Discussions

Your Name and Title: Shannon Peterson, Assistant Director

School or Organization Name: Lakes International Language Academy

Co-Presenter Name(s): Kimerly Miller

Area of the World from Which You Will Present: Denver, USA

Language in Which You Will Present: English

Target Audience(s): K-12 bilingual teachers

Short Session Description (one line): For genuine, ongoing global collaboration, students need to be immersed in more than one language; are you prepared to be a K-12 language immersion teacher?

Full Session Description (as long as you would like): Language immersion programs, once a small percentage of language offerings in the public and private education sectors, are now multiplying. With thousands more students educated in a second (or third or fourth) language every year, the capacity for genuine ongoing global collaboration increases exponentially.  The factor holding many schools back from increased offerings in language immersion programs is the dire need for strong pool of qualified candidates-- for teaching positions in a variety of languages and grade levels. This session will explore the following questions: What does it take to become a successful immersion teacher in an elementary or secondary classroom? What level of language proficiency is required to teach subject matter in the immersion language rather than teach the language as a subject? What are some examples of required certification and how can it differ from traditional foreign language teaching? What kind of professional development is available for teachers who would like to prepare themselves for immersion teaching? These questions will be answered by the presenters and participants will be encouraged to assess their individual preparedness for teaching in an immersion classroom.

Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session: www.carla.umn.edu, www.actfl.org, www.cehd.umn.edu, www.mnimmersion.org, www.lakesinternational.org