The Indiana Foreign Language Teachers Association Annual Conference was this past weekend and it was such a breath of fresh air with lots of new ideas!
Dr. Stephen Krashen was our keynote.
And, as I try to follow his theories as closely as I can in my classroom, I was hoping for a selfie. My students and children all know about his work and that it is the driving force behind what we do in class. Well, not only did I get that selfie, but I had the honor of eating lunch with him on the first day. I was sitting with friends I made at CI Midwest a few weeks ago and he ambled over to join us.
There are several Teaching with Comprehensible Input (TCI) groups that meet in Indiana: One in the northern part of the state, one in Indy, and one near Evansville (Click the links to join us on Facebook!). We were very well represented at IFLTA this year so there was a wide variety of comprehensible input-based sessions.
I was incredibly honored to have Dr. Krashen not only attend my session, but also participate in some of the Brain Breaks I was teaching to the group. If you are interested in using Brain Breaks in your classroom, you should check out Annabelle Allen’s blog – sooooo many amazing ideas!
This is a photo my friend took of me doing what I do… being completely silly with my students, who in this case were world language teachers from around the state.
Talking shop after my session with the one-and-only! What a thrill!!!
But honestly, the very best part of the entire conference was having the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Krashen and my good friend Leslie Phillips from Park Tudor School in Indy for a mentoring session. Getting the research and best practices out to teachers is really his number one goal. He took the time to explain why the theory was good (as if we needed convincing!) and how it is evolving over time. Such a kind and wonderful man. I am truly honored and blessed.
Best. Day. EVER!!!!
