Gearing up for ACTFL19: heritage, social justice, & CI sessions

Hi all! Hope you are well! This is a super short post to share with you some info on ACTFL, which is actually in exactly one week (eek!!) in Washington, DC. In case you can’t be there, I’d encourage you to follow the action on Twitter with the #actfl19; I usually Tweet from all the sessions I attend, and my Twitter handle is @AdrienneBranden.

I was inspired by some of the summaries of sessions that I’ve seen on the CI Facebook page, and I wanted to take some time to look over the sessions myself, so I put together this list of heritage sessions. It’s specifically for secondary Spanish heritage teachers. Please use it if it’s helpful! I also wanted to make sure to share with you this list of sessions about social justice topics, there is so much overlap with the heritage sessions and I know many of you are passionate about social justice because of who our students are. Also, in case you’re looking for the summary of CI sessions that I mentioned earlier, here is the link to that one. 

The main thing I learned last year is that it’s totally worth it to take time ahead of time and plan your own schedule. I have finally gotten up the courage to be one of those people who leaves sessions when they realize it’s not exactly what they were expecting. But at a conference the size of ACTFL, not only did it take a loooong time to walk to another session because the convention center was so big, but also most of the time the other session was full. So…I will definitely be making my own schedule ahead of time this year! And don’t forget…if you are going, use the app! It’s so easy! Also…don’t forget to plan some down time to relax with colleagues, recharge, process what you’ve heard, network, and wander the exhibit halls (and hit the great book specials!).

Mary Beth and I are presenting on Saturday at 8:00 on developing a heritage curriculum…we’d love to see you!  We have a special surprise in store! I also wanted to invite you to the Spanish for Heritage Learners Special Interest Group (SIG) business meeting, which sounds boring but is actually a presentation by Sara Beaudrie on Saturday at 5:30, called “Critical Language Awareness: How and Why It Should Inform All SHL Teaching.” 

Lastly, I was recently voted Vice-Chair of the Spanish for Heritage Learners SIG for next year (thank you for all your support!!), and I’m really passionate about connecting all the higher-ed research and professors with real teachers in real classrooms. I’m excited to see what this new role has in store for me and how I can serve. I also want to personally invite you to join the SIG on your ACTFL membership. You can join one SIG for free, and after that it only costs $5. You get access to at least one webinar, some newsletters, and a discussion board. And we’d love to have your voice!

If you’re there, please find us and say hi!! And if you’re not there, we’d love to “see” you all on Twitter 🙂 Happy Friday!

Adrienne