2025 CI/ADI Conferences

Yes, I know that it is January, but it is never too early to begin considering attending a CI/ADI Conference or training whether it be in person or online.

• Mitten CI (in-person) - April 4-5 in Saline, Michigan
• Comprehensible Iowa (in person) - June 13-14 in Des Moines, Iowa (I will be there!)
• Teaching and Assessing for Acquisition (in person) - June 14-15 in Chicago(ish), IL
• CI Reboot (online) - July 7-10, 2025
• Conference in the Clouds (online) - July 14-17
• CI Summit (in person) - July 21-23 in Norman, Oklahoma (I will be there!)
• Agen Workshop (in-person - France) - July 21-26
• TCI Maine (in person) - October 16-17, 2025 in Lewiston, Maine

Did I miss any? Let me know in the comments. Hope that you will consider attending one!

Shared Thoughts on In-person Conferences - Another Collaborative Post with Eric Richards

This is another collaborative post with Eric Richards - this one was unplanned! However, both Eric and I independently had planned to release a post about in-person conferences on our individual blogs unbeknownst to each other. When we realized that we touched on many of the same points about the importance of in-person conferences, we decided to combine them as one blog post.

My post surrounds reasons why I am going to ACTFL this week, and Eric's post encompasses his reflections on in-person conferences upon attending a FLAM regional conference. Hope you enjoy this!

Keith Toda - Why I am Going to ACTFL

This weekend in Philadelphia is the ACTFL Convention, the national conference for World Language teachers, and I will be attending. It has been YEARS since I last attended one (it was in 2017 in Nashville). I had been on the fence about attending this year's convention, because one of the downsides for me is the sheer size of it - THOUSANDS attend the ACTFL Convention, and it is easy to feel overwhelmed by that. However, this past summer's CI Summit's headquarter hotel was in the downtown Philadelphia area right across from City Hall and not too far from the convention center where ACTFL will be located. Since I was already kind of familiar with that area after this summer, that was a major factor in my decision to attend.

However, what is my main reason for attending ACTFL this year after not having attended since 2017? Quite honestly: I need my CI/ADI cup filled. My cup is low, and believe me, there are only but a few drops in it. In the world of education, the months of late September, October, and November are HARD and can suck the joy out of teaching (I just recently learned that this time period is known as DEVOLSON - the Dark, Evil Vortex of Late September, October, and November - and let me tell you, this is REAL! It finally has a name!). This is the time of the year where I hate being a department head, cannot stand students, and everything related to work feels like such a chore and a burden. I do not feel like I have/am exhibiting any joy in my lessons, and it is so toilsome to teach. In short, I am weary.

I need to be around my CI/ADI people - people who get me; people over whom I still fanboy because they are seasoned, experienced teachers; people who by their sheer example and friendship both motivate and encourage me to be a better CI/ADI practitioner; people whose presentations I attend and walk away feeling refreshed and reinvigorated. And going to an in-person conference like ACTFL where I will see many of these people is my incentive.

Although many conferences are heading towards being digital in nature (and I completely understand the reasons why), there are some aspects which can only be achieved by attending an in-person conference:

• Personal - There is something about sharing a common learning experience together with other people in the same room and being able to interact with the presenter and others who are there. Blogs and digital environments can only go so far in experiencing this.
• Reflection - On a recent blog post, Eric Richards says it best:

I also find that many times when I attend a conference, something “unexpected” sticks. It is usually something that I heard, saw or experienced that I was not necessarily expecting or anticipating. Many times, this “unexpected” really sticks with me, and I find myself deeply thinking about it for a long period of time. 

• Distraction-free - In-person presentations force me to be present in the moment and allow me to take it all in, while during a digital talk, I will multitask (send emails, watch videos, complete a Wordle, check sports scores).
• Connections and Community - All of the CI/ADI people whom I am hoping to see at ACTFL are those whom I met first previously at in-person conferences. As I said, I still fanboy over them and still cannot believe that they know my name! Over the years, we have "talked shop," discussed our lives over coffee or dinner, and have learned from each other during these times. This is not to say that this cannot happen digitally - I think that it would just be different though.

At ACTFL, I am looking forward to just being Keith Toda, attendee, and not Keith Toda, presenter or Keith Toda, trainer/coach. I am looking forward to being able to attend sessions being "present and all there" in the moment and not half-heartedly thinking about my own upcoming presentation during a session. I am looking forward to learning from others either from their sessions or over a meal as we discuss and process what we learned that day.

So if you see me at ACTFL, please say hi! I hope that your cup will be refilled there too!

Eric Richards - Reflections and Insights on In-Person Conferences

I recently attended and presented at the FLAM (Foreign Language Association of Missouri) St. Louis Regional Conference. It was a great experience, not only motivating and inspiring. It was wonderful to see familiar faces and also get to know new educators. It was also rewarding to see my colleagues from right here in the St. Louis area presenting! They were all great presentations, and I took away so much to implement in my own classes. Overall, it was a fantastic experience - and a much needed one! The energy and comradery really helped invigorate me!

It also got me thinking about conferences, specifically in-person conferences. I found myself reflecting on why in-person conferences still matter in a digital world. I mean, in the age of virtual meetings and online networking, why hold in-person conferences at all? It is easy to connect from anywhere via digital platforms. Do we even need in-person conferences anymore?

I understand there are benefits to online conferences, but face-to-face events bring unique benefits that are difficult to replicate online. Let me share why I believe that in-person conferences remain incredibly important in today’s digital world.

Authentic Connections

In-person conferences offer an environment where participants can genuinely connect. The spontaneous conversations that happen in hallways, during lunch foster, and before or after the conference create a sense of comradery and connection that is difficult to achieve over a screen. These moments can lead to lifelong professional connections, mentorships, unexpected insights, and collaborations that often feel more meaningful and lasting.

Focus and Engagement

Attending a conference in person brings a level of focus and engagement that can be hard to maintain in a virtual setting. In-person participants are less likely to be distracted by home or work tasks. They’re more likely to immerse themselves in presentations, workshops, and discussions, gaining a deeper understanding of topics and finding more value in the event.

Atmosphere

Attending a conference in person is energizing. The chance to step away from daily routines - and surroundings - and join a community of like-minded individuals can spark new ideas and inspiration. In-person events offer an atmosphere with a tangible energy that can help participants to think creatively, set new goals, walk away with a sense of accomplishments, and bring a renewed energy back to their classrooms.

Hands-On Learning & Immersive Experiences

Finally, in-person conferences allow for hands-on workshops and immersive experiences that online events can’t always match. Whether it’s attending live demonstrations, or participating in interactive sessions, these experiences can enhance learning and make it easier to apply new knowledge. (Plus, I enjoy physically thumbing through a book or reader at the vendor tables!)

In any case, I believe that virtual events have their place. However, I still believe that in-person conferences are still the best way to connect, grow, and get inspired - and re-energized!
(And for the record, I never want to see in-person conferences go away!)

Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below!

Comprehensible Iowa and "Dos Eric"

I have returned from this past weekend's Comprehensible Iowa conference, and wow, what a great experience I had! This local CI conference has been held in Iowa for the past 8 years, and over the years I had heard much about it. Twice in the past year, Eric Richards had mentioned to me that I should consider presenting there (since he had presented there last year, really enjoyed it, and would be presenting again this summer). I was very hesitant to submit a proposal, since I did not want to impose myself into this conference as a "southerner" if it was designed to be a local, Midwest gathering. However, I am so glad that I did (my proposal on Communicating Purposefully was accepted), because I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this conference! Here is what made it so great for me:

• Small in nature - CI Iowa is a grassroots, homegrown conference born from a desire among Iowa teachers to learn more and to grow in their development as CI/ADI facilitators. About 70-80 teachers attended this weekend which led to a very comfortable, welcoming, and relaxed setting - such a different feeling from state and national conferences. CI Iowa did not feel big at all. Everyone was so friendly and hospitable! 
• Time of the year - Because I have just started my summer break, I am still transitioning from a work frame of mind. Having a foot in both summer vacation and school modes allowed me a desire to still learn about how to become a better C/ADI teacher but also with the perspective that I was now on break!
• The people - I could not get over how inviting everyone was! Is it because I was in the Midwest lol? All of the conference organizers were so incredibly warmhearted and absolutely gracious. Speaking of the Midwest, this was my first trip to Iowa. When I stepped out of the Des Moines airport, there was a sudden dust storm. All I could think was, "Ok, this is pretty much confirming my stereotype of Iowa..." lol. 
• Workshops and presentations - There were so many great presentations and workshops offered to participants (I will address these later here)! Although CI Iowa was only 1.5 days, there were so many offerings. I always hate when there are other good presentations going on at the same time as mine, because I want to say to the participants who come to mine, "Hey, we are all going to go to _____________'s presentation right now, because I want to see it. I'll put my presentation in the Google folder for you to look at later." This is a good problem for a conference to have!

One of the promotions this year was "Dos Eric," since both Eric Herman and Eric Richards were the featured Friday workshop presenters.

I can definitely say that Dos Eric did not disappoint at all. Here is my write up about their presentations:

• Eric Herman (3-hour workshop) - Acquisition Research and Implications for Syllabus, Assessment, and Classroom Activities: This was a tremendous workshop about SLA theory! Previous to this conference, I had never before met Eric Herman, but I had heard his name mentioned very often any time the topic of acquisition theory and research came up. Like many CI/ADI facilitators, my knowledge of input language acquisition theory has been solely limited to Krashen, but Eric discussed research related to "CI" which historically predated Krashen. For a newcomer to CI/ADI, this workshop may have felt like drinking from a firehose since so much was presented, but for me who possessed some knowledge of SLA theory (Krashen, theory of ordered development, Bill Van Patten), everything which Eric discussed reinforced what I already knew and greatly filled in the gaps of what I did not. Eric then showed how this ADI theory should be manifested in our syllabi, assessments, and activities (of which he demonstrated many). Eric presented this material in manageable, bite-size chunks, and I felt that 3 hours was just scratching the surface of what he could have discussed. If given another 3 hours, I still would have been attentively listening! On this topic, Eric is such a great presenter, because it would be easy to come across as a know-it-all, but Eric has such a humble and modest demeanor that one feels very comfortable discussing these topics with him in spite of him being the expert.
• Eric Herman (50-minute presentation) - A Critical Review of ACTFL´s Pedagogy: The best way to explain this presentation is Eric's program description: 

Have you ever questioned ACTFL’s position on grammar and authentic texts? Ever had second thoughts about the proficiency guidelines and Can-Do statements? If not, then you will after this session. I’ll reveal the sources of these practices and examine how they measure up to what we know about second language acquisition.

This was an EYE-OPENING presentation about ACTFL's pedagogy (proficiency guidelines, Can Do statements, authentic resources), on what "research" (note the quotation marks implying doubt) it is all based, and how it is being packaged/marketed as the authority for us world language teachers to follow. Eric did a wonderful job of documenting and citing the research! I walked away from this presentation with my mind totally blown away and my ACTFL foundation to a degree kicked out from under me - just how truly accurate are the ACTFL proficiency guidelines on which I have based my grading rubrics?? I am definitely going to be reviewing my notes on this presentation. If you ever get the chance to see Eric do this presentation, GO!! 

• Eric Richards (50-minute presentation) - Using the Target Language on Day One: In this presentation, Eric demo'd what Day One of his German 1 class is like - he made it very clear that he does not begin Day One with a discussion of rules, syllabus, expectations, etc. Instead, he dives right into German with his students using TPR gestures, sheltering vocabulary, whiteboards, personalized questions and answers (PQAs) and a short reading in German at the end. At the end of his presentation, I felt very successful with what German I had acquired in those 50 minutes! Even though I had seen Eric do this demo at the CI Summit last summer, I really wanted to see again how he does this, since I will be teaching Latin 1 this upcoming year for the first time in 8 years.  Plus, I always learn so much from observing CI/ADI labs in a language which I do not know. Eric is another master presenter - his incredibly positive, inviting attitude sets a very calm, fun, and comfortable classroom environment. I love how he begins his German 1 class on Day One, and I am going to see how I can model Day One of my Latin 1 class like his!

I got the chance to hang out with Dos Eric both at the conference and outside of it while in Iowa - they are great guys, and I definitely look forward to seeing them again!  

So next summer consider attending CI Iowa! Like I said, I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it. Although one can learn much at an in-person weeklong CI/ADI conference like the CI Summit or Fluency Matters Conference, there is something to be said for the smaller, more intimate conferences like CI Mitten and CI Iowa in that they offer intangibles which I do not find at the larger ones. I am already looking ahead to attending CI Iowa next summer - I hope to see you there!

Reading/Literacy - Voces Digital Spring Conference

Last week was the Voces Digital online Spring Conference, and there were many great presentations delivered. One session in particular which I attended touched on many points about which I had written in my last blog post regarding literacy in the world language classroom -  the presentation was "Teach Reading? Try This!" by Margarita Perez Garcia, who has written multiple novellas in Spanish (see video below).

Although much of what Margarita presents surrounds low-prep pre-reading and post-reading activities which teachers can implement in their classrooms, she begins by addressing the need for level-appropriate readers, especially elementary/basic readings. In the video, around the 3:21 mark, Margarita discusses that reading unfamiliar and unseen texts can be very hard for students, especially those with lower reading skills. Most importantly, reading can serve as a great divide in a classroom between those with stronger reading/faster processing skills and those who are slower processors/struggle with reading (I had never ever considered this before as an equity issue!). Margarita's focus in the presentation then addresses how we teachers can help students improve their L2 reading skills.

Take some time to watch the entire video (she has a lot of good ideas!), and consider getting some of her Spanish novellas!

Returning to School after a CI/ADI Conference - What Now?

This past summer, I attended and served as part of the team for three conferences: Acquisition Academy in Dallas, the CI Summit in Savannah, and the Fluency Matters Conference in St. Petersburg. Even though I was in a "staff position," I still was able to attend presentations and language labs like other participants, and I walked away with so much which I am wanting to do now in my classroom.

Maybe like me, you also attended a summer CI/ADI training conference of some kind and want to apply what you learned with your students. Whether you are a novice or an experienced user, it is very easy to get overwhelmed by wanting to do it all or not even knowing where to start.

Here is my advice: Keep doing whatever it is that you are doing in your classroom (even if that is the textbook), but…

1. “Pick the low-hanging fruit” & look for where you can start implementing that. In other words, what kinds of CI/ADI strategies do you feel that are within your own individual reach to facilitate based on your familiarity with CI/ADI? There is no rush to change things right away. Do what you can with what you feel comfortable.
2. Build up your foundation. Again, there is no rush to go "all-in" with CI/ADI instruction if there is no foundation. Get a strong foundation and move on from there. Even if you are an experienced CI/ADI practitioner, sometimes your foundation can get a bit rusty over the summer.
3. Manage your expectations of your progress. Be aware that things may go well and that things may not go as expected with CI/ADI. If something does not go well, that is okay. Reflect on why and try it out again or maybe try a different CI/ADI strategy. I am not a big fan of TPRS/Storyasking because there are too many unknown variables going on, but I love doing One Word Image (which is loosely based on TPRS/Storyasking).
4. Be curious, not judgmental. I love this quote from Ted Lasso, because it sums up a growth mindset. Strive to learn more about CI/ADI before you dismiss it as trendy or that it does not "work"

Here is my list of "low-hanging fruit" which I want to implement:

1. Get students writing at least once/twice a week. This writing does not have to be formal or a timed write, but I want students interacting with writing the language, even if it is just copying sentences from a reading.
2. Implement more PQAs and questioning of my students in Latin as warmups to engage in purposeful communication. 
3. Continue "communicatifying" existing activities, including brain breaks.

What is your low-hanging fruit which you plan to implement in your classroom?

CI Summit 2023 Report (LONG)

The CI Summit in Savannah, GA ended yesterday, and I am still basking in the afterglow from it all. This weeklong conference is dedicated to "offer[ing] World Language teachers in-depth training and support for acquisition-driven instruction and comprehensible input [with the intent that] more teachers can bring these effective and equitable techniques back to the classroom." Thanks to Voces Digital for a wonderful week!  

What I love most about conferences like CI Summit is seeing teachers suddenly experience the a-ha moments like I did at my first NTPRS conference in 2014, and although this is my eighth CI/ADI summer conference which I have attended since then, it never gets old for me. I always walk away with my cup refilled! Even though I was serving in the role as a coach/cohort team member at the CI Summit, I still was able to experience the conference as a participant and to attend many sessions and language labs. As I reflect on and decompress from the week, here is my report of the sessions and language labs which I attended:

• My Cohort - Level 2 - At the CI Summit, I served as a cohort team member/coach for level 2. This group was for participants who have had some exposure to CI/ADI through attending a workshop/conference and possess some experience implementing a few CI/ADI skills but need more exposure and refinement. Gary DiBianca served as our cohort leader, with team members Andrea Schweitzer, Eric Richards, and me. We only had roughly 12 hours of instructional time over 4 days with our cohort participants, and we definitely used every minute of it. The theme for our cohort was volcanos and how we need to nurture our inner volcanos to eventually erupt our CI lava flow (yes, on paper, that may sound corny but it makes so much sense!) In many ways, I am certain that our participants felt like they were drinking from a fire hose, because we threw a lot at them. However, they were able to experience SO much as students! Eric began each day with questioning/PQAs in German and scaffolded it in such a way that by the last day participants were able to do some simple writing on their own in the language which they had acquired in that time! In Latin, I demonstrated TPR, a 3-place story, and post-reading strategies all for the purpose of previewing vocabulary and structures for a Latin cultural reading on Mount Vesuvius at the end of the week. Meanwhile interspersed through all of this, Gary and Andrea demonstrated other strategies such as One-Word Image, a volcano-related Movie Talk/Clip Chat (The Floor is Lava game) in Spanish and how to put it all together as a unit lesson. Oh, and did I mention that we also broke up into groups to work on skill-based practice such as circling/asking processing questions, storytelling, storyasking, etc.? By the end of it all, our cohort participants had so many a-ha moments! The majority of them had never experienced learning Latin or German before, but by the end, they had subconsciously acquired the target vocabulary/structures through interaction and robust exposure with the languages. Many of them did not realize that Latin could be spoken as a living language, so I am glad that I was able to expose them to that. 

• My Fellow Cohort 2 Team Members -  However, as much as I loved the participants in my cohort and what they got from our time together, I absolutely LOVED my other team members even more: Gary, Andrea, and Eric. We worked so well together, and our individuals strengths naturally complemented each other in what we each contributed during our cohort time. Gary, Andrea, and Eric are master teachers, and I learned SO MUCH from each of them in their demo sections.

The dream team: Andrea, me, Eric, and Gary

• Language Labs (Elementary school-aged students Spanish - Annabelle Williamson & Middle school-aged students Spanish - Skip Crosby) - I cannot get enough of the language labs! I love being able to observe CI/ADI instruction in action with real students, especially a language class where I do not know the language (which is pretty much all of them) so that I can experience learning like one of my own students - that makes such a HUGE difference. The labs are where the magic happens! I will always observe Annabelle whenever I can, and this year, I also observed Skip Crosby since I was serving as his lab debrief facilitator. The labs can be tricky since the instructors only have roughly 90 minutes of instructional time/day with their students for 4 days (while being observed!), but neither Annabelle nor Skip disappointed! While I definitely was able to see them demonstrate CI/ADI skills in their Spanish classrooms, what I loved most was their intentional effort to establish relationships with their students. During the first debrief session on Day 1, a teacher asked Skip, "How long have you known these students? You have such a good relationship with them." His response: "Just today. My goal today was just to love on them." Another thing which I absolutely loved about observing Annabelle and Skip over multiple days was me actually getting attached to their students - I felt like I had such a vested interest in them (even though I never interacted with them). Each day Skip would note to us observers that the "flowers were starting open up more" as students began to trust him more and to become more involved with him and the Spanish. I loved that I was able to witness this!!
• Brain Breaks presentation - Annabelle Williamson - If you have read my blog, you know that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Annabelle. I love that we share such a tremendous, profound, deep respect for each other, and I will always walk away learning something from her. I first learned about brain breaks from Annabelle back at the 2016 IFLT in Chattanooga, and she is a master of them! Although I came halfway to her presentation this year, I still walked away with my mind absolutely full of new ideas. However, my main takeaways from her presentation were that brain breaks need to be a minute or less, i.e., they are quick; because if they are longer, then they are a game, and games and brain breaks are two completely different things! Wow - I need to remember this! We played so many of these brain breaks with her, and I am certain that in the upcoming months I will blog about some of these new brain breaks which I learned as I try them out with my students. Annabelle also touched on how we can "communicatify" our brain breaks to engage our students with purposeful communication - I love this!
• Writing Strategies for the ADI Classroom - Eric Richards - My mind was absolutely blown in this workshop presentation - I feel like I am still processing everything! This has utterly changed the way in which I view writing in an ADI classrom. Eric is a GREAT presenter, and he demonstrated/had us take part in many simple, level-appropriate writing activities which we can implement immediately in our level 1 classes. The best part is how simple and low affective filter-raising these strategies are! Like what I learned from Annabelle, I am certain that I will be blogging about many of these in the upcoming year as I implement them. Let me plug his book Grafted Writing, which has these activities and so many more!
• Whiteboards - Although this was not a presentation, I will say that whiteboards were the MVP of the CI Summit. Because CI Summit was in Savannah and I am in the metro-Atlanta area, I drove to the conference. Innocently, I told my cohort team that I was going to bring my classroom set of whiteboards, markers, and rags since I wanted to use them for a possible activity in my part of the week's lesson. Because I was driving, it would be no big deal for me to bring them. Let me tell you: everything can be made better with whiteboards (just like bacon)! Eric used them during his daily questioning/PQA time in our cohort time and and then asked to borrow them for his writing strategies workshop presentation, and I used them in my cohort presentations. The whiteboards just raised everything to a new level - now I know why students love it when we use them in class! Gary, Andrea, Eric, and I have already talked about who of us will bring whiteboards to next year's CI Summit! 

If you were at the CI Summit, what did you get out of it? Were there any presentations, observations, or cohort time where you experienced any a-ha moments? What presentations did you attend where you walked away with some good ideas?

Hope to see you all next year in Philadelphia for CI Summit 2024!

Voces Digital - My Continued Need for Professional Development

Last week, Voces Digital sponsored a free weeklong (3-evening, 1-day) online virtual Comprehensible Input conference. Since I would be part of its CI Summit conference team this summer, I attended to support the company. However, I did not expect to get SO MUCH from attending! There were many great presenters (yes, I still fanboy over so many of them) and presentations - I attended Zoom sessions led by Allynn Lodge, Eric Richards, Paulino Brener, Annabelle Williamson, Bryan Kandel, and Kara Jacobs - I even learned how to make dumplings with Haiyun Lu! I am sure that I will blog about some of what I learned once I try out their strategies!

Observations

• This online conference could not have come at a better time. If you are like me, you hit the February slumps where teaching is just plain HARD! School is burdensome for both teachers and students. This is always the time of the year where I annually question why I am a teacher. However, learning new strategies/activities and being among other CI/ADI teachers were very uplifting and motivating! Plus, with it being virtual, I could attend at home sitting at my kitchen table.
• I was able to attend as myself. I was not Keith Toda - presenter. I was not Keith Toda - coach. I was simply Keith Toda - attendee and participant. In other words, I had no other responsibilities other than to learn and to be present in the moment with no other distractions.
• We all need our CI/ADI cups filled and constantly refilled. Although I have been blogging about implementing CI/ADI for almost ten years, have attended numerous conferences, and have delivered numerous presentations on the topic, I am still constantly learning afresh so much about it. I am so grateful that there are people out there from whom I can learn and who motivate me to become a better CI/ADI teacher. I am also reminded that community is SO important - I need to be around other CI/ADI facilitators who "get me" pedagogically and can encourage me.

I challenge you to consider attending a CI/ADI conference this summer (here is a starting list), whether you are a beginner, dabbler/seeker, comfortable implementer, or advanced practitioner. I will be in-person at both the CI Summit and Fluency Matters Conference this summer - I hope to see you there. Get your cup filled along with others!

Summer 2023 CI/ADI Conferences

As 2022 winds down, it is not too early to start thinking about the possible CI/ADI conferences offered next summer in 2023:

• Acquisitiion Academy (in person) - Dallas, TX June 22-24, 2023 (I'll be there!)
• CI Reboot (virtual) - July 10-14, 2023
• CI Summit (in-person and virtual)- Savannah, GA July 10-14, 2023 (I'll be there!)
• Conference in the Clouds (virtual) - July 17-21, 2023
• Fluency Matters Conference (in person) - St. Petersburg, FL July 18-20, 2023 (I'll be there!)

Lots of good opportunities (in-person and virtual) both to learn about and to further your development as a CI/ADI teacher!

Are they any which I have missed and should be included?

Hope that you will consider attending one of these, and if I am there at that conference, please say hi!

2020 CI Conference/Training Dates

With a new year beginning, I want you to consider attending a full CI conference/training in 2020. While attending CI presentations at state and regional conferences is helpful, nothing can compare to a summer, weeklong, full-CI immersive environment. A few months ago, I wrote a blog post about why you should consider attending a CI conference, but here are links to registration pages with updated information:

• Altamira CI Training - Intensive Course - June 21-23, Presenter Retreat - June 24-26,                                     Jamestown, RI 
• Cascadia Conference - June 30-July 2, Portland, OR
• IFLT - July 14-17, Cal State Long Beach, CA
• NTPRS - July 20-24, Minneapolis, MN
• Agen Workshop - July 27-August 1, held in Agen, France
• Express Fluency Conference -  held in Vermont. Usually held in August

Why You Should Present at Conferences

It is conference season, and the call for session proposals is currently going out for many conferences. As stated in an earlier blog post, I have returned to presenting again. Having had time away from presenting, I now find my mind racing with many different ideas as potential topics. So as the call for session proposals goes out, I challenge you to consider submitting one yourself. 

Right away, I am certain that I raised the affective filter and brought on social anxiety for some of you with that statement. When I have challenged teachers to consider presenting at conferences before, the first response is usually, "But I do not know what I would present. I have nothing to say - I am not (insert name of a presenter whom you admire)." 

My response is this. Simply put: You have a voice and do have something to say. 

At the same time, I do understand the hesitancy among people to present, because deciding on presentation topic can be difficult, let alone filling 60-90 minutes on that topic. Here are some suggestions about topics:

• What do you see yourself doing well in your classroom? 
• Is there a particular "epiphany" which you have had on a pedagogical topic which you wish to share? Those presentations which are most personal to the presenter are difficult to dispute, since they are based on personal experience.
• Look for gaps in conference presentation topics. Is there a topic which you feel has not been addressed but should be? However, do not pigeon-hole yourself into such a specific topic that it isolates the majority of your audience, unless you are targeting a specific audience.
• The best presentations are those which are constructivist in nature where participants themselves can experience the subject matter hands-on in order to create their own meaning. Think of your own students - how effective is a pure 60-minute lecture in their acquisition of material? Just because you are using a PowerPoint does not make a presentation constructivist in nature. 
• Consider presenting topics which are applicable to all languages and levels of instruction. Although I am a Latin teacher, I learn so much from presentations done by other world language teachers. 
• Avoid presentation topic gluts. If you are tired of the same old presentation topics of conferences, then do not submit one of the same topic, because most likely, so is everyone else. Rather, put your own spin on the topic or address it from a different angle. 

And now let me address those of you who are more experienced conference presenters: consider partnering with someone who has never presented before. There are many benefits of doing this:

1. It introduces "new faces" to the world of conference presentations. Although I enjoy attending presentations of seasoned presenters, I also want to see a diversity of presenters represented. Also, as much as I enjoy presenting, people need to see other faces and to hear other voices besides mine.
2. There are so many potential presenters out there with so much to say and to share who just need that little push or invitation to present. You can be that catalyst for them.
3. It provides a safe space for novice presenters, who can rely on you to help guide them through the process of writing up a session proposal and how to design a presentation.
4. It helps lower the affective filter of first-time presenters, because they are not responsible for 100% of the presentation. They are only responsible for their portion.
5. Tag-teaming a presentation is just plain fun!

I hope to see many new faces presenting at conferences!

Presenting Again

This summer, I started presenting at conferences again. While for some of you, that may not seem like a big deal or something which is blogworthy, but I actually took about 18 months off from presenting and attending conferences. For all of 2018 and the first half of 2019, I did not do anything conference-related (you can read about it here). In a nutshell, after a whirlwind of conferences and of presenting in 2017, I was so burned out that I needed time away from professional development and kept a low profile (outside of my blog) as a result.

This summer's ACL Summer Institute marked my return to presenting again. On behalf of SALVI, I co-delivered a presentation called "Putting Latin in the Ears of Your Students (When You Don't Know How to)," which I enjoyed doing, but I also felt completely rusty being up in front of adults. I also felt nervous, which I rarely do before presentations. Most times, if I am nervous, it concerns logistics - do I have the right dongles/attachment cables for the projector, what is my presentation space like, is audience seating conducive for my presentation, etc - but this time, I was actually nervous about presenting itself and being in front of adults. The presentation was well-received, and although I felt good about it, I did not feel like I was on my A-game at all. 

Cut to IFLT a month later, where I gave a presentation "I'm Sick of Kahoot: Using Technology for the Delivery of Comprehensible Input." This time, I felt completely on! Maybe because since I am currently a doctoral student in Instructional Technology, the topic was one with which I was very familiar. Maybe because I got my presentation feet wet again at ACL, I got the kinks and jitters out there. For all I know, the IFLT audience may not have gotten a single thing out of my presentation, but I know that I myself definitely felt good about it afterwards. Two weeks later, I delivered the same presentation at my district's world language pre-planning inservice, and once again, I enjoyed myself.  

Taking those 18 months off from attending conferences and presenting was a much-needed break from that kind of professional development. That time off has given me a lot of perspective:

• During those 18 months, I did not miss attending conferences or presenting. This shows me that I truly needed time away from that type of professional development. When my colleagues were attending conferences, I was perfectly happy sitting on my couch eating pizza while watching reruns of Laverne and Shirley. That is not to say that I gave up professional development completely - it just took place in a different medium, e.g., blogs, Twitter, face-to-face discussions, and collaboration.
• At the same time, now that I have taken a break, I am enjoying attending conferences and presenting. It is actually a very nice feeling.
• It is easy for me to feel that I need to present. The reality is honestly, I don't need to. The world will go on (and has been) if I do not present.
• It is easy to get burned out with attending conferences and presenting if it is something which one likes to do. I truly enjoy presenting and sharing ideas with others at conferences, so it is easy for me to go overboard with it and want to present all the time. I feel completely comfortable in front of an audience, so in the moment, I enjoy it, but I also see how addictive it can be for me. 
• I am going to be a lot more selective in which conferences I attend and present. I have learned that it is all about boundaries for me. Attending IFLT is a no-brainer for me - I am definitely attending IFLT each summer, since I always get so much out of this conference. When it comes to state, regional, and national conferences, however, I need to be selective in order to guard against experiencing burnout again.

So I hope to see you at a conference!

Why You Should Consider Attending NTPRS or IFLT in 2020

NOTE - I am only addressing NTPRS and IFLT in this blog post, because those are the two weeklong conferences which I have attended and on which I can speak from personal experience. Any omission of other weeklong CI conferences should not be taken personally and does not reflect my feelings for or against them. If you would like to write a guest blog post about another weeklong CI conference such as Agen or Express Fluency, contact me.

Although summer is now over and school is back in session, I write this blog post to challenge you to consider attending a conference like NTPRS or IFLT in the summer of 2020. If you have never attended weeklong CI conferences before, you will not be disappointed in what they have to offer. This is not to say that one cannot learn from a 1-2-day regional conference like TCI Maine, Mitten CI, or CIMidwest. Receive CI training wherever you can and as often as you can! And while online groups, professional learning communities/networks, and blogs are so important to the CI community, they can only go so far.

However, in my own experience, all I can say is that there is absolutely nothing like the weeklong concentration of being in a full CI training environment which you do not experience in a 1-2 day conference. I cannot explain what it is. Maybe because one has a week, there is more time to be immersed in a CI environment and to learn and to experience it all. Maybe because since pedagogically everyone there is on the same page, one is not constantly having to defend one's use of CI. Maybe it is the coaching sessions where one can be coached on a particular CI skill in a positive setting. Maybe a week gives participants time to ponder over, to process, and to experiment at a slower pace, since there is ample time to do so, as opposed to a single day at a training where everything is thrown at you at once. Maybe it is the overwhelming amount of practical sessions addressing CI implementation in the classroom. Maybe it is the tangible care and enthusiasm which the presenters, coaches, and leaders exhibit in creating such an accepting environment. Maybe because it is so much dang fun!

Although each summer I am a regular attendee at the American Classical League Summer Institute and as much as I look forward to the professional camaraderie of being with other Latin teachers from around the country, honestly, I cannot say that I walk away feeling pumped to return to my classroom when it is over like I do when I attend a NTPRS or IFLT. That is not to say that I do not enjoy attending the ACL Summer Institute, but the conference just has a different focus for me. I do appreciate though that the number of CI sessions at the ACL Summer Institute has increased each year and that we seem to have reached a critical mass in the CI movement in the Latin community.

This past July, I attended IFLT, and even though I was there wearing many different hats (sub-cohort leader, coach, and presenter), I got SO MUCH out of the conference! I cannot tell you how much I learned that I already have used in these past five weeks with students. If you have read my past few blog posts, they are all related to ideas which I learned at IFLT this summer. I attended a session where when the presenter saw me come in, she said, "Wow, what are you doing here? You know all of this." I responded, "That does not mean that there is still not more for me to learn." And yes, I walked away with so much from her presentation that I am now implementing in my classroom. Compared to the summer of 2018 where I did not attend a NTPRS or IFLT and felt "flat" entering the school year, this year already after five weeks with students, I am still SO pumped and jazzed to be in the classroom. IFLT so charged my CI batteries!

So which one is better: NTPRS or IFLT? I cannot answer that, because they are both different. In my opinion, one is not "better" than the other.

• NTPRS is five days, while IFLT is four days. 
• NTPRS is held in a hotel and has a more "conference" feel to it, while IFLT is held on a school campus.
• Both conferences offer tracks for their participants based on one's experience with CI.
• Both conferences offer coaching for their participants.
• IFLT offers language labs, where participants can observe master CI-teachers teaching a language class with actual students. In my opinion, this is where the magic happens. I could observe Linda Li forever work her magic in teaching Mandarin, and I would never get bored.
• NTPRS has organized nightly events, such as receptions, language-immersive dinners, and a talent show. This year, IFLT had one night session on Readers Theater, which was a blast!

The downside of attending a weeklong conference like NTPRS or IFLT is that it is not cheap when one starts to factor in the price for registration, travel, food, and lodging costs. That is why I encourage you start thinking now about attending. Find out if your school/district will pay for you to attend. Look into scholarship opportunities with your local/regional WL organizations. 

2020 dates for NTPRS and IFLT

• IFLT - July 14-17 in Southern California (yes, I know that it is rather vague at the moment, but I am assuming either in Los Angeles or Orange County)
• NTPRS - July 20-24 in Minneapolis 

So I encourage you to consider attending NTPRS or IFLT next summer. I have attended both conferences before. My blog posts on having attended each:

• NTPRS 2014
• IFLT 2016

I look forward to seeing you next summer at one of these conferences!

Conferenced-Out

Last year was quite a year for me in terms of conferences and presentations. In 2017, I attended SEVEN conferences (local, state, regional, and national) and delivered NINE different CI-related presentations, in addition to co-leading a full-day CI in-service for a school in my district. All I can say is that as a result of all that, I am completely conferenced-out at the moment.

On the one hand, this was a rather easy conclusion for me to arrive at, considering the conference schedule which I gave myself last year. On the other hand, however, I absolutely LOVE presenting. Whenever I present, I feel like I come alive. While I know that many people absolutely dread public speaking, communicating to an audience comes very natural to me. It is very easy for me to read an audience, so connecting with a crowd when speaking in public is very natural for me. When I took a "match-your-personality-to-a-job" battery test in high school, my three top job matches were 1) company spokesperson  2) politician and  3) religious leader (like as in a cult?), since all of those positions involve public speaking. I feel so incredibly comfortable when speaking to crowds. In fact, in many ways I am more at ease talking to a large audience (or communicating via this blog) than I do when talking one-on-one individually to someone. 

It is easy to see why attending conferences has its draw for me if I get the chance to present at them. However, I feel like I need to draw some boundaries for myself in order to take a break from it all for now. So this year, my goal is to take some time off from attending conferences and presenting. Outside of my CI-Italy tour with the Vergilian Society this summer, I am going to try to keep a low profile for the year when it comes to conferences and presentations in order to recharge my "conference batteries."

I am looking forward to this respite, but I cannot wait until 2019 to start back up again! 

Getting the Most out of Conferences

I leave for the national ACTFL Convention in a few days. This will be my third ACTFL convention which I have attended after having taken a 2-year hiatus (I have written a blog post about attending the 2014 ACTFL Convention), and I am looking forward to it. Because I have attended ACTFL Conventions before, I know exactly what to expect in terms of its overwhelmingly massive size and session offerings.

On last week's #langchat discussion on Twitter, the topic was the upcoming ACTFL convention, and folks were sharing their thoughts on numerous convention-related questions. This got me to thinking about what I have learned about how to survive conferences in general. Let's face it: conferences can be big, impersonal, and overwhelming. Here are my tips on how to get the most out of a conference:

1. Do not feel like you have to attend every session. Pick and choose your sessions wisely. It is very easy to develop "information overload" from attending too many sessions and to burn out.
2. Know your learning goals ahead of time. Is there a particular topic/strand which you wish to follow? This will help make selecting which sessions to attend much easier. For me, at this ACTFL Convention, I specifically want to attend sessions dealing with technology in the world language classroom. As I have a graduate degree in Instructional Technology, I want to learn more about new technologies for my curriculum but viewed through the lens of Comprehensible Input. 
3. Take time for yourself. Take advantage of down-time if there is not a session which interests you. Grab a cup of coffee, tour the exhibit hall, find a place to plug in your phone, etc. Use this time to recharge yourself.
4. Take time to network, to meet new people, and to reconnect with those whom you only see at conferences. There are so many people whom I know (or know of) that I only get to see at conferences. Some of my favorite times at conferences are when I am sitting alone off to the side at a conference in order to recharge myself or to prepare a upcoming presentation, and people will come/go at their leisure to talk with me. 
5. If possible, share/discuss with others at the conference what you have learned. In turn, find out what sessions they attended and what they learned. Use that time to begin processing the conference.
6. If there is something of great interest which you learned from a particular presenter, do some follow up. Talk to the presenter afterwards or contact him/her during/after the conference. Do not let your learning stop at the session door on the way out.

I hope to see and to meet many of you at ACTFL this weekend. Please take time to introduce yourself to me! 

CI Sessions at the 2016 ACL Summer Institute

At this summer's American Classical League Summer Institute (the national conference for Latin teachers), there will be NINE CI-based/friendly presentations. This is up from four presentations last year! If you are a Latin teacher who is interested in CI, consider attending the 2016 ACL Summer Institute and checking out one (if not all!) of the following presentations.

6-hour PreInstitute Workshop

• Comprehensible Input Strategies: Scaffolding and Sequencing for the Latin Classroom - Keith Toda, Robert Patrick,  Rachel Ash

Regular Presentations

• Technology in the Comprehensible Input Latin Classroom: How to Go Beyond Kahoot - Keith Toda
• Let's Make a Story! ‐ Story‐Asking for the Comprehensible Input Classroom - John Bracey
• Hard Grammar? What Hard Grammar? Justin Bailey
• Comprehensible Consequences - Traci Dougherty
• Teaching Vocabulary with Movie Shorts - Rachel Ash
• Gradūs Parvī: Creating Tiered Readings for Any Level of Instruction - Kevin Ballestrini
• The Value of Writing in the Cl Classroom - Robert Patrick
• Teaching Latin with a Novel‐‐All Modes of Communication - Robert Patrick

If there are other CI presentations of which you know, please let me know so that I can add them to this list.

CI/TPRS Professional Development

Many times, I am asked about what workshops should people attend to learn about CI/TPRS. Below is a list of workshops/conference which I recommend:

A 2-day Blaine Ray TPRS workshop - although one can attend a CI/TPRS presentation at a conference, personally I think to learn truly about CI/TPRS, one needs to attend a 2-day Blaine Ray TPRS workshop. During these two days, you will experience learning another language as a student using CI/TPRS and will learn about TPRS (the basics of Comprehensible Input, circling, asking a story, etc), as well as spend time practicing TPRS, while being coached. In the summer of 2008, I attended a 2-day TPRS workshop led by Blaine Ray himself, where he demonstrated TPRS in German. I was amazed at how much i was comprehending when Blaine was teaching the lesson (and I was not even aware what he was deliberately doing) and how at the end I was able to produce a bit of German based purely on that one lesson from just hearing and interacting with the language. It was at that point I knew that Comprehensible Input worked!

NTPRS - the National TPRS Conference is a weeklong, summer conference dedicated to CI/TPRS. I attended my first NTPRS conference last summer, and it was incredible! You can read my blog post here. In fact, this summer, I will be giving two presentations at NTPRS! 

IFLT - the International Forum on Language Teaching (IFLT) conference is hosted by TPRS Publishing and is much like NTPRS in that it is also dedicated to CI/TPRS. The major difference though is that much of the time is devoted to observing master CI/TPRS teachers actually teaching students, so you will get to see it in action!  A few years ago, I had the opportunity to observe Karen Rowan teach a Spanish class, and it was absolutely amazing. My goal is to attend my first IFLT in the summer of 2016.

TCI Maine, New England and Beyond - This is a 2-day workshop hdedicated to teaching CI/TPRS held in the fall in the New England area.

As I said before, one can learn about CI/TPRS through blogs,Twitter chats, listservs, and videos, but I would recommend experiencing it truly as if you were a student with a language which you do not know. Once you see first hand how it works, you will want to learn more!