Preparing students for study abroad

Stacie Berdan, Keynote Speaker and author of A Student Guide to Studying Abroad, Raising Global Children, Get Ahead by Going Abroad, Go Global!, and now A Parent Guide to Studying Abroad.

“Going Global: Helping Students to Get Ahead By Sending Them Abroad” provides a business woman’s perspective on how the global marketplace has changed the dynamics for today’s students and how secondary school teachers can play a critical role in helping students begin to develop the skills necessary to compete for jobs on a global scale. She will include both a detailed rationale on both the importance of cross-cultural competency, language skills and the benefits of study abroad to employers, as well as a framework to create a strategy for your school filled with actionable ideas and specific tips to inspire students to start thinking about “going global” as they apply to colleges. Plenty of tips on how to have the conversation with parents are included as well.

9:00-11:00 AM

Talking about Things that Matter: Preparing for Success in the Interpersonal Mode

Karen Fowdy and Lisa Hendrickson, Independent Consultants from Monroe, WI

We want our students to leave our programs with the confidence to interact with native speakers and the curiosity to explore other cultures. How can we prepare our students for the challenge and satisfaction of having a spontaneous conversation about a meaningful topic? Presenters demonstrate steps for designing instruction that moves from teacher-supported practice to independent student language use in the interpersonal mode within a thematic unit.

9:00-12:00 AM

Reading Activities Sure to Inspire a ‘LIKE’

Carol Gaab, Teacher trainer of Comprehensible Input-based strategies

Reading is the perfect platform for facilitating language acquisition, and novel CI-based reading activities are an ideal way to turn an ordinary reading into CCCI (Compelling, Contextualized, Comprehensible Input). Learn how to deepen comprehension, engage even your most reluctant readers and accelerate acquisition through powerful activities that are easy to implement and sure to leave students looking for the ‘LIKE’ button!

9:00-12:00 AM

Feeling Like a Citizen: Engaging Students and Building Community in the Classroom

Grant Boulanger & Bryce Hedstrom

Learn how get students to buy into the classroom with engaging activities and student interviews. When students know one another they feel accepted, relaxed and ready to acquire the language. Learn how to interview students at any level in the TL and keep the mojo going all year long, increasing the complexity as students grow and helping them to learn real facts about one another with real language.

"You're going to love this class. We all know each other and we all get along." That is how a transfer student was talked to by a classmate as they left class on her first day.  That kind of camaraderie is built by impactful activities and ongoing personal interviews--all in the TL. With a series of carefully designed classroom activities and spiraling questions you can draw out the personality of even reluctant students. Attendees at this session will get a template for questioning and have the opportunity to practice in their TL.  

12:30-3:30 PM