Upcoming PD for heritage teachers!

Hello, fellow colleagues and friends. I hope you are ok this afternoon, and looking forward to Friday and a weekend away from school. I realize this school year has been incredibly challenging for all of us, and my hope for you is that you are finding joy where you can and fiercely guarding time for yourself. I wish you heard from us more often, either via quick emails or blog posts, but that hasn’t happened this year. And I’m ok with that. Please know that although we are relatively quiet, we are navigating this difficult year and pandemic right alongside you.

I wanted to send out a quick update on some opportunities coming up that may be of interest to you. First, I wanted to start with this SHL Hangout because it’s absolutely FREE. Next Wednesday, November 10, at 4:30 pm MST/6:30 pm EST, I’ll be doing a very short session called “High-Leverage Strategies for Teaching Writing” via Zoom. I’ll be sharing some strategies and examples, then there’ll be a short discussion, and finally Q and A. You can find more info here; registration is required. It’s my first time working with the great people at COERLL and I’m excited they have invited me to share with their community! I would love to see you there!

I also wanted to make sure you know about our upcoming conference presentations, in case you are attending. Mary Beth and I will be doing a LIVE (via Zoom) session at the Minnesota state language conference this weekend, MCTLC, called “Humanizing our Spanish Heritage Classes: A Constant (Un)Learning.” It will be a conversation about what we used to say/think/do in our heritage classes, and how our thinking has changed (and why). Our session is THIS SATURDAY (November 6th) at 8:30 am MST/10:30 am EST I’m so excited for this conference! If you’ve never been to MCTLC, this would be a fantastic year to try it out because it’s virtual, with several live sessions and many more on-demand and available for a year. I love this conference because not only does it have an entire strand focusing on heritage teaching, they have worked really hard to diversify their presenters and topics and I believe it could be a model for doing the same at other World Language conferences. You can find more info and register here (only $75 with discounts available for BIPOC or new teachers). 

Last but not least, if you are attending the virtual ACTFL Convention in a few weeks (November 19-21), I am presenting session 1651, “Using Narrative Writing to Center Student Voice in the Heritage Classroom.” It’s an on-demand session. I will also be attending the Assembly of Delegates, lots of the sessions on heritage teaching, and the pre-convention workshop by Dr. Uju Anya called “Antiracist, Equity-Minded, and Inclusive Language Teaching Practices,” I’m really excited about that session! I would love to hear what sessions you will be attending, too! I am hopeful for the return of in-person events in the future, for sure, but I’m glad we are keeping everyone safe. 

That’s all I have for you today, friends. I wish you a restful and joyful rest of the week.

Adrienne