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8:15 - 9:00 Registration, exhibitor time and breakfast

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8:15 - 9:00 Registration, exhibitor time and breakfast

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Enjoy breakfast on us and explore our exhibitors!

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9:00 Conference opening and award ceremony

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9:00 Conference opening and award ceremony

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Join us as we officially open the conference with a warm welcome, inspiring remarks, and a celebration of excellence in language education. During the award ceremony, we’ll honor outstanding educators and community members whose work continues to uplift and connect our language learning community.

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Chiara Monticelli Dabney
GWATFL President

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9:30 - 9:50	Keynote: Language Is Power! Advocacy for a Multilingual Future

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9:30 - 9:50	Keynote: Language Is Power! Advocacy for a Multilingual Future

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Amanda Seewald, Executive Director of JNCL-NCLIS, will explore how language is power—connecting individuals, families, and communities, while shaping business, diplomacy, and global solutions. She will highlight the importance of student voices and collective advocacy in building a multilingual future.

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Instagram Post - 🎤 Keynote Speaker Amanda Seewald (1)

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Telling Our Stories: Language as Empowerment Through Bilingual Storytelling

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Telling Our Stories: Language as Empowerment Through Bilingual Storytelling

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In this session, students from DCI’s Spanish Phase 2/3 classes will present their original short story book—a project that celebrates the power of short storytelling. Through writing and publishing creative works in Spanish, students explored how language learning can be a form of self-expression, cultural connection, and advocacy.

Student-presenters will share excerpts from their stories and reflect on the creative process, highlighting how writing empowered them to use their voices in their target language. They will discuss how this project deepened their appreciation for linguistic and cultural diversity and promoted a sense of identity and ommunity.

This session aligns with the conference theme “Language Is Power: Advocacy for a Multilingual Future” by demonstrating how language learning can be used to tell powerful, personal stories and inspire others to value multilingualism. Attendees will leave with ideas for student-led, creative language advocacy projects that can be adapted to different school contexts.

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Sonija Parson, Nancy García, Jeny Dominguez, Lucia Vallaro, and Orielena Lopez Ayón	

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Beyond Grades: Feedback & Assessment through proficiency Portfolios

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Beyond Grades: Feedback & Assessment through proficiency Portfolios

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Traditional grading often limits students’ capacity for reflection, self-assessment, and ownership of learning. This session examines how proficiency portfolios can transform assessment into a feedback-driven, growth-oriented process. Participants will engage in hands-on activities to explore feedback strategies, collaborate on solutions to common challenges, and leave with practical tools for fostering reflective, autonomous learners.

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¡Sí! Y… Playing with Improv in the World Language Classroom

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¡Sí! Y… Playing with Improv in the World Language Classroom

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Say “yes, and…” to strengthening communication skills and sparking participants’ innate creativity through improv in the world language classroom. In this session, led by an improv actor and teacher, we will explore several activities that can be experienced in any language. This practice will build your comfort and confidence in taking an improvisational approach to teaching and learning. As the session unfolds, we will also connect the learning to research that shows how improv helps to foster confidence, connection, and active listening - all essential components of learning a new language! No previous theatrical or comedic experience is needed for this workshop - we're here to learn, challenge ourselves (in a fun, low-stakes way), and learn together!

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Harmonizing Justice: Using Music to Teach Social Justice & Empowerment in the World Language Classroom

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Harmonizing Justice: Using Music to Teach Social Justice & Empowerment in the World Language Classroom

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Discover how music can be a powerful tool for teaching social justice in the world language classroom. This session will explore creative ways to use songs and musical storytelling to foster critical conversations around equity, identity, and global awareness, with examples rooted in the Spanish language and culture. Learn how to select authentic musical resources that highlight diverse voices, challenge stereotypes, and inspire students to engage meaningfully with the target language. Walk away with adaptable lesson ideas and strategies to empower students as culturally aware global citizens.

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Building Legacy through World Language: Advocacy in Action through the Inspiring Story of Two Siblings

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Building Legacy through World Language: Advocacy in Action through the Inspiring Story of Two Siblings

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Advocacy for world language programs has many faces. One of the most powerful ways to advocate is by building legacy—demonstrating the lifelong impact that language learning has on students, families, and communities. This session shares the inspiring story of two siblings whose lives were shaped through language study, illustrating how teachers and programs can create enduring change. Their journey highlights how world language education cultivates global citizens, strengthens family ties, and opens doors to academic and professional opportunities. By connecting personal stories with broader advocacy goals, this session equips educators with strategies to champion, sustain, and grow language programs in their own schools and districts.

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Chiara Monticelli, Scarlett Boyd & Genevieve Martin

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Rethinking Homework: Student and Teacher Approaches to Accessible, Engaging, Efficient Learning

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Rethinking Homework: Student and Teacher Approaches to Accessible, Engaging, Efficient Learning

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In this session, a student and teacher will present together to critically examine current homework practices in language classrooms, with a focus on accessibility and engagement. Participants will uncover the hidden barriers students often face before they can even begin their work—such as complicated login systems, multi-step navigation, and hard-to-access platforms—and discuss how these challenges affect learning. The session will also highlight how one language department came together to reflect on their homework and study strategies, ultimately creating a shared toolkit for their entire team. Teachers will leave with practical strategies and a clear guide they can use to optimize their current learning management system, making homework assignments meaningful, efficient, and easy to complete—no matter where students are.

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Future-Ready Fluency: Leveraging AI in the World Language Classroom to Promote Proficiency and Scaffolding for All Learners

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Future-Ready Fluency: Leveraging AI in the World Language Classroom to Promote Proficiency and Scaffolding for All Learners

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How can we foster authentic language proficiency for every student while also saving valuable time? This session explores the powerful synergy between proficiency-based grading and Artificial Intelligence in the modern World Language classroom. We will demystify proficiency grading by focusing on what students can do with the language, shifting from points to progress. You'll discover how to leverage practical AI tools to effortlessly differentiate materials, create engaging, multi-modal activities, and provide targeted feedback that supports learners at every level—from Novice to Advanced. By grounding these strategies in the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework, this session provides a comprehensive roadmap for creating a more accessible, equitable, and effective learning environment. Leave with concrete strategies and ready-to-use resources to implement immediately, empowering all students on their path to proficiency.

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Creative Methods for Fluency, Fun, and Student Success

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Creative Methods for Fluency, Fun, and Student Success

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Energize your World Language classroom with fresh, low-prep methods that get students speaking, moving, and creating! Experience fun activities like communicative games, sentence-building relays, Word Sneak, and a make-and-take Choice Board—all scaffolded for novice and intermediate learners. Leave with ready-to-use strategies to boost fluency, engagement, and motivation in your language instruction.

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Affirmations over Rules: Building Empowered Language Learning Communities in Upper-Level Classes

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Affirmations over Rules: Building Empowered Language Learning Communities in Upper-Level Classes

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What if your students began the year by affirming who they are as language learners rather than memorizing rules and norms? In this interactive session, participants will explore how upper-level world language classes can co-create affirmations that set the tone for a positive, student-owned classroom culture. Together, we will model activities that help students articulate affirmations in the target language, synthesize them into a class-wide set of guiding principles, and revisit them throughout the year as part of their linguistic and intercultural growth. Attendees will leave with practical strategies, sample prompts, and ready-to-use resources to shift from compliance-driven rules to affirmations that empower and inspire.

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Voices in Two Languages: Empowering Students Through the Seal of Biliteracy  

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Voices in Two Languages: Empowering Students Through the Seal of Biliteracy  

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Join us for an informative and forward-looking session focused on the Seal of Biliteracy and its impact on students across Washington, DC. Participants will explore the national origins and evolution of the Seal, with a special emphasis on its implementation within DC Public Schools. This session will feature proven strategies that have successfully expanded access and participation in DC public schools. Attendees will also engage with innovative ideas for growing the Seal in SY25-26 and beyond.

While the DC State Seal of Biliteracy is open to students in DCPS and DC Charter Schools, this session is open to educators from other districts or private institutes who are interested in promoting multilingual achievement and equity in their communities.

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Language is power: Advocacy for a Multilingual Future

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Language is power: Advocacy for a Multilingual Future

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Learn how to engage students in advocating for language education through meaningful activities and real-world connections. This session highlights practical tools for elevating student voices and will share opportunities to grow advocates with the JNCL-NCLIS Student Blog, where learners can share their perspectives nationally. Leave ready to inspire student-led advocacy that extends beyond the classroom.

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Shifting perspectives: How our linguistic ideologies shape us as teachers

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Shifting perspectives: How our linguistic ideologies shape us as teachers

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This session will draw on individual and full-group, reflective and analytical engagement opportunities. Presenters will begin by inviting participants to establish group norms for the session. The session will be structured around a series of case studies from presenters’ own experiences. Throughout these stories, attendees will be prompted to identify the ideologies at play and propose alternative ways of addressing the challenges. After this narrative presentation of the dominant ideologies, attendees will have an opportunity to independently journal about ideologies that have shaped their own experiences. Next, attendees will engage in a scenario-based problem-solving activity to develop action steps that make visible and challenge detrimental beliefs. Lastly, presenters will share a digital self-assessment tool that attendees can incorporate into their professional development plans or share within their departments to identify and address language ideologies they encounter.

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Taking the Training Wheels Off: A Seamless Transition from Classroom Instruction to Community Interaction

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Taking the Training Wheels Off: A Seamless Transition from Classroom Instruction to Community Interaction

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First, we will describe our general ASL learning experience, including the use of comprehensible input to learn by exposure. Using primarily the target language allowed us to naturally incorporate cultural norms and communication practices in our class. Then, we will describe our required attendance at a community target language event. This event allowed us to participate more actively and experience the language more fully in a real-world environment. Primarily through the Westfield High School Voices Off Dinner, our ASL students interact and converse with Deaf community members, and gain experience and knowledge from the fluent signers. Because of our prior experience in the immersive class environment, we were able to implement the strategies from class at these events. Finally, we will outline how our ASL Honor Society students plan, manage, and direct our annual Voices Off Dinner (a school-hosted event) for both local language students and target language community members. We will provide attendees with steps to plan and organize their own student-led event; explaining our process and answering any questions.

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Words into Action: Building a Multilingual and Sustainable Future

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Words into Action: Building a Multilingual and Sustainable Future

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Language Learning and Biodiversity Awareness can, along with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), enrich language teaching. Educators will explore ecosystems, endangered species, and sustainability efforts through proficiency-based strategies that foster vocabulary development, cultural understanding, and global citizenship. Participants will also practice expressing simple solutions to environmental challenges in the target language. Participants will engage in hands-on activities that spark curiosity and inspire them to take meaningful action, transforming language learning into a tool for exploration, connection, and advocacy.

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Culture, Creativity, and Community: The Secret Ingredients to Language Buy-In

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Culture, Creativity, and Community: The Secret Ingredients to Language Buy-In

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What if your classroom felt like a journey to another part of the world the moment students walked in? This session explores how to design an immersive, visually engaging environment that sparks curiosity, eases the fear of taking risks, and fosters a strong sense of community. Discover practical, creative strategies—rooted in clear expectations and routines, with a spirit of exploration—that help students feel seen, safe, and excited to participate.

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The Power of Compassionate Communication for Educators in a Multicultural World

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The Power of Compassionate Communication for Educators in a Multicultural World

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In this introductory course of Mindful Nonviolent Communication, educators will be introduced to the Nonviolent Communication methodology and the central skills in this approach to human connection. Particular attention to understanding and acknowledging underlying multicultural dynamics that impact our students' social-emotional wellbeing will be underscored. Participants will utilize written and experiential practices to explore their learning, and will have time to explore how they can uniquely utilize this knowledge in the best way for their lives and their teaching practice.

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Performance by Peru Folklore Arts School 

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Performance by Peru Folklore Arts School 

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We’ll be presenting Afro-Peruvian music and dance, a vibrant cultural expression that combines African rhythms with Spanish and Indigenous influences. It originated along the Peruvian coast, where communities of African descent created rich musical traditions using percussion instruments such as the cajón (wooden box drum) and cajita (small wooden box). Its rhythms are lively and syncopated, inviting dance and celebration. Styles like the festejo reflect both joy and resilience, representing a living connection to history, identity, and cultural heritage.

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Negotiating English Varieties in Chinese University EFL Classrooms: Ideologies, Practices, and Possibilities

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Negotiating English Varieties in Chinese University EFL Classrooms: Ideologies, Practices, and Possibilities

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This roundtable delves into the complex and emerging issue of variety choice in English Language Teaching (ELT) in China, where traditional dominance of Inner-Circle norms (American/British English) persists despite rising awareness of World Englishes (WEs) and English as a Lingua Franca (ELF). Drawing on semi-structured interviews with university EFL teachers, the session explores a paradox: although teachers recognize the pluricentric nature of English and express openness to linguistic diversity, their classroom practices continue to align with native-speaker standards.

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Leveling up the literacy skills in a World Language classroom by using language as a resource

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Leveling up the literacy skills in a World Language classroom by using language as a resource

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Students often face challenges with reading and writing, whether in language arts, heritage speaker courses, or advanced world language classes. While they already use language as a resource for communication, they may not fully recognize how these same tools can support deeper comprehension and more effective writing. This interactive session will equip teachers with strategies to help students identify and apply key language resources to make sense of written texts and strengthen their own writing. Participants will explore practical approaches that foster literacy growth across diverse language learning contexts, empowering students to leverage their existing knowledge to advance their academic success.

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Making students the stars! Acquisition-based Activities for Student-Centered Classrooms

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Making students the stars! Acquisition-based Activities for Student-Centered Classrooms

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This session highlights the role of Comprehensible Input-based and student-centered activities in increasing language acquisition. Participants will explore practical, acquisition-driven strategies that place learners at the center of instruction and leave with ready-to-use activities adaptable to any level or thematic unit.

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Come live outside the book with us as we explore the latest, authentic resources for novice and intermediate learners! We will share proficiency-driven practices that foster language and cultural competencies. Take away engaging strategies that integrate the modes of communication and empower your learners to use the language. We will share up-to-date, digital content and scaffolding approaches for group, whole class instruction and individual guided practice. Join us as we learn with Lingco!

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Más Allá de las Palabras: La Escucha Activa en el Aula de Español

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Más Allá de las Palabras: La Escucha Activa en el Aula de Español

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En esta presentación exploraremos cómo el uso intencional de audios auténticos, desde sonidos ambientales hasta conversaciones reales, puede transformar la comprensión auditiva en el aula de español. Los participantes aprenderán estrategias prácticas para desarrollar habilidades interpretativas, ampliar el vocabulario y fomentar la atención activa en distintos niveles de competencia lingüística. También compartiremos ejemplos de actividades listas para usar que conectan el sonido con el contexto, la cultura y la comunicación significativa.