Hello, everyone, I attended FLAVA on Saturday 14th and participated in

five workshops.
Implementing the World Language Standards of Learning in Virginia
Classrooms

• VDOE’s World Language Coordinator Dr. Lisa Harris was the speaker
for this workshop. Her email is Lisa.Harris@doe.virginia.gov
• She highlighted how VDOE’s Standards are about
outcomes/proficiency and not just classroom performance.
Basically, standards indicate how students can use language
within their context and communities via the interpretive,
interpersonal, and presentational modes.
• VDOE has updated standards from single language sets to an
aggregate set of standards for all world languages.
• Dr. Harris focused on how the standards at VDOE’s website are
suggestions. This means accurate expectations can be formulated
upon considering how many hours of content students will be
receiving. Proficiency levels plus the amount of time they
receive L2 instruction plus the suggested standard can generate
realistic expectations for language learners. Meaning, students
with certain proficiencies who receive a small number of hours
might underperform.
• Ultimately, the suggestion was for language classrooms to
capitalize on communicative literacy.
Though Spanish does not have a standardized test, and according to Dr.
Harris, the trend is to walk away from those evaluations, I still see
my instruction informed by communicative literacy which will build on
autonomy and improve confidence in L2. Spanish learners can still
pursue a seal of biliteracy. I will also consider realistic goals for
my students’ performance and proficiency levels based on the number of
hours they will receive instruction. I will challenge them, but also
reference progress indicators in order to strengthen their areas of
improvement.

Authentic Practice for World Language: Interpreters in Training

Program

• Lauren MacLean and Amber Roberts were the speakers for this
session. They are Spanish teachers and work closely with the TESL
Department in Northern Virginia.
 • The high arrival of immigrant students presents both a challenge
and solution within the school district. On one hand, schools
need translators and interpreters. High School students are being
trained to interpret under the supervision of a world language
teacher and certified interpreter to give them work experience
and an income, however.
• Allowing students to interpret develops bilingual skills and
promotes willingness to work in culturally diverse communities.
MacLean and Roberts mentioned how interpreting is linked to
content curriculum and schools are partnering with universities
to pursue certifications as interpreters.
• Students participate in work-based learning.
I found this information interesting because students can help
newcomers/English Learners transition easily into their new cultures
and homes. Empowering students with bilingualism is a way to promote
cultural relativism. It is also a creative way to help students work
who are going through immigration processes. In the state of VA, it is
not enough to be bilingual, people must be certified or work under the
supervision of someone who holds proper certification. This
information will help me in my classroom because it helps incentivize
students to see the need for learning a second language. It also helps
me explain to students the benefits in the job market when people know
more than one language.

Cultural Immersion Through Technology: Innovations with Pear Deck

• Allison Perryman has a contagious amount of energy and the

ability to instantly connect with the audience. She began her
presentation with the song Resistiré, and it has the following
lyrics which impacted me: “Soy como el junco que se dobla pero
sigue en pie”. From the start, the presentation talked about
innovation and resilience.
• We cannot teach a language without teaching culture. One tool to
achieve this is through Google’s add on Pear Deck.
• The add on allows for files on google drive to become interactive
classroom activities: students have the ability to access the
live presentation on their devices through a code.
• Culture extends beyond food, dress, and language; it also
includes body language, self-concept, and attitudes toward the
environment. These aspects of language can be accessed through
 draggable content, pinning, matching images to vocabulary terms,
and virtual fieldtrips.
I previously used Canva to create presentations and worksheets for my
students. Unlike Canva, though, Pear Deck allows instructors to see if
students are answering, are stuck on questions, or are making mistakes
while vocabulary-building. This data can be printed. This is important
because it will facilitate interacting with parents and administration
in the future when they ask me for evidence of student progression.
Since most students tend to rely on their cellphones, if schools allow
bring-your-own-device policies, it would be a great way to keep my
future students engaged. If students have school ipads or chromebooks,
this activity can work as well.

Pace Model Unleashed: Transforming Grammar Instruction for

Proficiency-Oriented Teaching

• Aisha Kahn showcased the importance of deductive and inductive

grammar. Deductive grammar includes formulas and grammar rules.
Inductive grammar presents concepts through various context. In
inductive grammar, students figure out the rules based on
information presented to them. Basically, the same thing as
explicit and implicit grammar.
• The Pace model seeks to minimize communicative apprehension and
student anxiety when engaging in L2.
• The Pace model alleviates anxiety by allowing students to
communicate messages: fluency > grammar accuracy at first.
• The pace model calls for student-centered lessons, small group
instruction, ungraded activities plus feedback to help students
build confidence without fear of a negative evaluation or
criticism from classmates.
I like teaching grammar because I think it facilitates learning a
language. However, for some of my students, it is more important to
communicate first and to later have mistakes corrected. The pace model
gives students multiple opportunities to recycle vocabulary without
explicitly learning grammar rules. They acquire rules through
continuous exposure, not by memorizing them. Grammar will always be
needed, but applications such as the pace model will allow me to give
students opportunities to engage with the target language in various
cultural contexts. Also, PACE (Presentation Attention Co-construction
Extension) incorporates the interpretive, presentational, and
interpersonal modes. I will use it as a method to differentiate
content for students who cannot grasp explicit grammar.
Helping Students Make Cultural Comparisons

• The speaker was Linda Villadoniga, a retired language teacher

from a school district in Florida.
• She shared about her bicultural background as the child of
immigrants from Spain.
• As a teacher, she highlighted teaching culture was synonymous of
building connections by creating cultural awareness.
• When students build connections, they can destroy walls
(figuratively and literal) as well as stereotypes surrounding
other cultures.
Teaching culture is something I already do in my classroom. However,
she illustrated other practices I had not considered. For example,
Villadoniga shares how in her family’s culture, hugging and kissing
people on the cheek is a normal custom. Culture can be displayed
through affection, such as the way we hug or greet people. I will
continue building cultural connections between L1-L2 in my classroom
because this helps students visualize how language is used in native
contexts. Further, I will share my Mexican experiences with students
in order for them to learn about the neighboring country which also
makes part of North America and build deeper connections with
students.

Hello, Yasmin.

My experience at FLAVA was so much fun because I had the opportunity

to meet up and joke with you. I think total physical response
activities can be very fun for students because they can engage in
charades to build associations to vocabulary instead of having to
memorize word banks without a meaningful purpose. The second session
you attended seems very useful because when we have half days or when
enough students are absent, we have to come up with alternatives to
content-related activities. You already mentioned it is important for
student-centered activities to be implemented in the classroom in
order to maintain engagement, and I agree getting to know students
will also promote a positive learning environment.
Hello, Gracie.

This is School sounds like a must-have teaching resource during lesson

planning. I also struggle sometimes to find authentic text for
students. I think if students can have engaging text, they will learn
without even realizing they are doing work. As for one of the other
sessions you attended, I think it is fascinating that we can enter a
building digitally. That feature would definitely have students
focused, in class and at home while sharing with siblings and parents.
One of the examples for virtual tours that you mentioned caught my
attention. If students are able to see reconstructed cities from
codices, like Tenochtitlan, then it is a must have in order to learn
about the indigenous languages and people which contributed to the
Latin-American, Spanish lexicon. Thanks for sharing with us.