Academic and Professional Growth

"When Levees Break-- Pedagogical Implications for Teachers and Learners: What do we do now?" Co-authored with Dr. Marjorie Hall Haley The Journal of Race and Policy Spring/Summer 2007
Co-authoring this article provided me with my first experience at submitting work for publication in a peer reviewed journal. Interestingly, the article did not stem from a pre-planned research project. Rather, "the data" or the stories of two remarkable teachers were collected by Dr. Haley via emails and instant messages as she sought to understand what was happening with the teachers and their students in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Dr. Haley corresponded with these two teachers, who in the wake of one of the worst natural disasters in history, simply wanted to return to teaching. As the teachers shared their experiences, Dr. Haley began to examine the pedagogical implications. Her original version of the article reflected the idea of "teacher as learner" and called for reform in teacher education programs that would better prepare teachers for this new role. As often happens, the reviewers at the journal replied with a list of recommendations for resubmission. The challenge for me was to fulfill the reviewers recommendations yet stay true to Dr. Haley's original vision. The opportunity to co-author this article could not have come at a better time. Having just completed my first year in the PhD program, I was able to draw upon what I had learned in EDRS 810--Research Methods and in EDUC 800--Ways of Knowing. The reviewers called for essentially two things: for the article to be grounded in a specific research methodology (keeping in mind that this was not a research study) and for the article to include an expanded literature review to support the pedagogical implications. With Dr. Haley's guidance, I expanded the original article to include a qualitative methods section that explained how research and data collection can occur serendipitously. Then, I drew on my new "ways of knowing" and expanded the literature review to include the work of Joan Kelly Hall, Gloria Ladson-Billings and Luis Moll. The final version reflects my understanding of the need for teachers to examine their own cultural background, including biases and stereotypes, before they can truly gain an understanding and appreciation of the various "funds of knowledge" that their students bring to the classroom. I believe that only then, will they be able to assume the role of "teacher as learner." The learning curve for submitting an article to a peer reviewed journal cannot be understated. I spent numerous hours over the course of several weeks researching and writing with the understanding that it still could have been rejected. It has been a very humbling experience, yet one I will need to build upon as I move forward through the program.

"When Levees Break-- Pedagogical Implications for Teachers and Learners: What do we do now?"
Co-authored with Dr. Marjorie Hall Haley
The Journal of Race and Policy
Spring/Summer 2007

Co-authoring this article provided me with my first experience at submitting work for publication in a peer reviewed journal. Interestingly, the article did not stem from a pre-planned research project. Rather, "the data" or the stories of two remarkable teachers were collected by Dr. Haley via emails and instant messages as she sought to understand what was happening with the teachers and their students in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Dr. Haley corresponded with these two teachers, who in the wake of one of the worst natural disasters in history, simply wanted to return to teaching. As the teachers shared their experiences, Dr. Haley began to examine the pedagogical implications. Her original version of the article reflected the idea of "teacher as learner" and called for reform in teacher education programs that would better prepare teachers for this new role. As often happens, the reviewers at the journal replied with a list of recommendations for resubmission. The challenge for me was to fulfill the reviewers recommendations yet stay true to Dr. Haley's original vision.

The opportunity to co-author this article could not have come at a better time. Having just completed my first year in the PhD program, I was able to draw upon what I had learned in EDRS 810--Research Methods and in EDUC 800--Ways of Knowing. The reviewers called for essentially two things: for the article to be grounded in a specific research methodology (keeping in mind that this was not a research study) and for the article to include an expanded literature review to support the pedagogical implications. With Dr. Haley's guidance, I expanded the original article to include a qualitative methods section that explained how research and data collection can occur serendipitously. Then, I drew on my new "ways of knowing" and expanded the literature review to include the work of Joan Kelly Hall, Gloria Ladson-Billings and Luis Moll. The final version reflects my understanding of the need for teachers to examine their own cultural background, including biases and stereotypes, before they can truly gain an understanding and appreciation of the various "funds of knowledge" that their students bring to the classroom. I believe that only then, will they be able to assume the role of "teacher as learner."

The learning curve for submitting an article to a peer reviewed journal cannot be understated. I spent numerous hours over the course of several weeks researching and writing with the understanding that it still could have been rejected. It has been a very humbling experience, yet one I will need to build upon as I move forward through the program.

"From Licensure Coursework to the Student-teaching Internship: Building Bridges in the Era of ACTFL/NCATE Standards" Co-authored with Dr. Marjorie Hall Haley Submitted to : Foreign Language Annals Spring 2008
This semester, I changed the direction of my dissertation research. I have decided to focus my efforts on pre-service world language teacher education programs. I have outlined the process of this change in direction in an entry to the dissertation planning section of this portfolio. This process included a co-presentation at the 2007 conference of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. A reflection of this conference is provided below. After the conference, I began to think about pre-service teacher education programs and the impact of the ACTFL/NCATE standards on these programs. Often, standards can be a double edged sword. On one side, they serve as a set of benchmarks to ensure the quality and consistency of the program. On the other side, they may serve as gate-keepers, restricting entrance to the very populations of potential world language teachers that historically have been denied access. Also, as institutions of higher education prepare for an ACTFL/NCATE accreditation review, one may ask from what epistemologies are these programs founded? This article was co-authored with Dr. Haley. It is actually a revised version of a literature review that I wrote for EDUC 882--Seminar in Bilingualism and SLA Theory and Research. It explores the epistemological foundations of the changes that one institution made to successfully obtain ACTFL/NCATE accreditation by providing references to the corpus of SLA literature and research. In writing this article, it was important for me to question my own training in a pre-service world language teacher education program. How did that training provide me with the tools that I would need to address the diversity of today's world language learners? Did my training include opportunities for me to evaluate my own social position so that I may better understand the social positions of my students? I sought to include literature grounded in sociocultural theory and culturally responsive pedagogy in order to create the message that today's language learners need more than communicative language learning activities. They need classroom communities of learning where they are encouraged to develop an identity with the new language and cultures being studied.

"From Licensure Coursework to the Student-teaching Internship:
Building Bridges in the Era of ACTFL/NCATE Standards"
Co-authored with Dr. Marjorie Hall Haley
Submitted to : Foreign Language Annals
Spring 2008

This semester, I changed the direction of my dissertation research. I have decided to focus my efforts on pre-service world language teacher education programs. I have outlined the process of this change in direction in an entry to the dissertation planning section of this portfolio. This process included a co-presentation at the 2007 conference of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. A reflection of this conference is provided below. After the conference, I began to think about pre-service teacher education programs and the impact of the ACTFL/NCATE standards on these programs. Often, standards can be a double edged sword. On one side, they serve as a set of benchmarks to ensure the quality and consistency of the program. On the other side, they may serve as gate-keepers, restricting entrance to the very populations of potential world language teachers that historically have been denied access. Also, as institutions of higher education prepare for an ACTFL/NCATE accreditation review, one may ask from what epistemologies are these programs founded?

This article was co-authored with Dr. Haley. It is actually a revised version of a literature review that I wrote for EDUC 882--Seminar in Bilingualism and SLA Theory and Research. It explores the epistemological foundations of the changes that one institution made to successfully obtain ACTFL/NCATE accreditation by providing references to the corpus of SLA literature and research. In writing this article, it was important for me to question my own training in a pre-service world language teacher education program. How did that training provide me with the tools that I would need to address the diversity of today's world language learners? Did my training include opportunities for me to evaluate my own social position so that I may better understand the social positions of my students? I sought to include literature grounded in sociocultural theory and culturally responsive pedagogy in order to create the message that today's language learners need more than communicative language learning activities. They need classroom communities of learning where they are encouraged to develop an identity with the new language and cultures being studied.

Featured Reviewer: Learning Languages National Network for Early Language Learning 2007-2008
The commonly used phrase "publish or perish" among academicians should be preceded by "review, it will help you publish!". I say this because reading the work of other scholars (and I include practicing teachers in this category) has truly helped me develop my understanding of writing or publication. I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity to review two articles for the journal Learning Languages, a yearly publication by the National Network for Early Language Learning (NNELL). One of the first things that I learned as a reviewer is that details must be used wisely. What makes sense to the writer cannot be assumed to be understood by the reader. Under use of details can leave the reader wondering what is really happening. Overuse of details inundates the reader with so much information that s/he becomes overwhelmed and stops reading. The second thing I learned is that writers must carefully support their claims with either personal experience, prior research, or scholarly writings. This is particularly true with statements that are assumed to be commonly accepted by the field. For example, even though it is widely known that differentiating instruction benefits a wide array of learning styles and learner needs, a writer should still state why this is true. Careful selection of supporting evidence for statements such as this also place the article within the context of prior publications. Lastly, and perhaps the most importantly, I have learned that the written work of an author is very personal. Having received a (a rather harsh) critique on an article that I co-authored with Dr. Haley and submitted to Foreign Language Annals, I know first-hand how vulnerable a writer becomes while awaiting feedback from reviewers. In my opinion, it is the job of a reviewer to encourage the writer to make improvements and to continue writing for publication. This should be done with the utmost respect for the writer's work.

Featured Reviewer: Learning Languages
National Network for Early Language Learning
2007-2008

The commonly used phrase "publish or perish" among academicians should be preceded by "review, it will help you publish!". I say this because reading the work of other scholars (and I include practicing teachers in this category) has truly helped me develop my understanding of writing or publication. I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity to review two articles for the journal Learning Languages, a yearly publication by the National Network for Early Language Learning (NNELL).

One of the first things that I learned as a reviewer is that details must be used wisely. What makes sense to the writer cannot be assumed to be understood by the reader. Under use of details can leave the reader wondering what is really happening. Overuse of details inundates the reader with so much information that s/he becomes overwhelmed and stops reading.

The second thing I learned is that writers must carefully support their claims with either personal experience, prior research, or scholarly writings. This is particularly true with statements that are assumed to be commonly accepted by the field. For example, even though it is widely known that differentiating instruction benefits a wide array of learning styles and learner needs, a writer should still state why this is true. Careful selection of supporting evidence for statements such as this also place the article within the context of prior publications.

Lastly, and perhaps the most importantly, I have learned that the written work of an author is very personal. Having received a (a rather harsh) critique on an article that I co-authored with Dr. Haley and submitted to Foreign Language Annals, I know first-hand how vulnerable a writer becomes while awaiting feedback from reviewers. In my opinion, it is the job of a reviewer to encourage the writer to make improvements and to continue writing for publication. This should be done with the utmost respect for the writer's work.

Invited Author: The Language Educator-August 2009 Issue Article on The ACTFL Video Podcast Contest Published by American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
The idea for writing this article surfaced during a discussion with Marty Abbott in late January 2009. We had just finished work on of The 2009 ACTFL Video Podcast Contest . I mentioned to Marty that there is a story behind how these teachers used the contest in their instructional practices. I wondered, had these teachers been using this kind of technology (video and podcasting) with their students prior to the contest? And what kind of "buzz" did their students' participation in the contest create in their classrooms, their schools, and their communities? Marty encouraged me to pursue the idea and submit an article to The Language Educator (TLE). After writing a detailed email to Marty of my ideas, I was contacted by Sandy Cutshall, the editor of TLE with an invitation to write for the August 2009 issue. As I thought about how I would collect the teachers' experiences, I realized that not only was there a story behind how the teachers incorporated the contest in their instructional practices, but there was also a research study that connected to my interest in how language teachers use technology and how these uses reflect the Standards for Foreign Language Learning. It wasn't long before I created a design map for a pilot study, which I presented to Dr. Sprague for my independent study. In late March, I submitted an application to HSRB. The data that I collect for the pilot study will also be used for TLE article. Currently, I am interviewing teachers who submitted videos on behalf of their students to the 2008 and/or 2009 contest. I plan to start writing the article for TLE in mid-May.

Invited Author: The Language Educator-August 2009 Issue
Article on The ACTFL Video Podcast Contest
Published by American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

The idea for writing this article surfaced during a discussion with Marty Abbott in late January 2009. We had just finished work on of The 2009 ACTFL Video Podcast Contest . I mentioned to Marty that there is a story behind how these teachers used the contest in their instructional practices. I wondered, had these teachers been using this kind of technology (video and podcasting) with their students prior to the contest? And what kind of "buzz" did their students' participation in the contest create in their classrooms, their schools, and their communities? Marty encouraged me to pursue the idea and submit an article to The Language Educator (TLE). After writing a detailed email to Marty of my ideas, I was contacted by Sandy Cutshall, the editor of TLE with an invitation to write for the August 2009 issue.

As I thought about how I would collect the teachers' experiences, I realized that not only was there a story behind how the teachers incorporated the contest in their instructional practices, but there was also a research study that connected to my interest in how language teachers use technology and how these uses reflect the Standards for Foreign Language Learning. It wasn't long before I created a design map for a pilot study, which I presented to Dr. Sprague for my independent study. In late March, I submitted an application to HSRB. The data that I collect for the pilot study will also be used for TLE article. Currently, I am interviewing teachers who submitted videos on behalf of their students to the 2008 and/or 2009 contest. I plan to start writing the article for TLE in mid-May.

Fairfax County Adult and Community Education: World Language Instructors May 2007 "It's All About Communication"
This was my first professional development workshop that I created specifically for a group of world language instructors who teach with Fairfax County Adult and Community Education (FCPS-ACE). After a few discussions with the supervisor of the World Language Program, it became evident that many of the instructors, while fluent in the language they teach, have not had formal pedagogical training. Based on feedback from students in the program, many of the instructors follow a teacher-centered format that rarely includes communicative activities. The supervisor believes that the lack of communicative activities maybe one cause for low enrollments in the upper level language courses. Therefore, the goal of my workshop was to introduce the instructors to the idea of "learner-centered instruction" with the hope that the enrollments in the upper level courses will increase with the implementation of communicative activities. The challenge was to get these instructors to see the value in a new teaching approach without devaluing the methods they are currently using. To accomplish this goal, I began my interactive presentation with my own personal history as an adult world language instructor. For many years, I used a direct, teacher-centered approach to instruction because that was all that I knew. It was how I had learned a language so it seemed perfectly logical to teach using that same approach. It wasn't until I attended a national conference that my interest in communicative teaching methods and learner-centered instruction peaked. After sharing my brief history, I wanted to personalize this presentation to meet there needs. We began by brainstorming a rather formidable list of the current issues they face in their classrooms. They offered such things as "the learner not having realistic language learning goals" (and thus quitting once it became too difficult), to "the challenges of dealing with multi-level language learners in the same course" as their most common challenges. To address this list, I focused on three concepts: teachers as reflective practitioners; Multiple Intelligence Theory; learner-centered activities. The feedback that I received from the instructors was very positive. They asked for more "hands-on" workshops like this in the future. Many asked for the supporting research for differentiating instruction in a learner-centered environment. Although a few stated their skepticism that beginning language learners could actually learn from one another, they did express an interest in MI Theory. However, as I reflect on my own learning experience from this workshop, there were a few areas for improvement. In doing this workshop, I learned that just important as addressing the diverse learning needs of the language students in my Spanish courses, I must address the diverse needs of the instructors that attend my professional development presentations. For example, it was a challenge for me to stay focused on the purpose of the workshop when a few instructors could not see how my ideas would apply to the difficulties of teaching languages that require knowledge of a different alphabet and sound system. The supervisor of the program was very helpful in explaining that it really is "all about communication"--the title of my workshop. She reiterated the idea that adult learners want to feel a sense of accomplishment with each class meeting. This allowed for a short discussion on how these instructors might alter instruction of the alphabet and sound system to include a few useful phrases in the target language. It is my hope and one of my goals to continue to do workshops in this capacity. I believe that as I grow as a presenter, my workshops will become more effective as I become more capable of meeting the diverse needs of the language instructors in attendance. One idea is to send out a needs analysis questionnaire to the instructors that would allow me to identify these needs before I develop the actual workshop materials.

Fairfax County Adult and Community Education: World Language Instructors
May 2007
"It's All About Communication"

This was my first professional development workshop that I created specifically for a group of world language instructors who teach with Fairfax County Adult and Community Education (FCPS-ACE). After a few discussions with the supervisor of the World Language Program, it became evident that many of the instructors, while fluent in the language they teach, have not had formal pedagogical training. Based on feedback from students in the program, many of the instructors follow a teacher-centered format that rarely includes communicative activities. The supervisor believes that the lack of communicative activities maybe one cause for low enrollments in the upper level language courses. Therefore, the goal of my workshop was to introduce the instructors to the idea of "learner-centered instruction" with the hope that the enrollments in the upper level courses will increase with the implementation of communicative activities. The challenge was to get these instructors to see the value in a new teaching approach without devaluing the methods they are currently using.

To accomplish this goal, I began my interactive presentation with my own personal history as an adult world language instructor. For many years, I used a direct, teacher-centered approach to instruction because that was all that I knew. It was how I had learned a language so it seemed perfectly logical to teach using that same approach. It wasn't until I attended a national conference that my interest in communicative teaching methods and learner-centered instruction peaked. After sharing my brief history, I wanted to personalize this presentation to meet there needs. We began by brainstorming a rather formidable list of the current issues they face in their classrooms. They offered such things as "the learner not having realistic language learning goals" (and thus quitting once it became too difficult), to "the challenges of dealing with multi-level language learners in the same course" as their most common challenges. To address this list, I focused on three concepts: teachers as reflective practitioners; Multiple Intelligence Theory; learner-centered activities.

The feedback that I received from the instructors was very positive. They asked for more "hands-on" workshops like this in the future. Many asked for the supporting research for differentiating instruction in a learner-centered environment. Although a few stated their skepticism that beginning language learners could actually learn from one another, they did express an interest in MI Theory. However, as I reflect on my own learning experience from this workshop, there were a few areas for improvement.

In doing this workshop, I learned that just important as addressing the diverse learning needs of the language students in my Spanish courses, I must address the diverse needs of the instructors that attend my professional development presentations. For example, it was a challenge for me to stay focused on the purpose of the workshop when a few instructors could not see how my ideas would apply to the difficulties of teaching languages that require knowledge of a different alphabet and sound system. The supervisor of the program was very helpful in explaining that it really is "all about communication"--the title of my workshop. She reiterated the idea that adult learners want to feel a sense of accomplishment with each class meeting. This allowed for a short discussion on how these instructors might alter instruction of the alphabet and sound system to include a few useful phrases in the target language.

It is my hope and one of my goals to continue to do workshops in this capacity. I believe that as I grow as a presenter, my workshops will become more effective as I become more capable of meeting the diverse needs of the language instructors in attendance. One idea is to send out a needs analysis questionnaire to the instructors that would allow me to identify these needs before I develop the actual workshop materials.

STARTALK Workshop Guest Presenter Summer 2007 "Processing the Know "
This was a workshop for Arabic and Chinese teachers in the greater Washington, D.C. area. Dr. Haley's workshop focused on the application of MI Theory in the world language classroom. She gave me the opportunity to participate in her workshop as a guest presenter. My objective was to demonstrate that just because a language teacher provides instruction does not guarantee that learning has occurred. To illustrate this point, I created a Power Point presentation and an activity called "The Goopation of Garpon." The activity is a modification of The Montillation of Traxoline by Pat Wolfe (1996), which I found in Marilee Sprenger's Differentiation through learning styles and memory (2003). I wanted the Arabic and Chinese teachers to experience what it is like to be given a text with many unknown words and then asked to answer a list of comprehension questions. This is a typical activity that world language teachers assign to their beginning level language learners. A common result of this traditional type of activity is that students are not able to complete the activity and disengage in the learning process. A better approach is to use the same text with a different set of comprehension activities that are based on MI Theory. I gave the Arabic and Chinese teachers the opportunity to do just that as I had them work in small groups creating an activity that would highlight at least one of Gardner's intelligences. I believe the teachers in this workshop benefited from this hands-on activity. However, this was also a good learning experience for me. One thing that I learned is that when giving this type of workshop activity, I really need to think about my audience. What is their background knowledge on the subject matter? And, how can I conduct a brief needs assessment in order to make sure that my activity will meet their learning needs? I did this during the opening slides of my presentation as I asked them to tell me what they had been learning about Gardner's MI Theory. However, I did not think to ask them about their experiences with cooperative learning activities. It wasn't until after I began the activity that I realized that some of the teachers in the workshop had not had much experience with small group activities. Although all of the groups were able to complete the activity, I think it would have been more successful had I briefly discussed the purpose and benefits of cooperative learning groups.

STARTALK Workshop
Guest Presenter
Summer 2007
"Processing the Know "

This was a workshop for Arabic and Chinese teachers in the greater Washington, D.C. area. Dr. Haley's workshop focused on the application of MI Theory in the world language classroom. She gave me the opportunity to participate in her workshop as a guest presenter. My objective was to demonstrate that just because a language teacher provides instruction does not guarantee that learning has occurred. To illustrate this point, I created a Power Point presentation and an activity called "The Goopation of Garpon." The activity is a modification of The Montillation of Traxoline by Pat Wolfe (1996), which I found in Marilee Sprenger's Differentiation through learning styles and memory (2003). I wanted the Arabic and Chinese teachers to experience what it is like to be given a text with many unknown words and then asked to answer a list of comprehension questions. This is a typical activity that world language teachers assign to their beginning level language learners. A common result of this traditional type of activity is that students are not able to complete the activity and disengage in the learning process. A better approach is to use the same text with a different set of comprehension activities that are based on MI Theory. I gave the Arabic and Chinese teachers the opportunity to do just that as I had them work in small groups creating an activity that would highlight at least one of Gardner's intelligences.

I believe the teachers in this workshop benefited from this hands-on activity. However, this was also a good learning experience for me. One thing that I learned is that when giving this type of workshop activity, I really need to think about my audience. What is their background knowledge on the subject matter? And, how can I conduct a brief needs assessment in order to make sure that my activity will meet their learning needs? I did this during the opening slides of my presentation as I asked them to tell me what they had been learning about Gardner's MI Theory. However, I did not think to ask them about their experiences with cooperative learning activities. It wasn't until after I began the activity that I realized that some of the teachers in the workshop had not had much experience with small group activities. Although all of the groups were able to complete the activity, I think it would have been more successful had I briefly discussed the purpose and benefits of cooperative learning groups.

Greater Washington Association for Teachers of Foreign Languages (GWATFL) Fall 2006 Teacher Action Research: Multiple Intelligence Theory in the Foreign Language Classroom
In September of 2006, I presented a teacher action research project that I had conducted while studying for my M. Ed. The impetus for my research was the readings in a course on second language acquisition research. After reading Christison's 1996 article on Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI Theory), I had a better understanding of how to classify my classroom activities in order to identify "neglected intelligences" or those intelligences that I was not currently fostering in my lesson plans. Coupled with this article was Brualdi's (1996) article that explains the importance of using MI Theory to teach and assess cognitively and culturally diverse learners. Motivated by these authors and others,I decided I would implement Gardner's MI Theory with my students in a Spanish 101 course. The Power Point presentation I created outlined my research methods, my conclusions and also the processes involved with conducting teacher action research. My goal of the presentation was to share my findings as well as to promote the use of teacher action research as a means to investigate everyday classroom issues in order to make informed instructional decisions. The overall experience was excellent. In addition to the Power Point presentation, participants took a MI Inventory to gain insight to their own strong and weak intelligences. We discussed how these inventories are not diagnostic aptitude tests; yet they are beneficial for introducing MI Theory into the foreign language classroom as they stimulate meta-cognition in even the youngest of learners.

Greater Washington Association for Teachers of Foreign Languages (GWATFL)
Fall 2006
Teacher Action Research: Multiple Intelligence Theory in the Foreign Language Classroom

In September of 2006, I presented a teacher action research project that I had conducted while studying for my M. Ed. The impetus for my research was the readings in a course on second language acquisition research. After reading Christison's 1996 article on Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI Theory), I had a better understanding of how to classify my classroom activities in order to identify "neglected intelligences" or those intelligences that I was not currently fostering in my lesson plans. Coupled with this article was Brualdi's (1996) article that explains the importance of using MI Theory to teach and assess cognitively and culturally diverse learners. Motivated by these authors and others,I decided I would implement Gardner's MI Theory with my students in a Spanish 101 course.

The Power Point presentation I created outlined my research methods, my conclusions and also the processes involved with conducting teacher action research. My goal of the presentation was to share my findings as well as to promote the use of teacher action research as a means to investigate everyday classroom issues in order to make informed instructional decisions.

The overall experience was excellent. In addition to the Power Point presentation, participants took a MI Inventory to gain insight to their own strong and weak intelligences. We discussed how these inventories are not diagnostic aptitude tests; yet they are beneficial for introducing MI Theory into the foreign language classroom as they stimulate meta-cognition in even the youngest of learners.

The Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages(NECTFL) Co-presented with Cecilia Abare, Marstellar Middle School Spanish Teacher Spring 2007 "I'll Take Games and Grammar for $100.00"
This was an exceptional experience of connecting research to practice and to show how the practice can actually drive the direction of research. Specifically, Cecilia and I sought to present alternative activities to traditional paper and pencil drill worksheets for middle school students in a beginning language course. Our Power Point presentation provided the rationale (the previous research) for our use of games, but we wanted to also show how language teachers can conduct their own classroom research to see if what they are doing is effective when considering the social and cognitive development of middle school students. We also wanted to take the "learning by doing" approach when presenting the actual games. To do so we asked for volunteers, who assumed the role of their typical middle-school age students, as we modeled ten different games. As we modeled the games, we asked open-ended questions to our audience regarding the previous research we had presented on the social and cognitive development of the learner. The manner of presentation proved to be very effective as numerous teachers contacted us post-conference (via email) for more information. As the email dialogues progressed, these teachers shared their challenges and their concerns about how to implement our ideas with their students. This type of dialogic feedback was critical for my own learning regarding the realities that teachers face in different demographic areas. Our games have proven to be successful with middle-class suburban middle school students, but how would they fare with inner-city high school students? I have continued my conversations with several teachers as I believe this is an essential component for driving future research in the field of world languages.

The Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages(NECTFL)
Co-presented with Cecilia Abare, Marstellar Middle School Spanish Teacher
Spring 2007
"I'll Take Games and Grammar for $100.00"

This was an exceptional experience of connecting research to practice and to show how the practice can actually drive the direction of research. Specifically, Cecilia and I sought to present alternative activities to traditional paper and pencil drill worksheets for middle school students in a beginning language course. Our Power Point presentation provided the rationale (the previous research) for our use of games, but we wanted to also show how language teachers can conduct their own classroom research to see if what they are doing is effective when considering the social and cognitive development of middle school students. We also wanted to take the "learning by doing" approach when presenting the actual games. To do so we asked for volunteers, who assumed the role of their typical middle-school age students, as we modeled ten different games. As we modeled the games, we asked open-ended questions to our audience regarding the previous research we had presented on the social and cognitive development of the learner.

The manner of presentation proved to be very effective as numerous teachers contacted us post-conference (via email) for more information. As the email dialogues progressed, these teachers shared their challenges and their concerns about how to implement our ideas with their students. This type of dialogic feedback was critical for my own learning regarding the realities that teachers face in different demographic areas. Our games have proven to be successful with middle-class suburban middle school students, but how would they fare with inner-city high school students? I have continued my conversations with several teachers as I believe this is an essential component for driving future research in the field of world languages.

National Conference of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages(ACTFL) Co-presented with Dr. Marjorie Hall Haley Fall 2007 "Ensuring the Successful Student-teaching Internship "
Presenting at a national conference definitely has a different feel. Unlike my previous conference presentations at the local and regional level, where my presentations focused on the practice of teaching world languages, this presentation truly opened a new world to me--the world of teacher licensure programs and pre-service teacher education. Instead of presenting to an audience of world language teachers seeking new activities or new methods of instruction, this audience included world language educators, department chairs, and licensure program directors/specialists. All were seeking information for improving the transition from licensure coursework to the student-teaching internship. They also had many questions for creating programs that meet the ACTFL/NCATE accreditation standards. I was fascinated by their questions. I had not really known about the great diversity of world language teacher education/licensure programs. I was intrigued by the individual circumstances that were often related to geographical area. After this presentation, I began to question the direction of my dissertation research. Should I continue to focus on intervention research with language learners? Or, should I follow my growing interest in teacher education programs?

National Conference of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages(ACTFL)
Co-presented with Dr. Marjorie Hall Haley
Fall 2007
"Ensuring the Successful Student-teaching Internship "

Presenting at a national conference definitely has a different feel. Unlike my previous conference presentations at the local and regional level, where my presentations focused on the practice of teaching world languages, this presentation truly opened a new world to me--the world of teacher licensure programs and pre-service teacher education. Instead of presenting to an audience of world language teachers seeking new activities or new methods of instruction, this audience included world language educators, department chairs, and licensure program directors/specialists. All were seeking information for improving the transition from licensure coursework to the student-teaching internship. They also had many questions for creating programs that meet the ACTFL/NCATE accreditation standards. I was fascinated by their questions. I had not really known about the great diversity of world language teacher education/licensure programs. I was intrigued by the individual circumstances that were often related to geographical area.

After this presentation, I began to question the direction of my dissertation research. Should I continue to focus on intervention research with language learners? Or, should I follow my growing interest in teacher education programs?