Project-Based Learning in Professional Language Courses Palo Verde BIsabel Asensio Leveraging ACTFL Assessments for College and Career Readiness (Exhibitor Session) Palo Verde AJennifer Quinlan - Associate Director of Product Management - Language Testing International Outfitting Your Tech Toolbox: OER, Avatars, and Music Videos in Today’s Classroom ChollaSarah Butler • Philip Allen • Kyung Lee Gagum Promoting Student Engagement with Constructive Feedback in Formative Assessment Ocotillo BDr. Maida Dzakula • Bozo Dzakula Revitalize Your Classroom: Strategies for Creating an Oasis of Learning and Growth (Exhibitor Session) Ocotillo CLaura Zinke - Vista Higher Learning Unmasking Vienna: Language Learning through Crime Stories Ocotillo AMelanie Mello

9:00am MST

Best of Utah: Oral Assessment - Providing a Powerful Data-Based Assessment for Successful Interventions in DLI Classrooms AgaveLina Figueiredo HyFlex Classes: Say Goodbye to Low Enrollment and Scheduling Woes Ocotillo CCurtis Kleinman Incorporating a Challenge Analysis Approach in World Languages Ocotillo AAndrew White Interactive AI Reading and Writing Activities ChollaBreAnn Busboom Real-Life Tasks: Authentic Activities in the Classroom YuccaDustin J. Hemsath Social Emotional Wellbeing of Teachers: Going Deeper and Centering Rest Palo Verde BChristine Lanphere - CWLP/CLTA • Liz Matchett Student Test Scores in DLI and Non-DLI Programs: Telling the Story and What We Can Learn WillowJennifer Quinlan - Associate Director of Product Management - Language Testing International • Karl H. Bowman Teaching Viennese Culture Using the IMAGE Model Ocotillo BElli Remund • Kathy Barnard Unlocking Potential: 9 Ways We Use Proficiency Data to Innovate and Improve World Language Instruction (Exhibitor Session) Palo Verde AMaylén R. R. Sullivan - Avant Assessment

10:45am MST

Best of Oklahoma: Building Bridges: Maximizing Mutual Impact between Cooperating Teacher and Student Intern AgaveTaylor Niehoff • Madison Rubino Bruh, It’s Not the Same YuccaAshli Sambaluk But How Do I Test This? Efficiently Assessing for Proficiency (Exhibitor Session) Ocotillo CHope Anderson - Founder & CEO - Teaching Solved LLC Do Your Students Only Care about the Grade? - Get Them to Jump out of the Gym and onto the Playing Field (Exhibitor Session) Ocotillo BChris Gerding - Boomalang Grading for Growth: Rethinking Assessment in Language Learning Palo Verde BTroy Cox Increasing World Language Proficiency Across the Communicative Modes with Extempore WillowJames Yoder Milking Your Authentic resource for All Its Worth Palo Verde AWhitney Stafford-Najibi Movies Make Meaning Ocotillo AJennifer Newman-Cornell • Margarita De León Viera Upping Your Interculturality Game with AI ChollaJillian Lykens

1:30pm MST

AI: Friend, Not Foe! WillowRachel Tillotson Awarding and Motivating Students with AATSP (Exhibitor Session) Ocotillo CClaudia Kechkian - AATSP Best of Texas: Gaming The System 2.0 - No-Tech Gaming Strategies To Boost Language Engagement AgaveKimberly Church It’s Like You’re a Detective: Immersive Spanish Inquiries Grades 3-12 (Exhibitor Session) Ocotillo APaige Adams - The DBQ Project Revamping Instruction with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Palo Verde AYing Jin Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica: Let's Get Kids in the Program ChollaLacey Chavez • Carla Whitehead • Laura Zinke - Vista Higher Learning The Linguistic Landscape As a Tool for Language Learning: Austria and France Palo Verde B Turn Up the Heat! Master the Hot Pepper Method! YuccaBrandee Mau • Silvia Juhas ¡Me duelen los pies!: Proficiency-Based Activities for the Medical Spanish Classroom Ocotillo BElectra Gamón Fielding

2:45pm MST

Achieving Intermediate Fluency in 60 Hours with Storytelling (Exhibitor Session) Palo Verde BTPRS Books Best of Colorado: This Is Why We Do What We Do in Our Class AgaveAnnick Chen Go Beyond Your Classroom Walls with a Free Virtual Exchange Ocotillo BJill Woerner - AFS Intercultural Programs USA Integrating AI and Language Learning into Project-Based Learning for Inclusive Education YuccaRolla Elsaiary Integrating Mindfulness with Proficiency in the Language Classroom WillowTroy Cox K-16 Dual Language Student Pathways to the Future (Exhibitor Session) Ocotillo CRoger Burt - Avant Assessment Leveraging Reading to Grow Learners' Proficiency ChollaGreta Lundgaard Reading across the Levels: Browsing through Some Ideas Ocotillo AJennifer Newman-Cornell Unlocking Language: Escape the Room, Not the Learning! Palo Verde AAshley Eberhart

4:00pm MST

Are Students Receiving Enough Speaking Practice? Leveraging AI for Individualized Practice and Personalized Feedback - EXHIBITOR SESSION AgaveBen Altschuler - Speakology AI College and Grade Students Learning Together: A Case Study in Collaborative Projects Ocotillo BFabiana Hansen Creating a Future-Ready Language Classroom with Virtual Exchanges (Exhibitor Session) WillowLeonardo Islas Data-Driven Language Teaching YuccaJennifer Quinlan - Associate Director of Product Management - Language Testing International • Jody Lindsay Enrich Teaching and Learning with D I E - Based Writing Activities ChollaAbigail R. Harootian Eres bilingüe ¿y ahora qué? The Power of Bilingualism in Multilingual Spaces (Exhibitor Session) Ocotillo AKarla A. Estrada - Carnegie Learning Language Advocacy – Pathway to Sustainable Language Learning - SESSION CANCELLED BY PRESENTER Palo Verde BKathleen Stein-Smith Sounding Like a Real German: Best Practices for Pronunciation Ocotillo CMelanie Mello • Sara Lee Talk Is Cheap. Speak More! Palo Verde ARachel Tillotson Technology Based Assessments in World Language Classrooms Palo Verde CNatalie Cooney