Sessions

1–8 – Live-streamed and recorded for viewing after.

9–14 – Pre-recorded, released on Saturday March 6.

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**IMPORTANT** Recordings will be available for asynchronous viewing through Wednesday, March 31. Forms requesting CTLE credit must be submitted by Friday, April 2.

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Friday, March 5, Conference Kick-off!, 4:00–5:00 p.m.

1. APPY HOUR with Wendy and Valérie

Presenter(s): Valérie Greer & Wendy Mercado, Bay Shore Middle School, Bay Shore, NY
Intended audience: FLES, Middle School, High School
Are you looking for fun and engaging activities that you’ll keep in your tech toolbox post-pandemic? Come join us for an hour filled with activities that have worked for us and helped us survive teaching during Covid. We will share sites and games that we have discovered, including Blooket, along with several of our tried and true activities that we adapted for digital learning. We promise you will leave inspired and  “APPY”.

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Saturday, March 6, Session A – 9:00–10:00 a.m.

2. Understand, Interpret, Analyze: NYS Standard 1

Presenter(s): Bill Heller & Dr. Joanne O’Toole, SUNY Geneseo and SUNY Oswego
Intended audience: All levels
In this session, participants will dig deep into NYS Standard 1, Interpretive Communication. Explore the three scaffolded Interpretive mode language functions: understand, interpret and analyze and how they can be sequenced. Examine the pre-, during, and post-interpretive framework for use with a range of authentic texts. Identify Interpretive tasks appropriate to the framework, text, and checkpoint proficiency level.

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Saturday, March 6, Session B – 10:30–11:30 a.m.

3. Active Learning: Using NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements to Create an Engaging Student-Centered Learning Environment

Presenter(s): TinaMarie DeFalco, Miller Place UFSD, Miller Place NY
Intended audience: Middle School, High School
This session will help educators organize their lesson planning and curriculum development in accordance with the application of Bloom’s Taxonomy and NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements to create immersive, differentiated, engaging lessons and activities where students can become active learners through the acquisition of the target language. After attending this workshop, teachers will be able to implement active learning activities/student-centered activities, optimize target language usage, and apply the ACTFL’s Can-Do statements in accordance with Bloom’s Taxonomy in lesson planning, curriculum development, and differentiated instruction.

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Saturday, March 6, Session B – 10:30–11:30 a.m.

4. Tips and Templates

Presenter(s): Peggy Lucero, Kenmore East High School, Town of Tonawanda
Intended audience: All levels
Learn how to make interactive online and one-to-one learning better, faster and more interesting, as well as learn how to keep your students accountable and use higher order thinking skills. Have you ever used a bracket template for commercial and other video competitions? Do you know how to use the snip tool? Learn tips for online grading and organizing your materials in your Google Drive and Google Classroom. Attendees will leave this session with this and much more!

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Saturday, March 6, Session C – 1:00–2:00 p.m.

5. Teacher Tool Kit for Can Do Statements and Comprehensible Activities

Presenter(s): Margaret Krone & Anna Domingo, Commack School District, Commack, NY & Sewanhaka School District, Franklin Square, NY
Intended audience: Middle School, High School
This year is crazy . . . but planning doesn’t have to be! Are you interested in engaging, student-centered activities that require minimal to no advance preparation? This presentation will allow you to do just that . . . all while still addressing the Can-Do Statements across all three modes of communication. Have no fear! We will showcase a variety of activities that will get your students talking and using the target language while also meeting their diverse needs as learners. Activities presented will be applicable to both hybrid and virtual settings.

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Saturday, March 6, Session C – 1:00–2:00 p.m.

6. The Culturally Relevant Student-Centered Language Classroom: A Suggested Pathway for Student Engagement and Checks for Understanding in Remote/Virtual Times

Presenter(s): Marisol Manríquez-Weiner & María Quintanilla, NYCDOE, New York, NY
Intended audience: High School
In Fall 2020, AP for All (Office of Equity and Access, NYCDOE) hosted a citywide series of Spanish Lab Classroom Intervisitations. These sessions were a professional learning experience for Spanish teachers through virtual intervisitations, centered on Spanish content-related pedagogy. The focus was on student engagement and checks for understanding during online learning times, using a Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and Culturally Relevant Teaching (CRT) lens. This session will present a suggested pathway (blueprint, strategies, dynamic) for language teachers to promote student engagement and check for understanding in remote/virtual sessions, with high-leverage WL teaching practices.

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Saturday, March 6, Session D – 2:30–3:30 p.m.

7. Interpersonal Communication in the Virtual Language Classroom

Presenter(s): Maria Quintanilla, Energy Tech High School/NYC DOE, Astoria, Queens, NY
Intended audience: Middle School, High School
Tired of talking to a square with a student’s name on your computer screen? Tired of answering your own questions during synchronous instruction? Lost track of how long teacher-wait-time is when you ask a question in your classroom? In this session, we will explore concrete instructional interpersonal activities that are practical and designed to be implemented during virtual synchronous instruction. We will explore SEL brief activities that lead to community building and eventually group discussions in the target language.

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Saturday, March 6, Session D – 2:30–3:30 p.m.

8. Transform Your Teaching With Task Cards

Presenter(s): Christina Margiore, North Shore Schools, Glen Head, NY
Intended audience: Middle School, High School
Never heard of task cards? Do you want to use them and don’t know where to start? In this workshop, participants will learn how to create task cards (from existing activities that you’re already using in class!) and how to utilize task cards with a variety of highly engaging activities. These activities will get your students using vocabulary and practicing while having fun. I will also share adaptations for virtual and hybrid teaching. Participants will leave with ideas and practices that they can start using in their classes tomorrow!

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Pre-recorded, release on Saturday, March 6

9. Les Pirates français aux Caraïbes: 1530–1697 : origines

Presenter(s): Deborah Hovland, SUNY Buffalo State, Buffalo, NY
Intended audience: All levels
Introduction aux origines et objectifs politiques et économiques de la piraterie du Nouveau Monde pendant son âge d’or. Présentation des différentes catégories de pirates qui y exerçaient leur métier, avec mention des plus célèbres exemples de chacune.

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Pre-recorded, release on Saturday, March 6

10. Tips for Teaching and Assessing in Upper Level Language Courses

Presenter(s): Peggy Lucero, Kenmore East High School, Town of Tonawanda
Intended audience: High School, Post Secondary
In this session, attendees will learn some of the best practices for teaching upper level IB and AP. This will include but is not limited to, secure online testing, finding resources and writing questions for upper-level readings, finding and using online listening resources, finding and using pictures for oral exams as well as tips for incorporating higher-level grammar and much more. Examples will be in German with concepts applicable to teaching any language.

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Pre-recorded, release on Saturday, March 6

11. Let’s Talk Virtually!

Presenter(s): Roxanne Franquelli & Steven Spitz, Valhalla Middle/High School, Valhalla, NY
Intended audience: All levels
This session is open to a variety of levels to help and enable more speaking in our current new reality! These techniques and methods can also be utilized for in-person instruction. There will be samples of speaking tasks that are structured for individual assessment, group work, and whole class participation. The samples that will be modeled are in Spanish and use applications like Vocaroo, Google Meet Breakout Rooms, and/or Flipgrid. The examples can be modified for any language, technological resource, and level.

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Pre-recorded, release on Saturday, March 6

12. Duolingo Basics and More CANCELLED

Presenter(s): Kevin Kreaves, Duolingo
Intended audience: FLES, Middle School, High School

In this session, the presenter will introduce participants to Duolingo for Schools. He’ll explain how to set up a classroom, discuss fun facts and stats about the platform, and will provide best practices and tips to make the most of the Duolingo platform. Duolingo is a free language-learning platform.

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Pre-recorded, release on Saturday, March 6

13. Making the Most out of 40 “Virtual” Minutes!

Presenter(s): Lori Chilcott, Williamsville South High School, Williamsville, NY
Intended audience: Middle School, High School
We will discuss helpful hints and tips for preparing the World Language classroom lesson to maximize the time that students are engaged in the lesson.
Teachers will learn about strategies to organize and plan the flow of their lesson in order to minimize transitions and maximize time on task for students.
We will focus on the goals of aiding students’ understanding and helping teachers feel more resourceful and less stressed about virtual teaching!
We will discuss the use of Google Classroom, Meet, and breakout rooms, as well as instant feedback approaches within the class lesson. We will cover the lesson from start to finish, focusing on ways to enhance student engagement and enjoyment.

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Presenters

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Lori Chilcott, Williamsville South High School, Williamsville, NY

Lori Chilcott has been a Spanish teacher for 16 years and is currently a Tech Integrator. She defended her dissertation in November, 2020 and received her PhD in Spanish Peninsular Literature from the University at Buffalo. Lori served on the western regional committee in 2019-20 to help revise the World Language Standards in NYS. With her classroom experience this year, she would like to offer helpful hints to help others troubleshoot and make their lessons run more smoothly.

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TinaMarie DeFalco, Miller Place UFSD, Miller Place NY

TinaMarie DeFalco earned her B.A. in French Language and Literature and M.A.T. in French, both from SUNY Stony Brook. She holds certifications in teaching French and Italian both at the secondary and elementary levels. Tina currently teaches middle school and high school French in the Miller Place School District, levels 7th grade, I, III, IV, V and AP.

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Anna Domingo, Sewanhaka School District, Franklin Square, NY

Anna Domingo earned her M.A. in Italian Language and Literature at Stony Brook and did her undergraduate work at St. Joseph’s College in Patchogue. She taught Spanish and Italian for 5 years at Commack High School and currently teaches in the Sewanhaka School District. Anna is a forward thinker who works consistently to improve her craft at creating a comprehensible experience for her students. Anna has presented with Margaret Krone at the NYSAWLA 2019 conference as well as the LILT Conferences in 2019 and 2020.

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Roxanne Franquelli, Valhalla High School, Valhalla, NY

Roxanne Franquelli has been teaching Spanish for 20 years in the Valhalla Union Free School District, where she also serves as the Department Leader. She has been on the Board of Directors for NYSAFLT and is the current Vice-President of PoWeRFuL. Roxanne has presented for FLACS, PoWeRFuL, and NYSAFLT. She enjoys experimenting with technology in her classroom.

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Valérie Greer, Bay Shore Middle School, Bay Shore, NY

Valérie Greer graduated from SUNY Stony Brook with her Bachelors in 1998 and her Masters in 2001. She began teaching in Bay Shore in 1998 and has been there ever since. She has presented multiple times for LILT, NYSAFLT, NECTFL and ACTFL. In 2017, Wendy and Valérie were named Best of NY for their sessions at the 2017 NYSAFLT Annual Conference and Best of NECTFL at the 2017 Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Valérie served on the Board of Directors for NYSAFLT as Long Island Regional Director from 2017-2019. She currently serves as Secretary/Treasurer of NYSAFLT.

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Bill Heller, SUNY Geneseo, Geneseo, NY

Bill Heller has taught students at the elementary, secondary, and post-secondary levels for 40 years including 24 years as the high school Spanish teacher at Perry Central Schools. He has been a methods and Spanish instructor at SUNY Geneseo since 2001. He has done workshops, preconferences and keynotes at local, state, regional and national conferences for World Language teachers. He is currently serving on the Executive Committee of the NYSED Content Advisory Panel for World Languages. Bill has served on the NYSAFLT Board of Directors and as Conference Chair for the 2017 Northeast Conference (NECTFL). He and his rescue pup, Sadie, live in Warsaw, NY.

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Dr. Deborah Hovland, SUNY Buffalo State, Buffalo, NY

Dr. Deborah Hovland has developed and taught courses on a diverse range of subjects at the graduate and undergraduate levels, including the literature, history and culture of the French Caribbean, Francophone North America, and France from the 12th to the 20th centuries. She also co-wrote and served as project director for a U.S. Department of Education Title III grant to promote the teaching of foreign language in an interdisciplinary context. In recent years she served as simultaneous interpreter for the Waterkeeper Alliance, where she interpreted for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other environmental activists.

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Kevin Kreaves, Duolingo

Kevin Kreaves is a community specialist at Duolingo, working with the Duolingo Educator Network since 2019. With 7 years experience in online communities, he strives to build relationships between educators around the world.

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Margaret Krone, Commack School District, Commack, NY

Margaret Krone earned her MAT in Italian from Stony Brook and did her undergraduate work at the University of Delaware. She has been teaching both Italian and Spanish for 11 years at Commack High School, where she also serves as the Lead Teacher of the World Languages Department. In 2019 she was selected as Commack High School’s Teacher of the Year. Together with her colleagues, Margaret continues to work towards creating a more comprehensible and communicative language classroom. Margaret has presented with Anna Domingo at the NYSAWLA 2019 conference as well as the LILT Conferences in 2019 and 2020.

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Peggy Lucero, Kenmore East High School, Tonawanda, NY

Peggy Lucero is a 20-year veteran German teacher with the Kenmore Town of Tonawanda School District just outside of Buffalo, NY. She earned her Master’s Degree in German Linguistics from University at Buffalo, is president of the WNY AATG Chapter, 2nd Vice President of WNYFLEC, and is her school’s NHS adviser. She currently teaches 5 levels of German from 9th to 12th Grade, including college credit and IB German. She has presented at numerous conferences in the past and enjoys sharing and helping others.

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Marisol Manríquez-Weiner, NYCDOE, New York, NY

Marisol Manríquez-Weiner is the Spanish Content Area specialist with AP for All, Office of Equity and Access, NYC DOE. Before working as an educational administrator, she was a Chilean-born Spanish teacher for 28 years, working in Chile, Michigan and New York. From her time residing in Chile, she has a BA with a major in Spanish, a BA in Secondary Education, and two post-titles in theater management. Additionally, she has an MA in Spanish, an MSED in Educational Leadership, a bilingual certificate at Queens College, and a SBL and a SDL certificate from US institutions.

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Christina Margiore, North Shore Schools, Glen Head, NY

Christina Margiore is a Spanish teacher at North Shore High School on Long Island. She has been teaching secondary Spanish since 2009 and loves supporting students on their path to proficiency. She holds a B.S. in Adolescent Education Spanish 9-12, a M.A. in Liberal Studies: Spanish, and an Advanced Graduate Certificate in School Building/District Leadership. She is passionate about supporting target language output in her classes and having fun with her students along the way.

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Wendy Mercado, Bay Shore Middle School, Bay Shore, NY

Wendy Mercado is a graduate of SUNY Stony Brook. She began teaching in Bay Shore in 1998. She has presented multiple times for LILT, NYSAFLT, NECTFL and ACTFL. In 2017, Wendy and Valérie were named Best of NY for their sessions at the 2017 NYSAFLT Annual Conference and Best of NECTFL at the 2017 Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Wendy participated in NYSAFLT’s 2017 cohort of the Leaders of Tomorrow program and is presently the secretary for ACTFL’s Language Learning for Children Special Interest Group and holds several roles for NYSAFLT: Long Island Regional Director, Director of Social Media Chairperson, and Virtual Video Contest Committee Chairperson.

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Joanne O’Toole, Ph.D., SUNY Oswego, Oswego, NY

Joanne O’Toole, Ph.D. is Professor of Modern Language Education at SUNY Oswego. She has held several world language leadership positions, including NYSAFLT President and NECTFL Director. She currently serves on the NYSED OBEWL Content Advisory Panel Executive Committee. She is a regular presenter at local, state, and national conferences. She previously taught secondary Spanish for 16 years.

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Maria Quintanilla, Energy Tech High School/NYC DOE, Astoria, Queens- NY

Maria Quintanilla is a teacher of Spanish at Energy Tech High School in Astoria, Queens. She has taught all levels of Spanish and has worked extensively developing A.P. Spanish Language and Culture curriculum and lesson plans for the AP For All Initiative. She is currently working with the Division of Multilingual Learners in NYC to develop curriculum and lesson plans for Heritage Speakers of Spanish. She is heavily involved in the implementation of the New York State Seal of Biliteracy for graduating seniors and chairs the Language Department in her school. Ms. Quintanilla was a finalist in the Apple Teacher Awards and is an etymology enthusiast.

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Steven Spitz, Valhalla Middle School, Valhalla, NY

Steven Spitz has been teaching Spanish for 7 years, including one year teaching abroad in Spain. He is a member of NYSAFLT, PoWeRFuL, and Instituto de Cervantes. This is Steven’s first time presenting for NYSAFLT. He enjoys growing his pedagogy by incorporating new innovative tools and technology into his classroom.

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