Tag Archives: professional development

110: Conferences and PD for Language Teachers

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Have you attended a conference specifically for language teachers, either locally, regionally or nationally.  If you have, this episode will get you excited about the upcoming conference season.  If you’ve never attended, you’ll be inspired to attend for sure. Danja Mahoney and Vilma Nasuti Bibeau, both members of their state language conference planning committee, join me to explore everything that these events have to offer and all that’s in it for language teachers.  I live for PD, workshops and a good ol’ conference. I’m so excited.

Topics in this episode:

  • Benefits of attending a conference for world language teachers
  • What typically happens at a language teacher’s conference?
  • Who presents at conferences?
  • Events and activities that are typically available to conference attendees.
  • Networking opportunities, social gatherings and exhibitors.
  • How language teacher conferences foster collaboration among attendees.

Connect with Vilma, Danja and MaFLA:

Work with Joshua either in person or remotely.

Teachers want to hear from you and what you are proud of in your classroom.
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Virtual Professional Development with a Personal Learning Network (PLN)

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Computers, smartphones, tablets, the internet, apps, and websites are all around us and it is a rare day when a teacher does use at least one of these technology tools.  In response to this, Personal Learning Networks (PLNs) have become virtual, easily accessible and quick.  A PLN consists of learners (teachers seeking professional development in this case) who create connections and develop a network that contributes to their professional development and knowledge.

Virtual Professional Development with a Personal Learning Network (PLN) wlteacher.wordpress.comTypically, the learner does not have to know the people personally or ever meet them in person.  Professional conferences play an important role in professional development, but an active PLN happens on the timetable of the individual, though there are some PLNs that have designated chat session times once a week, but that happens from where you are.

My PLNs:

  • Twitter (hashtag #langchat for foreign language teachers).  Post a question with the hashtag or search Twitter with the hashtag and respond or read responses.
  • Facebook (Create a page and invite teachers to join).  I am a member of the Organic World Language (OWL) page and the discussions are very formative.
  • Pinterest (Follow boards of interest).  I maintain individual boards by topic and follow other boards with those topics.  Comment on pins or repin the pins that you like to your own boards.
  • Instagram (Follow other language teachers and world travelers).  Search topics with hashtags (#) and get great visuals for use in the classroom.  Comment and share with other teachers.
  • Periscope (Interact with language teachers in real time).  I follow several language educators and I also scope once a week, sometimes more, about language teaching tips, tools and resources.
  • YouTube (Follow channels that interest you).  Don’t just watch videos, leave comments and start a conversation.  Create a network.
  • Blogs (like this one).  Follow blogs of interest and you will be notified of new posts.  Don’t just read the posts, pin, tweet, post on Facebook and comment on the post on the blog.  This starts a conversation.

Here is a quick and informative video on Personal Learning Networks (PLNs):

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