8th Annual conference 2021

FROM INPUT TO OUTPUT: STRATEGIES FOR EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATIoN ONLINE AND BEYOND

Sat February 20, 9 am - 3 pm &

Sun February 21, 9 am - 1 pm (PST)

DR. HANADA TAHA

Hanada Taha is the Endowed Professor of Arabic Language at Zayed University. Previously, she served for six years as Acting Dean & Associate Dean of Bahrain Teachers College. She also served as the Director of Arabic Programs at San Diego State University. Professor. Her research is mostly focused on Arabic language teaching and learning. Prof. Taha holds a PhD in Education from the University of New Orleans, USA; M.A. in Educational Psychology and Counseling and B.A in Social & Behavioral Sciences from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon.

Arabic Early Reading Skills

Description: Early reading skills are a learner's entrypoint into the world of literacy and language learning. These skills are not solely wrapped around knowing letters of the alphabet and their corresponding sounds, but rather include a whole menu of other skills such as fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, continuous assessment and early intervention techniques. This session will address many of those skills in addition to a brief mention of the various reading types, text leveling services and sight words. The session will update participants on a new research that targeted oral reading fluency in Arabic. Participant questions and comments will be welcomed.

NICOLE NADITZ

Nicole Naditz, M.Ed is the Program Specialist for Instructional Technology and World Languages for San Juan Unified School District. Prior to her current role, she taught French to grades 3 through 12 for almost 25 years. Nicole is a National Board Certified Teacher and has won numerous honors including 2012 Sacramento County Teacher of the Year and finalist for California State Teacher of the Year. Most recently, she was named the 2015 National Language Teacher of the Year by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages and served on California's Instructional Quality Commission, an advisory body to the State Board of Education. Nicole is also a Google Certified Innovator and Trainer and Apple Learning Academy Specialist.

Get Them talking (and More): Interpersonal and Presentational Communication

Join Nicole Naditz in an exploration of strategies that support learners to engage in true communication, starting at the Novice range of proficiency. This session will focus on the interpersonal and presentational modes and offer strategies you can use and adapt right away, including specific suggestions for facilitating these modes in distance learning.

ADAM SHEPHERD

Adam Shepherd is the director of education at Language Learning Network where he oversees curriculum development; teaches French, Arabic, and German; and provides professional development and mentorship to language instructors. Adam has studied German and English at Ursinus College, holds masters of arts degrees in French Education and German Language and Pedagogy from Southern Oregon University and the University of Pittsburgh as well as K-12 certifications in French and German. He learned Arabic at the University of Pittsburgh, Villanova University, and Middlebury’s Arabic intensive immersion program. Adam has also taught SAT prep courses for the nation’s largest test prep companies in addition to teaching in public and private middle schools, high schools, and universities.

Leveraging Literacy-Based Activities

Literacy is essential to student success and a main component of any language proficiency course. Literacy skills further impact how well a student will do in other content areas. Despite the importance of reading as a critical skill, there remains a shortage of programs that effectively train foreign language teachers in literacy-based pedagogy. It is for this reason that teachers often resort to hackneyed techniques such as asking students to read the text out loud in class, or simply providing students with a text and expecting them to read the content on their own without any context or pre-reading activities. Dr. Kate Paesani of Wayne State University developed an effective and proven method for teaching reading skills in the world language classroom in a matter that is novel, engaging, and meaningful for students. Her eponymous strategy, the Paesani Method, remains the focal point of LLN’s world language literacy workshop.

Changing the PACE of Grammar Instruction in the Foreign Language Classroom

During this presentation, the presenter will briefly discuss the dialogical approach to grammar instruction, and then present a sample dialogical lesson using Donato & Adair-Haucks’ PACE Model. PACE, an acronym for each stage of the process: Presentation-Attention-Co-Construction-Extension, is a model for contextualizing grammar lessons in the form of a cultural story or other authentic text. After the sample PACE lesson, the audience will collaborate to identify the different elements of the presented PACE sample. Finally, the groups will discuss the effectiveness of the dialogical approach and prepare their own sample PACE lessons. A ‘PACE Model Kit’ will also be provided.

FIRST WEBINAR SESSION 2020-2021

STRENGTHENING STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

December 12, 2020 at 9:30:- 12:30 PM

“Increase student engagement even during distance learning while promoting student agency and creativity. Learn to implement three lesson frames that place students at the center of learning while scaffolding vocabulary development. Lastly, gather tips, tricks, and templates to create dynamic lessons that can be helpful in any learning environment”.

Dr. Valérie Sun

Dr. Valérie Sun been an educator since 2005 in private sectors in California and abroad. She is currently a Teacher Specialist - Education Technology & Information Services at Glendale Unified School District where she was the first teacher and curriculum writer for the French Dual-Immersion program in 2012. She has taught across the spectrum from pre-kindergarten to doctoral courses. Outside of the district, Dr. Sun is an independent consultant for EdTech intégration and dual-Immersion practices. She is also a part-time lecturer at California State University, Los Angeles in the Division of Applied and Advanced Studies in Education and a teacher trainer with the California World Languages Project at Occidental College.