World Language Teachers, ranging from PreK to 12th grade, gathered together at Liberty Middle School on the most recent collaborative half-day to learn from Dr. Sara Ahnell about High Leverage Teaching Practices.
Dr. Sara Ahnell is a Clinical Assistant Professor and the Program Coordinator for the Foreign Language Education Programs in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching at Auburn University and supports World Language teachers across the state in best practices. During this training, teachers learned about High Leverage Teaching Practices #7 and #8, which are “Establishing Meaningful and Purposeful Context for Language Instruction” and “Planning for Instruction Using an Iterative Process for Backward Design,” respectively.
During this training, teachers learned about the importance of developing and creating learning experiences with students focused on Language Acquisition instead of Language Learning. When teachers and students focus on Language Acquisition, they are both using the target language 90% of the time, using the language for real-world communication, and using inductive teaching strategies for language discovery. In order to develop language acquisition through the Backward Design process, teachers can:
Establish a meaningful and purposeful context
Identify desired outcomes
Determine acceptable evidence
Plan learning activities
Self-assess/reflect
The feedback received from this dynamic and diverse group of World Language teachers highlighted the power of collaborative learning and professional reflection. One teacher remarked, "I enjoyed the discussion and had a good time reflecting on my planning methods," underscoring the value of taking time to critically assess instructional practices. Reflective dialog like this allowed them to potentially enhance their approach to lesson planning and student engagement, tailoring methods that foster language acquisition across grade levels.
In addition, the teachers appreciated the actionable insights from the session. As one teacher noted, the training provided a "very thorough review of strategies that can be utilized in teaching World Language." This emphasizes their high value of practical, evidence-based strategies that teachers can implement immediately in their diverse classrooms. Moreover, the opportunity for collaboration was clearly impactful, with another teacher commenting, "I enjoyed being in a setting with like-minded people. It was really nice to be able to hear from other world language teachers." This sentiment reflects the strong desire for continued peer engagement and sharing of best practices. Teachers also expressed enthusiasm for ongoing opportunities, stating, "We hope to continue to offer collaborative opportunities for World Language throughout the year!"
This experience overall was well-received by the teachers who are hopeful for future opportunities to come together, collaborate, and grow as a professional learning community of high leverage teaching practices.
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