At iFLT conferences, one of the distinctive features is the language labs: classrooms where highly experienced comprehension-based language teachers teach elementary through high school-aged students. Conference attendees can observe these classrooms, gaining insights from these opportunities to see teaching in real time with young students....
Thank you so much for following this iFLT18 FOMO blog series! Before turning this final blog post over to Arianne, please allow us to just express a HUGE thank you to Arianne Dowd for diligently attending as many diverse sessions as possible and taking incredibly...
Last year I observed Mark teach in the language labs and it was a pleasure to watch how he interacted with his students. I was curious to gain a better perspective about how he plans his units. He began by sharing some information his school...
Honestly, I was soooooo excited for this session because both of these presenters (Jim Wooldridge and Carrie Toth) are royalty of creating compelling and comprehensible input! Jim told us that as language teachers, our most important job is to be storytellers. This relates to something...
Gary DiBianca seems to find himself in a predicament of many teachers I meet. He has to use a traditional textbook. However he has found a magical way that seems to make it work as he blends the textbook with CI. One example of how Gary...
Linda Li shared the ACTFL statement about 90% target language (TL) use. Together we analyzed it and noticed that it states that students AND teachers are supposed to be using TL almost exclusively, beyond the classroom and in all levels! TL use is one of...
Kara Jacobs and I presented about the power of triple input in film. However as I viewed Kristy Placido and Donna Tatum-Johns' session on delivering CI with a TV series I realized there were a lot of similarities! Both are building Intercultural Communicative Competence. ACTFL...
What an enjoyable afternoon I spent with Carrie Toth. She shared a ton of ideas that I can directly apply to my classroom. I went to her session called Blooming Language: Building Proficiency with Bloom’s Taxonomy. We observed ways in which she has moved WAY...
August 6 - The Name of the Game is Comprehensible Input by Cindy Hitz, 7:00 p.m. EDT Games serve as an interactive and fun way to teach for proficiency and provide additional CI of structures and vocabulary found in novels, class stories, and MovieTalks. In this...
I was able to see pieces of two of my FAVORITE teacher authors, Kristy Placido and Carrie Toth. Each session had elements of Content Based CI that I would love to share. I find that my intermediate students truly enjoy these types of units. Kristy...
One of the most powerful experiences of conferences like iFLT is that you get to observe master teachers teaching. It is particularly powerful if you observe someone of a language that you don’t speak because you are essentially a student and can appreciate how slow...
“There wasn’t much session variety.” “No one explained anything.” “But, what does that look like?” “I don’t know where to find the presenter’s resources.” “The coaches and presenters weren’t accessible.” In capturing what makes iFLT such a special event, I reflect on the aforementioned statements that (spoiler alert!) were not overheard at iFLT 2018 in Cincinnati. So,...
Welcome back, CI Peek followers! After a brief summer hiatus, we are back in full-force! You are in for a real treat as we begin a new series: "FOMO CI Peek Blog Series" by Arianne Dowd! We will sail into the new school year with...
Whew! Wow! What a great week it was! We had so much fun with all of the #iFLT18 participants, coaches, presenters, and students! Our new cohort format was well-received and we are looking forward to reading everyone's feedback and planning to make #iFLT19 EVEN BETTER! We...
The iFLT team is so excited to see everyone in just a couple short days! We are making a big push this year to get everyone on social media sharing their learning with the teachers who are unable to attend! So, we are going to...
For those of you going to iFLT next month in Cincinnati, we are SO excited to see all of you as we learn and grow together! We know that some of you were unable to attend, and sadly, many of you were left feeling disappointed...
iFLT registration opens TOMORROW! Are YOU ready for the most comprehensive, collegial, and effective TPRS/CI training of the YEAR? Don't be stuck in the "upside down" of your career! Let iFLT rescue you! Tomorrow, November 1st, just "Hopper" on over to our iFLT website and register! The conference...
Who creates readers? Pernille Ripp, an ELA teacher says that WE do, their educators. Her latest post connects beautifully to what I learned at iFLT. She even includes Krashen’s research to support that WE as teachers must plan for reading enjoyment. Students need to read...
Modifying authentic resources which has received a lot of attention on Twitter over the past year in the #langchat community. The #TCI community taught me that modifying authentic resources or “semi authentic resources” are very useful to our students because it can then become comprehensible...
This session was wonderful! We got to be students in Kristy Placido’s classroom. She is one of my favorite Spanish teachers so it was wonderful to experience. I posted a few videos to Twitter if you want to check out her session. One of my...
I love Nelly Hughes! I have been getting to know her on social media for the past few months and I finally got to meet her in person at iFLT17! She is so enthusiastic and easy to talk to! Her presentation today was as awesome...
Readers Theater with Karen Rowan was exciting! She opened the session with this song. She divided the class into two teams. Half of the class sang a line of the song as Don Quijote. We sang, “Yo soy yo Don Quijote”. She had it posted...
[caption id="attachment_54465" align="alignright" width="400"] Darcy Pippins[/caption] I have been so excited about this session since the iFLT schedule came out. This session is something that is dear to my heart. I teach students who are on the path to AP and I want to make sure...
[caption id="attachment_54475" align="alignright" width="451"] Kristy Placido[/caption] What an amazing experience being at iFLT has been! I have met so many of my favorite Spanish teachers! I am completely star struck! Today I got to attend the powerhouse session of Kristy Placido, “The Wonderful World of Intermediates”. She...
[caption id="attachment_54476" align="alignright" width="229"] Carrie Toth[/caption] I am so happy I was able to be a part of Carrie Toth’s “Becoming Proficient in Proficiency”. She is extremely knowledgeable about this topic and I am confident that all the session participants left today feeling much more informed...
[caption id="attachment_54461" align="alignright" width="520"] Señor Wooly[/caption] Señor Wooly (aka Jim Wooldridge) kicked off iFLT 17 with an amazing keynote! He spoke about the role of authenticity versus inauthenticity in his life. He used his story as a musician to explain that he felt as if his...
[caption id="attachment_54465" align="alignright" width="400"] Darcy Pippins[/caption] Darcy’s Intermediate session was all about adapting novels to our classroom. She teaches levels 3, 4 and 5AP without a textbook and ENTIRELY WITH comprehensible input. She reiterated that using novels as the foundation of your curriculum gives compelling input...
[caption id="attachment_54451" align="alignright" width="300"] Jason Fritze[/caption] Today marks my first workshop at iFLT 17 and it was wonderful First, I spent some time with Jason Fritze. He has great energy! We learned many techniques that he used with his elementary students that would work really well...
Hi everyone, and happy Independence Day to our US readers! We hope that most of you are enjoying well-earned time with friends and family today! We are enjoying our day today, but will be back at work tomorrow preparing to bring you a fabulous week...
What’s up with Intermediate? In a classroom focused on comprehensible input, proficiency levels might seem to be difficult to define. They might not fit the mold set out for us by ACTFL. Many teachers who focus on proficiency and comprehensible input may feel that their students...