Creativity in the Language Classroom:
Fostering Student Learning Through Creative Language Experiences
July 15–19, 2024
1-week in-person summer institute
Anne Cummings Hlas and Amy Young
Creativity is a way of thinking about learning and teaching that emphasizes collaboration, problem-solving, intrinsic motivation, discovery, and an openness to new ideas. Designed for world language, ESL, and immersion teachers who want to promote creativity in their classroom while simultaneously improving learner's target language proficiency, this institute will examine the connection between multilingualism and creativity, and explore strategies to increase engagement in the classroom. Strategies will emphasize auditory, visual, kinesthetic, and tactile learning through novel student-centered projects, targeting language objectives at each student's interest and readiness level. Teachers will also learn how to inspire creativity in their students and integrate it meaningfully into daily lesson plans.
| Program Schedule (9am-4pm) | |
| Day 1 | Connections: Creativity and Language Learning
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| Day 2 |
Promoting Creativity through Auditory Tasks
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| Day 3 |
Promoting Creativity through Kinesthetic
and Tactile Tools
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| Day 4 | Promoting Creativity through Visual Tools
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| Day 5 | Promoting Creativity through Technology
|
After this institute, participants will be able to:
- Identify key elements from research foundations supporting the use of creativity to promote learning and language development;
- Describe meaningful strategies to support creativity in the language classroom;
- Apply improvisational techniques to improve creative flow;
- Use targeted language functions, forms, and vocabulary to support creativity;
- Create interactive group activities requiring creative thinking skills; and
- Plan a collaborative language lesson involving kinesthetic, auditory, visual, and tactile tools.
Instructors
Anne Cummings Hlas is a Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire where she teaches methods courses for future language teachers and Spanish language courses. A veteran teacher, she regularly incorporates improvisation and creative thinking techniques in her classes to promote interpersonal communication and collaboration. She is the author of Practical Creativity: Activities and Ideas for your Language Classroom (2019) that is used as a text for this institute.
Amy Young is the English Language Specialist for School Support at the Minnesota Department of Education. Previously she was the EL/Migrant Education Coordinator and a principal in Owatonna, MN. Dr. Young worked at New York University in their Multilingual Multicultural Studies program, and lived for over 15 years in Mexico where she founded and was the national director of a creative problem-solving organization. Her research interests include strategies for facilitating learning in multilingual settings through collaborative dialogue, peer interaction, and integrating language and content.
Target Audience
This institute is designed for foreign language, ESL, and immersion teachers at the elementary through the postsecondary level. The institute is not intended for teachers in pre-K/K teaching contexts.
Priority Teacher Professional Development Scholarship Program
The Priority Teacher Professional Development Scholarship program is designed to promote equity and access to affordable professional development for world language educators who are currently teaching at a Community College, Minority Serving Institution, or Historically Black College/University in the United States and/or are currently teaching a Less Commonly Taught Language in the United States. The program provides funding for selected teachers in these categories to attend a CARLA Summer Institute for no charge.
Learn more and apply on the Priority Teacher Professional Development Scholarship website.
This was by far the most beneficial, practical, inspiring conference I have ever attended as an educator. There were so many easy to apply activities, strategies and ideas presented. —Brad Major, 2023 Institute Participant
