Welcome to Teaching la vida loca, a podcast for World Language Teachers seeking inspiration, unapologetic authenticity and guidance in centering joy and facilitating language acquisition for the people who matter most our students, I'm your host, Annabel. Most people call me La Maestra loca. And I'm an educator just like you, and inspiring teachers is what I do. 

Welcome!

Welcome to Episode Eight of TEACHING LA VIDA LOCA!, I'm so happy you're here. If you're like, wait a second, you said that you were taking three weeks off. This recording is being published in June, what the heck, guess what? I recorded it on the same night that I recorded the last podcast. Brilliant. I know. I'm being really intentional about that rest, and I still am. So this is being published by my dear friend Tiffany, who is taking care of the publishing of it for me and the transcript so that I can be fully on break and that y'all can still get this information and enjoy it during your rest and your intentional planning for that rest, which I hope you are being very intentional about. And if you're not, then go back and listen to my last Episode Episode Seven. Or if you did listen to that already, go back to your bucket list that you created during that episode, and figure out what you can check off today. What special thing can you do today to fill your cup.  

Summer PD

Today's episode is actually all about summer workshops and summer conferencing. Because these are conferences that I've had lined up literally all year for myself since last summer really. And I've had planned on the calendar, but they're things that there's still time for you to sign up for. And that you probably need some time and thought around planning for them. So let's dive in. One of the reasons I am being so very intentional with my rest in June, is because my July is jam packed, it is tightly packed with some incredible experiences and opportunities to connect with teachers like you from across the world, in one of a kind conferencing and workshop experiences that I know are going to be incredible because honestly, two of the major conferences I'm participating in are ones that I have participated in for years. And I really, I can't imagine a summer without these conferences. So I'm being intentional about my rest in June, so that I can partake in really incredible enriching experiences in July that I know will enhance my school year and also just my personal life. I really, really thrive and love connecting with teachers and learning with people in in settings like conferences. It's really, really special. 

Conference 1

So, the first conference that I want to tell you about is called conference in the cloud, which is something that is really really special to me because I'm actually one of the conference organizers. There are four of us. Alyssa is the main organizer. She owns expressed fluency and she has brought together four full-time teachers. It's herself, she's a full time classroom teacher. Alison Litton, who is a full-time French elementary teacher. One of my dear dear friends, Viviana Tracy, who is my right hand lady and my business bestie and she is here in Louisiana. She teaches middle school Spanish full time myself. God knows what I'll be teaching next year because I don't have a job security yet. But yeah, no. I am. I have feelers out. And then like I said Alyssa is a full time teacher in Vermont. With Allison. So there's four real classroom teachers organizing PD. It's a conference for teachers, by teachers. And there's so much power in that. 

Alyssa had a conference every year, late summer early fall for Express fluency that was in person and it was fabulous. And it was unlike any conference just because of the like after hours elements she added like going into a lake or hiking to find rivers and glenns and magical things in Vermont, really, really special things that I had never experienced in any other conference before. And then when the pandemic hit, she was really stuck with this really challenging circumstance of how do I offer this incredible PD? And how do I offer that same special intimate feeling of creating community and connections in special ways post conference hours? In an online setting? Is that even possible? And that's how conference in the cloud was born. It's a really incredible place. And I say place because it really, it takes place in the clouds. It's, I know that sounds so like, Oh, my God Annabelle, but it's a really special conference where people from around the world can gather. People who normally would never have the opportunity to travel to Vermont for those that summer conference, they can log in, on their computers at home. I know one of my Familia, Loca members, Dawn, joined from her pool every day, like what the heck are you doing? You can join in your jammies in bed. Or you could just not join at all and watch the recordings because every single thing is recorded. 

All Day Fun

Let me tell you how special this conferences I am so impressed by how incredibly robust it is. And what I mean by that is, you start your day off with yoga, or Zumba in the morning. Yes, on Zoom, so powerful. And then you move into observing real language classes taught by real master teachers who are in their element teaching and facilitating language acquisition for real students, some of whom they've only just met. Now this year, we're adding a special element where we do have a classroom teacher teaching her own students in a physical classroom. And that's going to be live for you to observe. So that'll be special and new and really incredible. And that's Amy Marshall. If you know her, then you know how incredibly dynamic that will be to observe. But you have that language class experience, where you get to observe it firsthand what that looks like. And then we have special lunch chats and those sorts of things scheduled. And then we have an opportunity for you to experience firsthand. So the first time the first experience is observation, and the next time it's experiencing it firsthand, what does it feel like to be a language learner, somebody who is sitting to acquire and to soak in a language and experience it firsthand. So we have opportunities in German and Russian and Mandarin, maybe more that I'm unaware of, for you to really experience that firsthand with some people that I just really, really admire, including Diane Neubauer, Michelle Whaley, it's gonna be really incredible. And Metob, I believe, is doing German, really, really amazing experiences. And then you have the opportunity to really dissect and process all that you experienced, and you observed in those classes in the workshops, and the workshops are really tailored to talk about what it is that we're doing in these in these classes, and how you as a teacher can take these skills back to your own classrooms and implement them. Right. And then beyond that, there's the connection piece. That's the fourth piece, which I think is really really powerful. Express fluency in the in person conference was always masterful. Alyssa was masterful at creating these opportunities for teachers to connect outside of work and really just connect on a personal level. And Allison is what what she calls I think the cruise cruise ship post cruise Master, I don't know. But she organizes the evening events.

And they're happy hours or trivia nights or I know Erica led a game once and Kevin quickly ran a Eurovision event once or twice. But these are really really special and and fun. The best part about it though, really is that if one day, you just want to be on zoom all day and like, soak up all of the things and participate in all of the things. And the next day, you just can't even because you're like, Oh, I went way over today, yesterday, no screen time for me today. 

FOMO!

You can, because there's no such thing as FOMO with this conference, if you don't know what FOMO is, that's okay. FOMO stands for fear of missing out. And I know when I think about going to conferences, I'm constantly like, looking at that schedule and going, dang it, I want to go to this one, this one and this one, but they're all the same time. And I don't know what to do. Maybe if I split up my time, but then what am I missing? There is no FOMO. With this, everything's recorded, and you can watch it later. So I just, I can't say enough about it. And I'm very grateful for Alyssa to have me on this team for planning and implementing the conference. But I know you'd love it. I have put a link in the show notes so that you can look into registering for it. But I'd love to see you there and connect with you. And that begins on July 5, the day after independence day. I'd love to see you join us. 

Conference 2

The next conference I want to talk to you about is IFLT has a very special place in my heart. If it weren't for Carol Gaab really taking a leap of faith and trusting Diana Noonan. I wouldn't be where I am today. Carol had a unique situation in 2016, where they had over 40 students enroll in their elementary language lab. And they had Jason Frets who is my idol when it comes to teaching elementary and language. He was supposed to lead that language lab and I was enrolled to be an attendee. I was so freaking excited. I'm obsessed with Jason, I plan to sit there for five days and like soak in all that is Jason. And I got a phone call from Carol freaking Gaab. And I couldn't believe who was on the other line and I said, Hello. She said, Hi, Annabelle, I got your name from Diana Noonan. I'm like, Oh my God. She said she might be willing to teach a language lab. I later heard from Diana that she called Diana for this recommendation. And Dana said, Oh, Annabelle, Annabelle could do it. And she said, Well, have you seen her? And she said, What do you mean? She said, have you actually seen her teach it? She said yes. She's one of mine. And I am I am a product of the Denver Public Schools Programming, which is led by Diana Newton who actually just retired this year. Yay, Diana, yay, Mama. But I said no, I turned her down. I turned Carol Gaab down. And 10 minutes later, Jason Fritz, my idol called my personal cell phone, called me the B word. And then lovingly, lovingly, called me the B word and then lovingly told me, he would hold my hand through the whole process, but that he was not about to teach 40 children by himself, and that he needed me to sign up. So I took the leap. And I took the leap because Carol took the leap in hiring a nobody or somebody who you know, was just a teacher who has no real presenting experience. And I'm very grateful because I love what I do. And I love inspiring teachers and sharing with you. So thank you to Carol and the fluency matters team for trusting me, IFLT is led this year by Terry, and Michelle and they have put together something really truly incredible and one of a kind in Michigan and it's going to be in person, which is something we've really missed that IFLT team is so excited to be back together in person. But we're going to have virtual programming as well. So there's a virtual option if you want to sign up for that. There are language labs. There is really incredible coaching. And everybody who signs up, IFLT is signed into a cohort. And this cohort is really powerful because it is tailored to your level of experience with acquisition driven instruction, and you're giving given really special intimate training and tools to help you better yourself, wherever you are. And it's just incredible. It's really, really remarkable. And 

I can't wait to connect with all of my people this summer there and hopefully connect with you. I am super excited because Bertha, Delgadillo and I are also going to be having a booth together at iftl this year. And I will be there to talk more about some courses that I offer and also about my incredible PLC community called La Familia loca, which is a place where I work to develop and enhance your skills when it comes to acquisition driven instruction. And I do so in a community that's filled with like minded individuals to really enhance the joy that you and your students feel in your classroom. I'm really excited about it. If you'd like to learn more about La Familia loca or get on my waitlist, you can follow the link in the show notes. Or if you're at iftl. TV, make sure and stop by my booth, because I'd love to talk to you more about it and tell you about my conference special. That's IFLT. And you know what, I think this is the perfect time for our short little break. 

Brain Break

This little brain break is called snaps. And I learned it from Mark Mulaney. And it is something that you're going to have to be patient with yourself, I'm just going to tell you right now that this might be really challenging for you. And that's okay, I'm going to link to a video of me demonstrating this with the music teacher at my building Miss Johnson. And basically what you do and you are not allowed to do this while driving, do you understand me You take one hand and you snap three times in the air 123123 I like to do it in a downward motion.

123123123 And then in the other hand, you snap two times, again, I like to do it in that downward motion so that I have some sort of like thing to anchor me. And then you do both at the same time. So one hand is doing two snaps while the other is doing three. It is incredibly challenging. It is incredibly fun. And your students will love it. Don't worry, it takes some time to learn. Watch the video, it will be highly entertaining. And yeah, share it with your students. hope you love it. Can't wait to hear about it. Thank you Mark Mulaney for teaching me. 

PD #3

So, the next PD that I want to tell you about is actually not a conference or a workshop. It's a course that this person doesn't even know I'm plugging for her. But it was so incredibly impactful. And I'm going to say life changing because for me personally, that's exactly what it was. And if it can benefit even one other person, it is worth sharing about here and that is an email course with La Maestra MCH, that's Lisa MCH. Lisa MCH was a Spanish teacher. She's now a like, organizer, I guess of all things, digital and life and she's just remarkable. But she has this course called tame your inbox. And I learned about it first. I think I downloaded her resource that was like four steps to an inbox that doesn't look like shit or something like that. It was like decluttering I'm sorry, I should have said sugar muffins. It doesn't look like sugar muffins. That's what I'm saying from my students. But it I downloaded this free resource and where I got connected with her, I can't even remember but she sent this email about her course called tame your inbox. And I knew it's what I needed to go from. Are you ready for it? 136,000 unread messages to I have two inboxes now that are at 00. And everything is filtered and beautiful. And I feel so in control. And it's also given me so much time of my life back. So I really can't say enough about her course. I'm going to link to it in the show notes. She doesn't know and I'll link to her freebie too. She doesn't know I'm shouting it out. But it's made such an impact on my day to day and I'm just so grateful for for the course and for Lisa for really helping me get my sugar muffins together. Thanks, Lisa. Love you.  

Local PD

The last workshops and conferences I have this summer are all workshops that are with individual school districts, or they are for teachers who have reached out and said, Okay, my school will not pay to have you. But I want to host you, I have a space, I have a library, or I have a gym, or I have a building a place where we can host it. Can you come and give a workshop and in my area? And we put it out there to other teachers? And I say yes, let's do the thing. So if this is something you're interested in, if you think your school would love to have me for a one or two day training, or workshop, if you think that that's not possible, but you would love to get something organized in your area. I guarantee if we worked together, we could make something happen and get enough teachers there to bring me out and host some really kick butt PD in your area. I still have a couple of slots available for this summer. And my fall is wide open mostly on the weekends. Because guess what? I'm a full-time teacher like you. Do I have a job yet? No. Do I plan on having a job by the time the fall rolls around? I hope so and so does my husband. Before you start emailing me about wonderful job opportunities. I need to tell you I'm very tied to New Orleans. As you know I am a step mommy and until Iowa turns 18. We are very much tied to the New Orleans area. So unless you have something for me in New Orleans, I'm sorry I cannot come and work with you. But I love you and wouldn't it be fun. Take care of teacher I hope you continue to enjoy your rest. And I hope that you consider one of these conference options for this summer. Because I would love to meet you in person and give you a hug and learn with you and connect. Let's do it. Let me know if you have any questions. I probably won't answer you until July one because I'm keeping those boundaries. But email me anyways Annabelle at Maestra loca.com. also email me if you're looking for those slots to come and get me there to do some presenting and let's connect. If you've loved this episode, you know what to do. Please give me a little review.

If you have time, I'd so appreciate it. I've enjoyed recording this for you and I cannot wait to connect with you this summer. Enjoy your rest, dear teacher, and I'll talk to you soon. Take care!