Instead of taking a trip around the globe, this fall, the entire World Languages Department, including Lower, Middle and Upper School faculty, visited a closer corner of the world—Nashville, Tennessee. There, they attended the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language (ACTFL) Convention, which is the largest and broadest of its kind and focuses primarily on world language pedagogy.
“As a department, we wanted to spend time together thinking about the next phase of planning curriculum with the best and brightest minds in the field,” said Patrick Huewe, Department Chair of World Languages.
The convention also gave the MICDS world languages faculty the chance to learn more about one another, share their common teaching experiences and ideas and plan for future professional development—all while enjoying the backdrop of “the country music capital of the world.” Each faculty member traveled to Nashville with a personalized goal they developed at the beginning of the year–and the convention gave them opportunities to explore resources in order to fulfill those goals.
During this year’s convention, Lily Childs gave a presentation called “Going Global: Project Based Learning with Foreign Partners.” It marks thefirst time an MICDS faculty member has presented at the ACTFL Convention.