ACTFL, 2008 Opening General Session

Nov. 21, 2008
ACTFL 2008
Orlando, Florida

It's Friday morning. The ACTFL General session begins at 9 am. But this is not just any General Session, because today we learn who will be the 2009 ACTFL TOY. My colleagues, the candidates from the regionals: Sandra Garcia from PNCFL, Emily Wagner from NECTFL, Samantha Godden-Chmielowicz from CSC and Carmen Scoggins from SCOLT and I arrive early to be prompted for the event. The music starts, ACTFL President Ray Clifford, elegantly dressed in his tuxedo, turns into an Avatar and dazzles the crowd. Then as the program continues, Ray introduces Christine Brown, the chair of the committee and the members of her TOY committee. Then out comes Janet Glass, the 2008 ACTFL TOY, who so graciously aided and suppported us throughout the interview process and other events on Thursday. One by one we were called to the stage. The moment was here. All of a sudden I hear my name. Oh là, c'est moi. I was excited beyond all understanding. A flashback of my first day as a French student in 9th grade at Norwalk, Ohio; then a flashback of my year abroad in France and then my first day as a language teacher. I could hear Colorado colleagues yelling and someone waving the Colorado flag. To quote the Grateful Dead, "What a long strange trip it's been."

I am truly honored to be the ACTFL National Language Teacher of the Year. It was a both challenging and rewarding process to gather evidence from students’ work, create that classroom video showing students authentically engaged in learning, responding to a series of important questions relevant to our profession and finally participating in an interview process conducted by peers in our field. I especially want to thank all my Colorado Congress of Foreign Language Teachers colleagues for their support and encouragement throughout the process and I want to acknowledge the continued support from SWCOLT. Also kudos to ACTFL for their insight and vision in creating an honor like this that gives language teachers a voice among their peers in the education world that equivocates with honors in the content areas of math, language arts and science, etc. Next I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Holt McDougal in sponsoring this award that supports ACTFL’s vision. And finally, I would be remiss in not acknowledging my “raison d’être”, my wonderful students throughout all these years.

But with honor comes with some very serious work-advocating for languages in all aspects. It will be fun meeting language teachers around the country, collaborating with many on our issues and challenges and traveling with Janine Erickson, 2009 ACTFL President. Stay tuned with updates on this blog: Where is the world is the 2009 ACTFL Teacher of the Year?
Also collaborate and create with us at the World Language Teachers 2.0 Ning and add content for the 21st century language learner to our World Languages 21st Century. Through this Wiki, ning and blog, I will use many different 2.0 tools that are "digital natives" love to try.


See more wonderful pictures from the 2008 ACTFL General Session TOY Ceremony