Online Winter Institutes

The Professionals in Education Advancing Research and Language Learning (PEARLL), a Title VI Language Resource Center at the National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland, is offering two winter institutes, which blend synchronous presentations and small group discussions with asynchronous independent time to apply new concepts in your own teaching environment.

Post-Secondary Perspectives on Proficiency

January 4 - 6 @ 11:00 am - 4:00 pm Eastern

Participants will identify characteristics of a meaningful and relevant curriculum at the post-secondary level based on the principles of proficiency, using Backward Design and setting priorities for a sequence of courses. They will also evaluate essential course content and learning outcomes, create context for purposeful and cognitively engaging units that advance learner proficiency, and assess learners for what they can do in each of the communicative modes.

New Year, New (Unit and Lesson) Goals

Tuesdays in January (10, 17, 24, and 31) @ 4:30 - 7:00 pm Eastern

How can you move beyond administrative requirements to post the learning targets for a lesson? In this online institute, participants will discover how to create meaningful unit learning targets that will actually help plan a lesson. Closing the gap between what is written in the curriculum and needed to implement in daily lessons, they will learn how to prioritize lesson plans in order to prepare students to be successful on upcoming performance assessment.

To reserve a spot in one or both of the online institutes, please submit the PEARLL Winter Institute Interest Form as soon as possible.

Virtual OPI Assessment Workshop

Register by Friday, January 6

Workshop runs January 13 - February 17, 2023

The Virtual OPI Assessment Workshop introduces the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) rating scale, the structure of the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI), and techniques for administering and rating the OPI, including its applications in the language classroom.

With this online format, participants will work asynchronously on six modules in English at their own pace, receive feedback from facilitators during two discussion sessions, post responses on a discussion board, and observe and conduct practice interviews across all proficiency levels.

Upon completion of all workshop requirements, participants will receive a certificate verifying 30 hours of professional development. Participation in an OPI Assessment Workshop is the first step towards becoming an ACTFL Certified OPI Tester with Full Certification (Novice through Superior).

Please see the Winter 2023 Virtual OPI Assessment Workshop registration page for additional details, including information about the language cohorts in English, French, Italian, Korean, and Portuguese.

CARLA Online Workshops for Teachers

Saturdays in January - April @ 10:00 am - 1:00 pm Eastern

The Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) at the University of Minnesota offers a series of online Saturday workshops for language educators each semester that are designed with the practitioner in mind. All workshops are hosted on the Zoom platform.

• January 21 & February 4 - Dual Language/Immersion Series
• February 4 - At a FrEEEmium: Engaging Easy Apps to Enhance Language Learning
  (led by North Carolina's Leslie Plyler from Virtual Iredell-Statesville Schools)
• February 11 - Wellbeing for Language Teachers: A Workshop on Learning to Thrive in the Profession
• March 25 - Balance in the Assessment of World Languages: Increasing Learner Motivation and Proficiency
• April 22 - Creative Language Teaching at the Post-Secondary Level

Please see the Workshops for Teachers tab under Professional Development for more details.

CAST for World Languages Canvas Course

Available 24/7 as a self-paced option for 0.5 CEU

The Counselor Advising and Scheduling Tips (CAST) for World Languages mini-course is designed to guide school counselors, World Language teachers and administrators, and other course advisors in understanding North Carolina World Language programs, course codes, options, best practices, resources, etc., so that these educators can be best equipped to advise students on what courses to take to align with their future aspirations. 

Please use the information and links below to access the self-paced CAST for World Languages course to enroll individually as a K-12 educator in NC Public Schools or to access the course in Canvas Commons if you would like to download or import the course to adapt as a local professional learning offering.

• If you are a K-12 educator in NC Public Schools, use these step-by-step directions to enroll for 5 contact hours (or 0.5 CEU) in the HomeBase NCEES PD space.
• If you are a K-20 educator who wants to adapt this course to offer locally within your instance of Canvas; is at a K-12 independent/private school, a community college, or a higher education organization; or lives in a different state or country; use these instructions to download or import the course, in whole or in part, from Instructure's Canvas Commons.

All three of the self-paced Canvas Courses listed below have been designed for World Language educators and their colleagues. They are featured on the NCDPI World Languages Professional Learning page and in the Professional Learning section of the World Languages Resources Hub at bit.ly/NCWLresources.

• CAST for World Languages (0.5 CEU)
• Dual Language/Immersion (DL/I) Blue Book Study (1 CEU)
• Introduction to LinguaFolio (1 CEU)

Go Global NC Global Teachers - Chile 2023

Applications due January 10

Go Global NC's Global Teachers – Chile 2023 program will explore Chile’s historical, cultural, and natural sites; study its diverse educational systems; learn about the inroads Chile is making into sustainable agricultural practices; and gain insight into the impact of both indigenous peoples and Spanish colonialism on the Chile we see today.

Participants will see how different schools in Chile are embracing strategies to focus on inclusive education that emphasizes the importance of developing cognitive stimulation, social skills, and inhabiting the local environment. They will also learn more about the student protests (or Penguins Revolution) of 2006, explore the role of street art in Chile, and see how the Casablanca Valley region is actively using biodynamic agriculture to produce healthier and more balanced crops.

This comprehensive professional development program will begin with an in-depth orientation (including both virtual and in-person sessions), followed by a transformative in-country immersion experience, and an action-planning follow up workshop to synthesize lessons learned and prepare delegates to share global perspectives with students, colleagues, and communities.

Global Teachers - Chile 2023 is designed for North Carolina K-12 teachers from all grade levels and subject areas. Educators from Chapel Hill-Carrboro, Chatham, Durham, Orange and Wake school systems are eligible to apply for the Borchardt Award.

Please see the online application for more details, and contact Rachel Rosenbaum, Assistant Program Director, at rachel.rosenbaum@globalnc.org with any questions. 

US Teachers of Critical Languages Program

Applications for US Host Schools due January 23

The Teachers of Critical Languages Program (TCLP) is a multi-layered cross-cultural program from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State that is implemented by American Councils for International Education. American Councils recruits and places English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers from China, Egypt, Morocco, and Taiwan within American secondary schools where they teach their native language and culture. This program seeks to strengthen foreign language instruction at US schools, while also providing the selected exchange teachers the opportunity to learn about US teaching methodologies, culture, and society.

Exchange teachers placed in a US host school will teach in an existing Mandarin Chinese or Modern Standard Arabic program or will help start a program in Chinese or Arabic, as well as serve as a cultural resource in the host school and community.

For additional details about eligibility, applications, etc., please see the TCLP US Schools Apply webpage.

ACTFL 2023 Call for Proposals

Submit by January 27

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Annual Convention will be held November 17- 19, 2023, at the McCormick Place in Chicago. The 2023 ACTFL Convention is a national event bringing together attendees from all languages, levels, and assignments within the profession.

The goal of the ACTFL Annual Convention is to provide a comprehensive professional development experience for language educators from around the country. Proposals address the needs of today’s learners and educators by focusing on innovative programs, emerging trends, and research-informed practices.

Please go to the 2023 Call for Proposals webpage and log in to read the details in the Submission Guidelines and Presenter Responsibilities before proceeding to complete your submission using the online form.

Note: Each individual can submit only one proposal as a lead presenter and be listed on only one as a co-presenter. The deadline to submit a proposal is Friday, January 27, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Late submissions will not be considered.

FLANC 2023 Fall Conference Call for Proposals

Submit by March 1

The Foreign Language Association of North Carolina (FLANC) Fall 2023 Conference will be at the Benton Convention Center in Winston-Salem on October 7 - 8, 2023.

The theme for the 2023 Fall Conference is “Advocate, Collaborate, and Celebrate!” We want to encourage educators to advocate for themselves and celebrate students’ success. We would also like to invite you to share your strategies of collaborations and make connections with others.

For proposal submissions, please think about the following:

• What can you do to make a difference as a teacher advocate?
• How do you make connections with your peers and make plans to collaborate?
• How do you celebrate your students’ success?

Submit your proposal using the online form at tinyurl.com/2023flancproposals and have the chance to share your ideas with your colleagues and all of the fantastic FLANC members! Consider submitting a proposal for a:

• 3-hour Friday evening workshop,
• 50-minute Saturday/Sunday session, or
• Graduate student research poster with video presentation accessible by QR code. 

Come join us in celebrating our teaching journeys and pursuing our future professional growth by submitting your proposal by March 1, 2023. Should you have any questions, contact Yi-Wen Liu, 1st Vice President and Program Chair (Fall 2023), at 1vp@flanc.org.

LIS Learning Series Sessions

The NCDPI English Language Arts (ELA) Team is offering a series of professional learning throughout the 2022 - 2023 school year that focuses on integrating the Literacy Instruction Standards (LIS) into standards-aligned content area instruction. These sessions start at 3:45 pm and are open to K-12 educators, including World Language teachers, coaches, and administrators who want to reflect on biliteracy practices.

Please go to page 1 of the LIS Learning Series flyer for the following registration links:

• January 25 - Literacy in Math
• April 27 - Literacy in Social Studies
• May 11 - Literacy in ELD

The slide decks and recordings from the Literacy in ELA and Literacy in Science sessions are archived on the LIS-Based Professional Learning page in the LIS Toolkit Canvas hub.

A Bonus LIS Learning Series has been added on Tuesdays in February from 3:45 - 5:15 pm and these registration links can be found on page 2 of the LIS Learning Series flyer:

• February 7 - LIS for PK-5
• February 14 - Integrating LIS: Content Area Literacy
• February 21 - Writing Strategies for K-5
• February 28 - Improving Reading for Secondary Students

NC Portrait of a Graduate Materials in Spanish

The Portrait of a Graduate aims to ensure that North Carolina students are well equipped for the broadest range of postsecondary opportunities. Aligning with State Superintendent of Public Instruction’s Catherine Truitt’s 2022 focus on the “Year of the Workforce,” the Portrait can be adopted by schools and districts to better prepare the state’s 1.5 million students for civic life, career or college.

The statewide Portrait identifies seven competencies that students should possess upon graduation from high school to help them thrive in the 21st century.

Feel free to download the NC Portrait of a Graduate materials in Spanish below, which are posted on the Resources tab on the Portrait of a Graduate homepage:

• Portrait and Compentencies
  
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
• Communications Toolkit