SWCOLT 2027 Conference Workshops (tHURSDAY, fEB. 4)
Workshop 1 - Practice What We Teach: Building and Maintaining Language Proficiency as Educators
morning workshop
Day & Time: Thursday, February 4 - 9 am - 12 pm
Presenter: Teresa Bell, Brigham Young University (Utah)
Workshop Description:
Language teachers encourage students to continue developing proficiency, but maintaining and improving our own language skills can be challenging amid the demands of teaching, grading, and service responsibilities. This interactive half-day workshop focuses on practical, sustainable approaches that language educators can use to strengthen their own proficiency while simultaneously enhancing classroom instruction.
Drawing on research on language teacher development and proficiency growth, participants will explore strategies that support continued language learning, including meaningful target-language engagement, self-assessment and goal setting, authentic resource use, reflective practice, and purposeful interaction with proficient speakers. Through guided activities, discussion, and planning exercises, participants will identify approaches that fit their individual contexts and create a personalized plan for continued language growth.
Rather than emphasizing theory, this workshop centers on actionable practices that teachers can implement immediately to support their own proficiency development and serve as stronger language models for their students.
Goals/Outcomes:
Participants will leave with . . .
-
A toolkit of practical proficiency-building activities that can be incorporated into daily and weekly routines
-
Strategies for increasing meaningful target-language use beyond the classroom
-
Resources for self-assessing proficiency and setting achievable growth goals
-
Ideas for integrating personal language development with teaching responsibilities
-
Templates and planning tools for creating a sustainable proficiency-improvement plan
-
A network of colleagues committed to ongoing language growth
After attending, participants will be bble to . . .
-
Evaluate their current language-use habits and identify opportunities for growth
-
Set realistic proficiency-development goals aligned with their personal and professional needs
-
Implement evidence-informed strategies for maintaining and improving language proficiency
-
Identify and use authentic resources that support continued language development
-
Develop a sustainable action plan for ongoing proficiency growth
-
Model lifelong language learning practices for their students
Bio:
Teresa Bell holds a BA in German and an MA in German Literature from Brigham Young University and earned a PhD in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching from the University of Arizona. She has taught at the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Oklahoma, and Brigham Young University, where she currently serves as associate chair in the Department of German and Russian. Her professional work focuses on language teacher education, assessment, curriculum development, and world language pedagogy. Dr. Bell directs the ACTFL program review process and the German Teachers Summer Institute in Vienna, a professional development program for German educators. She previously served on the AP German Language and Culture Development Committee and has held leadership positions in professional organizations, including the Utah Foreign Language Association and the BYU Faculty Women’s Association.
WORKSHOP 2 - turning the page: teaching novels with confidence
morning workshop
Day & Time: Thursday, February 4 - 9 am - 12 pm
Presenters: Lindsay MacDonald, Westmoore High School (Oklahoma) & Diane Portillo, Washington High School (Oklahoma)
Workshop Description:
Have you wanted to teach a novel but weren’t sure where to start? This half-day workshop will guide participants through the process of selecting an appropriate novel, designing an acquisition-driven instructional unit, and assessing student learning through meaningful, proficiency-focused practices. Presenters will model a variety of engaging instructional strategies and classroom activities that promote language acquisition, deepen cultural understanding, and increase student engagement in any language and across all levels. Participants will gain the knowledge, resources, and confidence to successfully implement a novel study in their own classrooms and will leave with a sample 3-4 week lesson plan outline that can be implemented with any novel at any level.
Goals/Outcomes:
Bios:
Lindsay MacDonald has taught Spanish in Oklahoma for 28 years at the junior high and high school levels. Lindsay was the Moore Public Schools District Teacher of the Year in 2015.
Diane Portillo has taught for 29 years, in the US and Guatemala. She has taught all levels from PK-12, in a variety of subjects. Diane was the OFLTA Teacher of the Year in 2013.
WORKSHOP 3 - instructional interventions to improve student writing
AFTERNOON workshop
Day & Time: Thursday, February 4 - 1 pm - 4 pm
Presenter: Maylén Sullivan - Coronado Unified School District (California)
Workshop Description:
If we want different results in our students’ writing, we must be willing to look at our student results and change how we teach. In this interactive three-hour workshop, we will explore how the principles of Improvement Science can transform writing instruction. This session introduces the "Plan-Do-Study-Act" framework to identify learning gaps and design targeted interventions. Central to this approach is the concept of "closing the feedback loop"—the critical process of engaging students in actively learning from feedback and returning to their own work to implement improvements. Participants will analyze a case study of a successful writing intervention, focusing on the roles of regular low-stakes writing, mentor texts, explicit teaching of transition words, and writing workshops. Moreover, participants will analyze student work samples and discuss what to prioritize when providing writing feedback. Finally, participants will leave with a concrete, actionable plan to test small changes and foster a culture of continuous improvement in their own classrooms for the upcoming school year.
Note: If possible, participants should bring writing samples from their own classroom.
Goals/Outcomes:
Bio:
Dr. Maylén R.R. Sullivan is the 2026 SWCOLT and California Language Teacher of the Year. A passionate trilingual educator originally from Cuba, she serves as the Coronado Unified School District World Language Teacher on Special Assignment (ToSA) where she leads K-12 professional development and shapes the department's vision. Sullivan believes language is a powerful vehicle for problem-solving and civic engagement — empowering students to serve their communities, contribute meaningfully to the world around them, and take action on issues that matter. Her instruction motivates students to connect with new cultures, analyze authentic texts, engage in high-level academic discussions, and use their linguistic skills to address real-world challenges. Sullivan's work has significantly increased the number of students receiving the Seal of Biliteracy and earning travel scholarships. A Certified Leadership Coach with a PhD in Leadership Studies from the University of San Diego, Dr. Sullivan has 16 years of teaching experience and a decade of instructional leadership, facilitating workshops for educators locally and nationally.
WORKSHOP 4 - CONTEXT AT THE CORE: BUILDING PROFICIENCY THROUGH CULTURE, CONTENT & COMMUNITIES
afternoon workshop
Day & Time: Thursday, February 4 - 1 pm - 4 pm
Presenter: Cherice Montgomery, Brigham Young University (Utah)
Workshop Description:
This fast-paced, half-day workshop offers interactive, culture-focused techniques for contextualizing language learning to develop real-world proficiency and
pragmatic competence. During the workshop, participants will: (1) examine conditions that motivate the transfer of classroom-based language learning
into real-world settings; (2) explore hands-on, innovative approaches to contextualization; (3) experience more than thirty playful, culturally-contextualized,
communicative activities that support learners’ developing proficiency; (4) engage learners with fun, simple, low-prep strategies that can be used at any
level to develop linguistic progress and pragmatic competence; (5) evaluate the linguistic, cultural, and cognitive demands of common language tasks
to better scaffold learners’ linguistic production. Examples aligned with common textbook topics and AP themes will be provided in multiple languages,
along with handouts, strategy menus, and sample activity templates in English.
Goals/Outcomes:
Bio:
Cherice Montgomery is an Associate Professor of Spanish Pedagogy at Brigham Young University. Her research explores the potential of design-based, playful pedagogies, immersive learning environments, and 21st century literacies for inspiring change in world language education. Cherice’s work has been published in various academic journals, and she has also been honored with numerous awards for excellence in K-16 teaching. More info: https://chericem.weebly.com/biography.html
WORKSHOP 5 - actfl's advocacy center: promote your story, tell your story, lift your voice
EVENING WORKSHOP
Day & Time: Thursday, February 4 - 5 pm - 8 pm
Presenters: Jill Landes-Lee, University of Utah & Beckie Bray-Rankin, Lexington High School (Massachusetts)
Workshop Description:
Let’s demystify language advocacy and move into action! In this hands-on workshop, participants will explore ACTFL’s Language Advocacy Resource Center (LARC) and find grassroots tips to shine a spotlight on and grow their local language programs. We will use the LARC resources to identify and educate spheres of influence, to celebrate achievements, to communicate program impact, and to lay a strong foundation for language advocacy. Participants will then apply what they learn to create customized advocacy products and action plans they can immediately use in their own classroom, schools, districts, and communities to build partnerships that support language programs. Don’t isolate: Collaborate!
Goals/Outcomes:
Participants will be able to identify their advocacy sphere of influence and adapt resources to engage their community in world language programs.
They will adopt sample advocacy strategies for their own context and highlight the essential work going on in world language classrooms that will resonate with their local community.
Bios:
WORKSHOP 5 - leading with culture through authentic resources
EVENING WORKSHOP
Day & Time: Thursday, February 4 - 5 pm - 8 pm
Presenter: Leslie Grahn, World Language Consultant (Maryland)
Workshop Description:
During this interactive workshop, participants will gain strategies and access resources for building students’ intercultural communicative competence. Participants will practice a process for selecting authentic resources for both cultural and communicative value and will design tasks around those resources where students investigate cultural products, practices, and perspectives and interact through authentic scenarios in a culturally appropriate way.
Goals/Outcomes:
Participants will be able to:
• describe the differences between culture, intercultural communication, and intercultural communicative competence
• plan window, mirror, and door tasks
• consider how to plan lesson segments focused on intercultural communication
• provide opportunities for students to interact interculturally.
Bio:
Leslie Grahn has twenty-seven years of language teaching experience at the middle and high school levels and twelve years of experience at the central office level, most recently as Coordinator of World Languages for the Howard County Public School System in Maryland. Leslie is a frequent presenter at state, regional, and national conferences, specializing in best practices. She curates and creates resources to support language teaching and learning and shares them through her website (www.grahnforlang.com) and on Pinterest (grahnforlang).
Leslie is the co-author of The Keys to Strategies for Language Instruction and has served on the boards of NECTFL, NADSFL and ACTFL
