ACTFL 2023 Takeaways: From Reading to Writing and Beyond with Leandra and Angelica

In a special episode of Growing with Proficiency The Podcast, I spoke with Leandra Rodríguez and Angelica Ruiz, two exceptional Spanish teachers and members of GWP, The Spanish Teacher Academy, about our conference takeaways spanning from reading to writing and beyond. We also dived into our most significant takeaways from the ACTFL 2023 conference. We also chatted about the magic of reading where we explored specific strategies for reading, including the co-creation of texts, level-appropriate readings, and engaging with tic-tac-toe reading questions.

Next, we talked about the critical lens on text selection: understanding the importance of identifying stereotypes when selecting texts. You’ll hear about a fantastic tool developed by Adriana Ramirez: “Leyendo con Lupa” (Reading with a Magnifying Glass).

Then, our discussion shifted to innovative classroom jobs where we looked at insights on how classroom jobs can enhance the learning environment. Finally, we chatted about revolutionizing writing. I shared insights about the effectiveness of the “one draft, feedback, and final draft” approach versus prolonged writing assignments supported by reading and ongoing feedback. This episode has invaluable insights for every language educator.

In this post, I’ll share a few highlights of our discussion, but to hear all the details and strategies, listen above, on your favorite podcast player, or here.

Favorite Conference Takeaways for Reading

First, Angelica shared a strategy she learned from a session she went to presented by Myra Canyon. Myra gave a summary of different steps that you can use to actually have your students reading and developing literacy skills with you. In episode 69, Angelica gives us an example of the steps in action. 

I really like this because you can elevate your text. I love to be able to have a conversation with my students about any topic, like calendar talk, and then turn and say “Okay, let’s write about it”. That is your opportunity to level up or level down the language based on your class.

Conference Takeaways About Classroom Jobs

Next, Leandra really loved her first session with Annabelle and John, about class jobs called Classroom Community Made Easy. They opened her eyes to the idea that all students should have a job. Then, they shared so many interesting jobs, and it was so fun to hear stories and the actual jobs that the students can really complete. A great takeaway from the session was that if you want something to happen, you have to model how you want it done. So important!

In episode 67, I discussed class jobs and how delegating jobs to students allows you to do less. 

Conference Takeaways About Latin American Women Stereotypes

My greatest takeaway was from this session with Adriana and Margarita called “Latin American Woman’s History in Intermediate Spanish”. They were talking about the importance of when we are approaching a text to really look at that text and see what the role of the woman is because in most of the texts, women have been portrayed as a mom, daughter, or a caretaker. They usually are characterized as very dramatic, always crying, very sensitive, and always cooking. So, it’s very stereotypical of a woman.

It’s really important that when we’re selecting text, we stop and ask ourselves some questions about the text that we’re reading. And not only that, but we should also help our students be critical about the text that they’re reading in terms of these aspects. Adrianna developed a great resource called Leyendo con lupa by Adriana Ramirez. It’s is a series of posters featuring different types of women with inspiring phrases to guide students in a more critical and culturally responsive reading process. You can find the link in the resources below.

Another session that Angelica shared was called, “Reading is Breathing”. Angelica shared one of the many strategies that was explained about the importance of reading. Attendees also explored the ideas of what is pre-reading? What do we do while we are reading? What do we do after we read? Listen to episode 69 to hear the strategy that Angelica shared. 

Leandra continued our conversation by sharing another favorite session with us. Her second one was from her dear friend, Diego. His presentation was about reading strategies that support language acquisition. He was talking about how we all know how important it is to implement reading in our classrooms and to acquire the language. If we don’t read, we’re not going to acquire the language.

Diego discussed how our reading has to be compelling and relevant to our students. If something is not relevant to them, they’re not going to pay any attention. So true! Another important point he made was that the readings have to be at our student’s level. Angelica also shared an experience where she found this out to be true firsthand with her students.  

Takeaways About Writing

My other greatest takeaway was about the topic of writing. It was incredible and was called Creating Extended Scaffolded Writing Tasks for Heritage Language Learners by Dr. Alberta. She was sharing a new curriculum, a new approach of writing for heritage language learners. 

So, think about this. You can have five written assignments or 10 written assignments throughout the year, and they all follow the same kind of cycle. The student writes out a draft, you read the draft as a teacher, you provide some feedback, and the student gives you the final draft. That’s it. You can do 15 times or 20 times but the research shows that it really doesn’t affect or improve the proficiency. She’s suggesting in this new curriculum an approach with three components. I explain these components in the podcast. Click here to listen about her new curriculum and more details about what we learned at ACTFL 2023.