The FLAVA conference was\nan amazing experience. It brought together hundreds of current, future, and\nretired educators from around Virginia. The breakout sessions included ways to\nencourage, inspire, and equip teachers in the classroom with tangible ideas\nthat can bring world culture and languages to life for our students. The FLAVA\nconference is something that every foreign language teacher should attend!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Right from the start, I\ncould sense a spirit of unity among the people at the conference. The vendors,\nsponsors, session leaders, and even the people on the FLAVA board interacted\nwith everyone like it was a family reunion. Since this was my first time\nattending, I was a bit apprehensive. However, there was a smile on every face\nthat I interacted with on both days from the \u201cWelcome to FLAVA\u201d at the packet\npickup window to the \u201cSee you at the next FLAVA conference\u201d at the closing\nceremony. I met and exchanged contact information with two different teachers\nin Hanover and Amelia county public schools. The sense of unity and the\nwillingness to share information was overwhelming. I look forward to the day\nwhen I will be inside the classroom teaching my first lesson and utilizing the\ntips that I learned at the FLAVA conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There were so many\nbreakout sessions from which to choose. That was probably the most difficult\ntask of the entire weekend because I couldn\u2019t be in two places at once. I did\noverhear someone say that the information from all the sessions will be posted\nto the FLAVA website. I am excited to see what will be posted from the sessions\nthat I wasn\u2019t able to attend. The sessions that I did attend gave me great\nideas about teaching verbs using pictures and gestures, combining Spanish\nculture with STEM activities in the foreign language classrooms, and how to\nconnect students with people who speak the target language from around the\nworld. I also attended a couple of sessions that taught educators how to use\nspecific technology in the classroom. LinguaFolio, Google Voice, and Nearpod\nwere a few of the applications that I was able to experience with hands on\nlearning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most inspiring and\nexciting session that I attended during the FLAVA conference was the session\ntitled \u201cEmpower Students Via Global Connections.\u201d The presenter was also the\nconference keynote speaker, Akash Patel. He was a bundle of positive energy\nthat infected everyone in the room just with his presence. His passion for\nteaching language in a way that helps connect students with native speakers\nfrom around the world inspired me. He engaged every person in the room and\nshowed us how easy it is to use technology to connect with others around the\nworld to further the learning experience of our students. I plan on using the\nsame concepts in my classroom and hope to be just as encouraging as Akash\nPatel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What I appreciate most\nabout the whole FLAVA experience is the \u201cwelcome to the club\u201d by all the educators.\nI felt like I didn\u2019t have much to share when there were questions about how we\ninteract with our students. My response was simple, \u201cI am a pre-service teacher\nand just into the swing of my practicum.\u201d So many teachers encouraged me by\nsaying \u201cStick with it\u201d, \u201cThe first year is horrible but it gets better with\neach passing year\u201d, \u201cDon\u2019t give up\u201d, and my favorite, \u201cWe need you and the\nstudents need you.\u201d I left the conference feeling totally equipped to put the\nthings that I am learned into practice. I understand why even the most\nexperienced educators return to the FLAVA conference every year. It is like charging\nyour cellphone. You leave with a full battery and ready to talk to everyone!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The FLAVA conference was an amazing experience. It brought together hundreds of current, future, and retired educators from around Virginia. The breakout sessions included ways to encourage, inspire, and equip teachers in the classroom with tangible ideas that can bring world culture and languages to life for our students. The FLAVA conference is something that… <\/p>\n