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Tuesday, September 30 — 4:00 PM (1 hour)

Recruitment Playbook: How to Keep Students Enrolled

Presenters: Marie Campanaro & Barb Patterson

Develop your recruitment playbook with multiple strategies for attracting and retaining world language students in your program. Compile materials which educate the school and local community that learning another language has a meaningful purpose. Explore successful world language programs and district incentives as well as collaborations with post-secondary institutions. Show students that proficiency in another language is attainable, a real-life skill, and gives them a competitive edge in college and career through the action steps and resources provided.

Marie Campanaro graduated magna cum laude with a BA in Secondary Spanish and English Educ from SUNY Brockport, and an MA in Elem Educ with a concentration in Bilingual Multicultural Educ. Now retired, she taught ELA and Spanish for 38 years. She has National Board Certification in WLOE. She was awarded the Lifetime Enrichment Grant: Nurturing Creativity in the Classroom; NYSAFLT Embassy of Spain Scholarship to Salamanca, NYSAFLT’s President Award, the Ferdinand DiBartolo Distinguished Leadership Award, NYSAFLT Anthony J. Papalia Award and JNCL-NCLIS Power of Advocacy Award. A past president of NYSAFLT, she remains involved as Public Advocacy Co-chair. 

Barbara Patterson holds a B.S. in Secondary Education Spanish, M.A. in Spanish and a C.A.S. degree. Barbara has taught Spanish for 31 years with experience in suburban, city and rural school districts. She is the committee chair of the NYSUT’s World Language Subject Area Committee and is the Co-chair of the NYSAFLT’s Public Advocacy Committee. As a Project Support Specialist at SUNY Oswego, Barbara works in conjunction with OBEWL at NYSED. Barbara served as NYSAFLT’s Assistant Director and LECNY’s Webmaster, Past President, President and Vice-President. She is the recipient of NYSAFLT’s President Award and received the Anthony J. Papalia Award with her Advocacy co-chair Marie Campanaro.

This special workshop is offered free of charge to any teacher of a world language working in a NYS school, including district, charter, and non-public schools, as well as BOCES and RBERN employees. These workshops qualify for CTLE credit for world languages. When registering, you must use a school email address. Email addresses not associated with a school in NYS will be denied access to the workshop. 

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Thursday, November 6 — 4:00 PM (1 hour)

A Peek at the 2025 NYSAFLT Annual Conference

Presenter: Wendy Mercado

The 2025 annual conference in Albany was a huge success, and we’re so glad you were a part of it! Whether you were in attendance and want to share your thoughts and experiences, or you missed out and are curious about what happened, this virtual “Unconference” is for you.

Join us for a chance to connect with fellow NYSAFLT members and discuss all the incredible memories, ideas, and inspiration from this year’s event. Bring your questions, stories, and suggestions for future events. This is a great opportunity to get a head start on a new school year with new ideas and connections!

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Thursday, December 11 — 7:00 PM (1 hour)

Lighting the Spark in AP Spanish: From Authentic Input to Projects That Truly Motivate

Presenter: Diego Ojeda

In this session, discover how to turn authentic resources into the driving force behind meaningful projects in AP Spanish Language and Culture. Go beyond exam prep to design learning experiences that align with the course’s six themes while igniting curiosity, creativity, and student voice. With ready-to-use strategies and real classroom examples, you’ll see how authentic input can inspire and empower learners—making AP Spanish not only rigorous, but relevant, motivating, and memorable.

Diego Ojeda is a passionate Spanish teacher, a comprehensible poetry author, a blogger and an accomplished world language teacher trainer and presenter. He has been recognized and awarded for his outstanding teaching style that he brings to the class and enjoys sharing with his colleagues. Diego is a native of Bogotá, Colombia, and has many years of experience teaching in his native country as well as in the United States.

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Tuesday, January 13 — 7:00 PM (1 hour)

Canva + AI = The Perfect Pair

Presenter: Noemi Rodríguez

Let’s explore how Canva’s AI tools can transform your language classroom! There are SO many neat ways to utilize Canva + AI as a language teacher! Learn how to create engaging, visually appealing materials that enhance communicative tasks, foster creativity, and support language acquisition, one step at a time!

Noemí Rodríguez-Grimshaw is a veteran language educator who has been sharing and supporting teachers across the globe since 2005. As an award winning teacher, she specializes in language curriculum, assessment design, technology integration, reading and communication strategies. In 2014, 2024 and 2025, FLENJ awarded her workshops “Best of NJ” and in 2023, she earned the FLENJ President’s Award. She was also recognized as “Best of NECTFL” in 2025. She has presented workshops and delivered keynote speeches at state, regional, national and international conferences. Noemi also published her first guide: AI Innovation in the Language Classroom in 2024.

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Thursday, February 12 — 4:00 PM (1 hour)

Support Student Teamwork with GIAs

Presenter: Shannen Discavage

There is an ongoing conversation regarding direct instruction of grammar in the world language classroom. What if there was a way to indirectly teach grammar AND facilitate small group work at the same time? This teaching strategy will show educators how to meaningfully incorporate grammar in context, encourage students to work together to teach themselves grammar, and provide extension examples in class.

Shannen Discavage is a Spanish teacher for Checkpoint A students at Whitesboro Middle School in Central New York. She received her B.A. in Spanish from Marist College and her M.S. in Educational Theory and Practice from UAlbany. She was a 2023 NYSAFLT Leader of Tomorrow. When she is not teaching, she is the social media manager for Language Educators of Central New York (LECNY) and a co-chair for NYSAFLT’s Virtual Video Contest.

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Thursday, April 23 — 4:00 PM (1 hour)

Limited capital: a genealogy of culturelessness in (language) teacher education

Presenter: Tasha Austin

Through an exploration of culturelessness as a colonial construct, participants will be guided through the following reflective processes: they will firstly 1) denaturalize the concept of culture as being inherently ‘good,’ ‘bad,’ or missing altogether, then 2) contend with the racialization of culture as it manifests in minoritized community language practices, 3) grapple with the contradictions of using the economic analogy of ‘capital’ for culture, language, intellect (etc.), and, finally 4) consider the role of institutional actors in perpetuating, identifying and/or ultimately dismantling antiBlack constructs around what constitutes ‘capital’ in language learning.

Tasha Austin PhD is an assistant professor of teacher education, language education and multilingualism for SUNY Buffalo, Graduate School of Education. As a critical theorist, she engages Black feminist epistemologies to qualitatively examine language, identity and power through a raciolinguistic perspective, investigating the manifestations of antiBlackness in language education.

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Wednesday, May 20 — 7:00 PM (1 hour)

Move It or Lose It: Keeping Students Engaged Through Movement

Presenter: Kaleigh Thomas

Boost engagement and language output by getting students out of their seats! This interactive session will showcase low-prep, movement-based activities that can reinforce vocabulary, grammar, and communication skills. Participants will leave with practical strategies collected over the years to implement in any world language classroom!

Kaleigh Thomas earned her MAT at SUNY New Paltz for French in 2012, and her BA in French in 2008 from Eastern University. This is currently her 12th year as French teacher Carmel Central Schools where she also serves as Department Chair. She has recently been re-elected to a second term as NYSAFLT Regional Director for Mid-Hudson/Westchester, as well as Secretary for PWRFL Educators. She loves helping students build communication skills in a new language snd seeing the world through a new lens.

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