Presented by Jennifer Wortzel (Basha High School, Chandler, AZ; Arizona Language Association Outstanding World Language Teacher at the Secondary Level; 2015-16 Arizona World Language Teacher of the Year)
Jennifer Wortzel is currently in her sixteenth year of teaching Spanish. Teaching Spanish is Jennifer’s passion, and she constantly learns more and improves her courses in order to create active, interactive, engaging, authentic, dynamic, and meaningful activities for her students. In the world language field, Jennifer not only has been recognized as an expert on Language Learning Stations, but also has lead numerous workshops and presentations on the topic at local, state, regional, and national conferences. Jennifer is the first Arizona language teacher to be awarded the Best of SWCOLT honor and to represent the Arizona Language Association at the national American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language conference in Philadelphia in 2012. After being secretary, East Valley Representative, and President-elect of the Arizona Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese for the past 5 years, Jennifer currently serves as President. In October 2015 she received both the Arizona Language Association Outstanding World Language Teacher at the Secondary Level Award and the honor of becoming the 2015-16 Arizona World Language Teacher of the Year. In addition, Jennifer enjoys traveling with her students and family.

Saturday October 22, 2016, 9.a.m. to 4 p.m.
A certificate for 6 hours of Arizona Continuing Education was provided to attendees.
Description: This workshop taught educators at all levels how to effectively engage all students in differentiated rotations which can serve as scaffolding techniques and/or formative assessments. While learning stations are an emerging concept in the secondary classroom, they have existed in elementary classrooms for decades. They offer an alternative to the “teach and listen” approach by providing open-ended instruction and a hands-on, interactive, collaborative, and exploratory learning style. They provide time for the teacher to work in small groups or one-on-one to target specific skills and better meet the specific needs of individual students. Learning stations encourage independence and responsibility while providing opportunities for differentiation, self-discovery and active practice with purpose.

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Spring 2016 : You Don’t Need to be High Tech to get your Students Engaged!

Presented by Brenda Gaver (East Valley High School, Spokane, WA; ACTFL Language Teacher of the Year finalist)
Brenda Gaver has been teaching Spanish for 19 years in Spokane, WA. At the beginning of her career, Brenda taught on live, interactive TV. She had over 20,000 students across the country, from Kindergarten to High School. After the grant for this program was exhausted, she moved to a local high school, where she teaches Spanish 1-4, as well as a Leadership class.
Brenda was a finalist for ACTFL’s 2016 Teacher of the Year. She has served as President of the Pacific Northwest Council for Languages, the Wisconsin Association of Foreign Language Teachers, and chaired three conferences. She was also a participant in the first cohort of the Western Initiative of Language Leadership (WILL), sponsored by the Center for Applied Second Language Studies (CASLS) at the University of Oregon. She went on to become a mentor for WILL, and was also a mentor for additional models, the Southern Initiative for Language Leadership (SILL) and the Global Language Educator’s Network (GLEN).

Description: With numerous apps and websites available to engage students, there seems to be a “shift” in how we reach 21st century learners. During this workshop, participants explored apps available to facilitate communication among students, communication with parents, and communication with colleagues. They also explored other “tried and true” activities to get students communicating in the target language, without the use of technology.