A Time of Thanks

I have returned from ACTFL and loved that I got to see so many people (albeit many of them in passing due to the size and pace of ACTFL) - yes, my CI/ADI cup was definitely refilled this past weekend. With these experiences still fresh in mind and with Thanksgiving week upon us, I would like to dedicate this blog post as time to express my own gratitude. As I reflect upon this past year professionally, I realize that I have much for which to be thankful:

• Thank you to Linda Li, Betsy Paskvan, Michelle Whaley, Haiyun Lu, Justin Slocum Bailey, Elicia Cardenas, Annabelle Williamson, Eric Richards, and Skip Crosby for your conference L2 classes/demos over these past years. At this summer's Fluency Matters Conference, I served as the Latin instructor for the adult language classes. When I first was asked to do this, I almost immediately turned it down, because I thought, "I have never done something like this before! I am not conference language instructor material! Who am I to do this? I am the one who is observing these teachers at conferences - I am a better observer than instructor!" However, it was for this very reason, i.e., I have observed so many of these master teachers leading L2 demos and teaching labs at conferences, which led me to accept this challenge. And you know what? I had a blast teaching the Latin class! But I can take absolutely no credit for what I did. I simply took what I had observed you do in your lab classes/L2 demos and "Latinized" it with my own spin. 
• Thank you Wayside Publishing for the above teaching opportunity at the Fluency Matters Conference.
• Thank you to Martina Bex and Elicia Cardenas for hiring me to work in your online Acquisition Boot Camp (ABC) class and in-person Acquisition Academy. While these courses are designed for those new to CI/ADI theory and instruction, I can never get enough of hearing you both teach about second language acquisition - my foundation and knowledge of SLA continues to grow and to become stronger because of you!
• Thanks to Voces Digital/CI Summit for the opportunity to serve as a coach/cohort team member. With so many talented and knowledgeable CI/ADI folks out there, I do not take it for granted that you wanted me to be a part of your team.
• Thank you to Margarita Perez Garcia and Adam Giedd for your novice level Spanish readers/novellas. As a novice-level Spanish reader, I now am truly understanding what novice-level reading should contain in terms of sheltering vocabulary, repeated sentence structures without feeling repetitive, and compelling subject matter! At ACTFL, I bought some other novice-level Spanish readers both for me and my department. I just finished reading El Pelo Incontrolable by Grace V. Sotomayor Mantri and absolutely loved it (and I felt SO SUCCESSFUL that I was able to read it!).
• Thank you to Comprehensible Iowa. You put on a FIRST-CLASS regional conference with wonderful presenters and great hospitality - this is why smaller, regional conferences are so important! I am definitely returning next summer.
• Thank you to Eric Richards for the last two collaborative blog posts. At ACTFL, people mentioned how much they have enjoyed them. I have really enjoyed working on them with you, and I look forward to future collaborations. I have definitely learned a great deal from you these past few years, so thanks for giving my blog some credibility with your posts!

Finally thank you to all of you who read this blog. While I was at ACTFL this past weekend, I could not get over the number of people who approached me and thanked me for this blog. Thank you all for thinking that I have something to say. To be honest, I am nothing special in terms of being a blogger. I do not feel that I am coming up with anything original or groundbreaking - I just happen to be the person who writes things down. I still write this blog as if only twelve people (specifically Latin teachers) read this, so I am always amazed afresh that other language teachers find value in what I write here. I am definitely humbled by this.

I hope that you will have a restful Thanksgiving break away from students!