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!