Happy February! I am writing this on a train headed back from NECTFL! NECTFL is one of my favorite conferences- but it is not one that I even knew about for many years into my teaching career. Each state has a state organization and then the state organizations come together for regional conferences. You can actually go to any regional conference you want to- and some states even belong to two like Virginia. To me, regional conferences are amazing because the sessions are just as good as the sessions at ACTFL but it can be more accessible for people. You can also start to meet people who consistently attend them and build up a community. If you are interested in checking out your regional conference, this list has all of them!
DC Mentorship Program
Another great professional development opportunity I am working on is for the Maryland, Washington DC and Virginia area. Through GWATFL, we are developing a mentor program. You can choose to participate as a mentor or mentee. We are holding a virtual information session on February 28th at 6:00 pm. Check it out- and we would love to work more with you!
New Señor Wooly Book!
In other exciting news, if you are a big Señor Wooly fan, you may have noticed that he recently released a children’s book based on the song Diego y sus amigos. I was fortunate to receive an advanced copy, but all of the opinions are my own! Overall, the Señor Wooly graphic novels are some of my students’ favorites for FVR (free voluntary reading). I am hoping to start FVR for my fifth graders in the spring. This book will be perfect for them because it has even less language, and they are familiar with the story. Plus the pictures are beautiful.
I also have taught Diego y sus amigos to my third graders every year. Although it was a Wooly Week song years ago, the lesson plans are amazing, and my students love the song. I have students who still remember the song years and years later. I am looking forward to also incorporating the book into our lessons as a read aloud for my students! We have a great couch and some fun seating in our room that the students can sit on as I read.
I highly recommend this book if you use FVR in your classes for novice students and/or if you consistently teach Diego y sus amigos unit every year like I do!
Other favorites!
- First, I am LOVING the Asana app! Annabelle Williamson recommended it to me, and it is incredible! It is super easy to use, and I access it on both my desktop and my phone. I love that if I get an email from someone that I don’t have time to respond to then, I can add it to my app, so it doesn’t get lost. I have felt so much more productive in the past two weeks that I am using it.
- In my session with Samara, I also mentioned this- but I loved Claudia Elliott’s recent podcast episode about Talk, Read, Talk, Write. In it, she interviewed Tan Huynh, and it gave me a lot of immediate ways that I could apply to the classroom.
- Amanda Benavidez Williams recently had an amazing blog post with all of her resources about inspirational women!
- Language Teaching Lab also published a post explaining how they discuss visible and invisible identities throughout the year.
Maris Hawkins 