Vermont Foreign Language association

VFLA Conference

The 2022 VFLA Spring Conference at Castleton University on Friday, April 8th, 2022 was a success. 

We had more than fifty participants from all over Vermont.  Our keynote Darcy Rogers,  founder of Organic World Language (OWL), presented two sessions filled with movement and ready to use strategies.  In the afternoon, we had three different sessions: Seal of Biliteracy, Migrant Justice, Community Building, and the always famous Swap shop where teachers exchanged activities and resources. We celebrated the awarded students in the poster's contest and a moving ceremony honoring the 2022 VFLA Distinguished teacher. 

We celebrated students' posters and honored the 2022 VFLA Distinguished Teacher, Lori Dow-Moore.

Thank you all who attended the Conference and supporting the VFLA.

These are some comments from the participants: 

"Il found that the community building activities are very engaging and applicable to my middle school classes.

From the OWL session, the idea to stay in the target language with comprehensible input, lots of repetition, lots of movement and relevant language (to their lives). For the community building activities -- the importance of play/movement, social-emotional connection (even if sometimes in English) and incorporating the target language in to some of the community-building activities.

Community building activities, grouping students, and generating discussion, describing students ACTFL proficiency level and making sure my questions match that level.

More games and engagement I. The novice class. Thinking more about the right questions for novice versus mid questions

Wonderful team building lotto name game, great ideas for assessing ACTFL levels using effective, intentional questioning.

Brain-breaks with purpose beyond just movement -- can be used for grouping, prompts, communication. I also want to spend time with my department looking at ACTFL proficiencies and creating prompts for each level and then thinking of scaffolding questions and expansion questions that we can add to support students who might need more support or challenge.

Ideas for staying in the target language, connections, the feeling of a collective that supports each other.

I was so grateful to spend time with colleagues from around the state doing some of my favorite classroom activities. I thought we had some very productive conversations and discussions, and it looked like people were having fun. :-) "