It has been a restful summer for me! I have slept so much. Enjoyed reading, the beach and time with family and friends. What have you done to recharge?
Now it’s time for me to gear up for season 4 of the podcast AND 4 workshops that I’m offering this summer.
If you’re looking for free, flexible PD on-the-go, checkout the 35 episodes published of Inspired Proficiency Podcast. At this site, you can scan through the topics, guests and show-notes to see what inspiration is best for you. Season 4 will launch in September!
If you’re looking for a little more, keep reading! I have 4 days of workshops coming up that might be right for you. They are located in Tyngsboro, MA, about 45 minutes from Boston. I still have scholarship spaces left if your school doesn’t cover professional development for you, just email me and we’ll get you set-up with registration. ashley@deskfree.org
August 2019 Workshops:
Inspired Proficiency Workshop Series:
Keeping reading to find out more!
Inspired Proficiency Workshop Series 8/14-8/16
This is the 3rd annual August workshop series that I have facilitated! It’s 3 days that build on one another to share my approach to language acquisition, target language environment & CI in a deskfree classroom. For anyone who is interested in moving their students along the path to proficiency and adding to their toolbox, there will be something you can incorporate into your teaching. Come for all 3 days or choose one that most fits your interests! Read testimonials here.
If you have any questions or comments, please email ashley@deskfree.org
Day 1
8/14- Teaching in the Target Language
Getting rid of English in your classroom can be a struggle! In this workshop we’ll explore how to do it yourself and for your students! Come experience strategies for 90%+ TL use from day one with your Novice-Lows. Interact with students who have experienced a 3-year Spanish-only program at Innovation Academy Charter School. Discover what we do, why and how and take home pieces of our program that would work for you. Groups will discuss strategies for Novice-Low, Novice-Mid & Novice-High students. We will also briefly touch on how to begin or sustain these strategies with Intermediates.
Participants will:
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- identify their current target language use in the classroom as well as possible obstacles.
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- discover how understanding the ACTFL proficiency guidelines and can allow us to align our expectations with what students can do and support our target language only classroom.
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- experience strategies for engaging students with movement & play.
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- discuss how to incorporate reading and writing in 100% TL that is comprehensible.
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- learn how to give instructions 100% TL that is comprehensible through visuals and modeling.
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- leave with a variety of tools and activities to implement.
- set short-term and long-term goal for target language use in their classroom.
Day 2
8/15- Proficiency Portfolios
We will explore how to create portfolios to document student growth, strategies and assignments for students to self assess, and effective feedback practices. Feedback can be a powerful tool in the language acquisition process and in helping students to grow. We’ll demonstrate how students can interact with the feedback to reflect and set goals as part of the assessment conversation between teacher and student. We will discuss how teachers could sustainably share observations of key student behaviors (like using the target language) as well as their progress toward meeting language proficiency and performance criteria (ACTFL guidelines) with or without attaching a grade. Participants will be able to implement ideas into their own practices immediately.
Participants will:
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- leave with ideas for sustainable systems to provide students with regular feedback on proficiency and performance growth.
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- create a goal for incorporating more feedback in their own practices.
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- be equipped with strategies for having students reflect on feedback and self-assess their own learning.
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- receive writing and speaking prompts at a variety of proficiency levels
- explore several platforms for creating student portfolios to document growth.
Day 3
8/16- Playful Proficiency
Do you want to infuse more play into your language classroom? Come explore how to incorporate games, movement, improv and team challenges into your classroom! We’ll experience these activities and discover how to use them effectively in the Target Language.
Games
Games can be used to build community, as a hook for class, as a transition, or for communicative experiences! Come add a variety of games and resources to your repertoire and discover new ways to integrate them in order to improve student proficiency and create a strong class community.
Movement
Students need to move! During this workshop you will, recognize how often students move in your classroom, discuss the importance of movement for learning, particularly as it pertains to language acquisition; and experience movement that can be strategically applied in lessons.
Improv
The improv world offers unique games and scenarios for fun and communication. Bringing these into the target language rich classroom will enhance your lessons!
Team Challenges
This session won “Best of MA 2017” at the MaFla Conference When given a problem to solve, students are able to use the target language as a tool to truly communicate. In this session we will experience a variety of team challenges that can be implemented into your proficiency-based classrooms. We’ll discuss and try out activities appropriate for novices and intermediates. Team challenges build community in your classroom, will allow students to use their language authentically, and provides a shared context for rich conversation in the target language.
8/8- Digging into Details with Ashley
If you have already attended workshops or visit with Ashley, this is the newest PD for you! Ashley will dig into details about planning, grading, hooks, CI, and spontaneous output in the TL. As well as more details on proficiency strategies and structures presented in previous workshops. We will look at reading and writing in the TL for Novices & Intermediates and ways to maintain the TL environment once it has been established and tips for classroom management. There will be time for personalized questions and a pre-workshop survey so that she will customize the workshop to the needs of the participants.
Hope to see you there!
Desk-Free 