NYSAFLT Annual Conference 2024

All are invited to attend this open meeting of the NYSAFLT Public Advocacy Committee (PAC). Learn how the PAC is addressing some of the most critical issues in our profession: retention of our WL programs; parent involvement; and providing WL teachers with resources and support as they transition to the revised NY Learning Standards. Please join us to learn more about how you can help advocate for world language education K-postsecondary.

Have you ever wondered how to get your work published in the NYSAFLT Journal? Do you have colleagues with valuable insights and experiences to share but who might not yet see themselves as potential authors? This session, led by the current journal co-editors, will demystify the publication process and outline the supportive steps available to help you publish your first article in the NYSAFLT Journal. We'll provide a detailed overview of the submission guidelines, the review process, and the resources available to assist you from initial idea to published article. Whether you're an aspiring author or simply curious about the process, bring your questions and invite your colleagues to join us for this informative and encouraging session!

Join us for a dynamic roundtable discussion and breakout sessions on how NYSAFLT can take concrete steps to actively seek out and elevate a greater and diverse representation of presenters in all areas of our professional learning. This session will focus on strategies for increasing diversity in our conferences, virtual workshops, and committee collaborations. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue, share experiences, and brainstorm actionable solutions for fostering a more inclusive and representative professional community.We will explore best practices for identifying and reaching out to potential presenters of marginalized groups, building partnerships with organizations and communities to broaden our network, ensuring that our selection processes are inclusive and equitable, and creating supportive environments for presenters of marginalized groups to share their expertise and perspectives.Additionally, we invite you to bring your best DEI-themed bling to share at our DEI exhibitor table! From pins and stickers to educational materials and beyond, let's celebrate our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in language education. Don’t miss this chance to contribute to the ongoing dialogue and help shape the future of NYSAFLT’s professional learning landscape.

Join us for a session focused on the vital intersection of authentic resources and task differentiation, where we'll delve into the power of cultural resources in language learning. Explore practical strategies for constructing bridges that foster cultural connections for students, by diversifying how students engage with meaningful and relevant authentic materials like videos, news articles, and songs. These bridges serve as conduits, facilitating meaningful connections between students and new languages and cultures. Instead of altering content, we'll focus on adjusting tasks to suit diverse learning styles and needs. Don't miss out on this opportunity to enhance language learning experiences together!

The presenter will explain what the role playing game Dungeons and Dragons is and how it is played. He will discuss how this has been beneficial for his students in language acquisition and language production. He will address character creation and provide participants with character sheets in either German, French, Italian or Spanish. Tips for starting and important lessons learned will also be shared. Each guest at this presentation will receive a small gift to get them started on their own World Language DnD game!"

This session reports on one professor’s experience taking beginning and intermediate Spanish classes at the college-level. Sitting among the students provided a unique perspective to reflect on student learning, language acquisition, and language instruction. Instead of blaming students for not studying, we discuss the issues found among most freshmen and ways to help them. Delving into Second Language Acquisition theories, we examine the advantages and limitations of explicit grammar instruction. Finally, we offer concrete suggestions for language teachers at all levels to incorporate four strands (Nation, 2012) in their classroom: comprehensible input, comprehensible output, deliberate language study, and fluency development.

All too often, attempts to share a success or to influence other teachers—whether about a specific strategy or a proficiency-oriented approach to teaching and learning languages—fall flat or, worse, actually discourage or alienate. Geared especially toward teachers who train or mentor others, who share practices in person or online, or whose colleagues have disparate philosophies, this session will help you build trust, communicate clearly, and make an ongoing positive impact. We will cover general guidelines for successful communication as well as credible and encouraging ways to share learners’ successes, research-informed principles, and proficiency-promoting practices.

Maximizing productivity is essential, and artificial intelligence is here to help language teachers! Discover how AI-powered tools can revolutionize content creation, save valuable time, and enhance effectiveness in the language classroom. Let’s unlock the potential of certain AI tools to save time and positively impact students' language learning journeys.

In the United States, approximately 3-4% of the population identifies as Deaf or Hard of Hearing, with a significant concentration in the Rochester Metropolitan area. The current shortage of certified ASL teachers poses a challenge to existing programs in New York State K-12 schools. This session will aim to explore the existing challenges with ASL teacher education and provide a platform for collaboration to identify solutions and to bridge the gaps. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in discussions to identify barriers and move towards improving ASL teacher education in order to pave the way for a more inclusive and supportive learning environment for Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals.

Art is a great opportunity to provide loads of authentic, comprehensible input as well as providing cultural insight. Ideas will be shared on how to use art as a vehicle for vocabulary, grammar, themes and stories. The presenter will share ways to engage students cognitively with art to deliver comprehensible input, including how to use it to introduce and analyze cultural aspects.

Helping students stay in the TL often is to take a step back to build them up to grow their confidence. Layered Activities do that. Layered Activities sequence similar classroom tasks in a lesson, so the format and rules of the activity remain consistent, but the content expectations become progressively more complex.. The consistent format means students can focus on content, not instructions For those who attended last year's Stacked Activities, we have are new sequences

Standards Based Grading--a phrase we have been hearing a lot in education-- but what is it and how does it work? In this workshop we will explore what Standards Based grading is, why it is important to shift our grading practices in this way, and how we can do it easily and effectively. There will be examples of assessments, rubrics and feedback tools that will help you have a smooth and easy implementation with any grading platform you may use.