As an educator, it has always been rewarding to be able to validate my own teaching practices and to learn new methods. That is why I enjoy attending workshops offered by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). This is the only national organization dedicated to the improvement and expansion of the teaching and learning of all languages at all levels of instruction.
One of my favorites was the workshop presented by the Oklahoma State Department of Education and the Oklahoma Foreign Language Teachers Association, several years ago.
I learned how to design an effective Performance Based Assessment, where students learn from the process and learn to improve their performance. I worked on creating an assessment appropriate for our program during this school year. Third grade students take it as we get closer to the end of the school year. Even though I am able to assess every time I meet my students, they don’t always realize how much they have learned. Having this tool will help “the students” recognize how much they have learned, and also it will teach them strategies to use later in life when they are taking a test in any language and at any level.
