Recap: Fall 2019 Immersion PD
The attendees of Fall19 Immersion PD. PC: Olivier Ngo
This past Saturday, September 14, 38 teachers, administrators, parents, and community members gathered at USC for its third annual professional development for French immersion programs. There was representation from LAUSD, Glendale USD, San Diego USD, Inglewood USD, Pasadena USD, Alliance Française de Pasadena, Calabasas, Venice, and Thousand Oaks. The farthest travelers and presenters - Dr. Anne Lair, Georgia Geerlings, and Irène Stone flew in from Utah Friday evening. As a side note: Utah has one of the most comprehensive dual-immersion programs with a K-16 pipeline due to three state legislations.
Olivier Ngo, higher education attaché at the French Consulate in Los Angeles, kicked off the morning with the French immersion toolkit. Having strong dual-immersion programs is one of the French Embassy’s top priorities in the US. Natalie Warren from TV5MONDE briefly explained the partnership with Sling and the on-demand streaming and videos that are now available. French TV and movies at your fingertips!
Dr. Valerie Sun provided a run down of the new CA World Languages Standards using the EduProtocol The Fast and the Curious and stressed the importance of letting students practice with the same quiz for information that needs to be committed to memory. Dr. Anne Lair wrapped up the morning speaking about the need to create networks with our local communities. She demonstrated with the Bridge program that is available for students in Utah and the various partnerships with universities that make the program happen.
In the afternoon, participants broke off into three sessions: Interculturality and leading with culture in instruction, a training on using TV5MONDE’s authentic resources, and using Taoki and organizing student learning based on core reading. The small groups in each session made it possible to have meaningful discussions with everyone and attendees’ questions were answered.
All of the resources for this day are available on the French Immersion Programs website. Feel free to take a look! If you’re interested in attending the next immersion professional development, send us an e-mail and we’ll be sure to let you know when the date is finalized.
Oh yes, the attendees loved the surprise of receiving a read aloud book with their registration! C’était une belle surprise pour eux.