Professional Conference Assignment

Purposes:

o  Participate professionally in the school community, in professional organizations and professional development activities, and engage in professional dialogue and reflection with colleagues to improve teaching skills and your program (INTASC Standards: 9 & 10)

o  Develop a research-based repertoire of instructional strategies that help secondary students meet each of the World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages (INTASC Standards 1, 2, 3, & 4)

o  Utilize a variety of emerging technologies to differentiate instruction, develop language proficiency and cultural competence, improve your professional productivity, and support your professional growth (INTASC Standards: 2, 3, 8, &10)

o  Adapt learning experiences appropriately to better meet the needs of culturally diverse learners, including students with a variety of learning styles and special needs (INTASC Standards: 1, 2 , 3, 7, & 8)

Instructions:

1)  Register for a professional conference. (Check on discounts for early registration and full time students.) Try to attend with at least one other colleague from class.

2)  Attend at least two different kinds of sessions

·  an exhibitor session (these are marked in the program)

·  a session dedicated to teaching strategies and activities

·  a session focused on a particular teaching approach, issue, or methodology (such as service learning, technology, or TPRS)

3)  Take notes (see attached form).

4)  Talk with a teacher you do not know who is attending the conference.

5)  Talk with exhibitors in the exhibit hall.

6)  Be prepared to discuss the following questions in class:

!  What did you learn from the different types of sessions? Did they reflect sound pedagogical practice?

!  What did the presentations imply about the presenters’ philosophy and beliefs about teaching and learning?

!  What did you learn in each session that you think will be useful to you?

!  What did you learn about yourself from each session?

!  How did presenters, other teachers, and exhibitors treat you? (What kinds of questions did they ask you? What did you say to them? What was left unsaid between you?)


Use this page to keep track of your impressions during the conference. Turn in a hard copy.

_____I attended at least two different types of sessions (circle which types):
Exhibitor session General teaching strategies/activities Specific topic (service learning,
technology, TPRS)
Title of Session 1: / Presenter’s Key Points: / My Personal Ahas:
Title of Session 2: / Presenter’s Key Points: / My Personal Ahas:
_____I visited the exhibit hall. / My Observations:
_____I talked with exhibitors. / Names of Companies: / My Observations:
_____I talked with a teacher I did not know. / Name of Teacher:
School:
Subject Area: / My Personal Ahas:

Possible Questions About the Organization Sponsoring the Conference:

!  What services does the organization(s) offer its members?

!  How does the organization support new teachers?

!  What opportunities are there for you to become involved with the organization? What would the benefits of doing so be to you?

Possible Questions for Exhibitors:

!  How can your products, textbook, or materials help me as a beginning teacher?

!  How do your products address the Utah Core Educational Standards, the Common Core Standards, 21st century skills, or the World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages?

!  What approach do your products take to language teaching and learning?

!  If I wanted to use the online components of your products or services with my students, how are they licensed? (Yearly license purchased per student, site license for whole school or district, single license purchased for lifetime of the product)

!  Are the technological portions of your product platform specific (i.e., do they only work on a Mac or only on a PC)?

!  Can students access the online portions of the product from home?

!  What supplemental materials come with the textbook? Is it possible to use the textbook without the supplemental materials, or is the program completely integrated?

!  Are listening activities included in the textbook or workbook? How are they structured?

!  Does this textbook come with color transparencies? Reproducible paired activities?

Blackline masters of vocabulary pictures that I can use to create my own activities?

A realia kit? Enrichment materials online or on a CD?

!  What kinds of assessments do you provide as a part of this textbook series?

Do you have a testing bank so I can make multiple versions of tests?

!  What about advanced students—does the series offer textbooks for Spanish 3 and 4? How does the series address the needs of native or heritage speakers?

!  Is it possible to be successful with this text if one is teaching in a school with limited access to technological equipment?

!  How does a teacher get a copy of a textbook (access to software) to consider for future use? Is there a charge for that?

Professionalism ¨ 2016 ¨ Cherice Montgomery in collaboration with Suzanne Kauer & Cindy Kendall