Hi everyone!  I am so excited to share my reflections of what I experienced at this past year’s ACTFL. Talk about excitement and pressure all in one! 

To give you some background about me, I have been teaching for fourteen years.  I have taught all grades K-12 and have a Master’s Degree in Linguistics from Northeastern Illinois University. My area of interest is sociolinguistics.  Sociolinguistics refers to the study and research of cultural norms and its features within a society and/or cultural group. It also focuses on the analysis of how language is used in context, as well as specific cultural expectations that are involved.  

Throughout my journey as a language educator I have met and collaborated with many amazing colleagues, and have been blessed to have a positive impact on the lives of my students and their school communities. However, this journey has not been without its difficulties;  I have been on the receiving end of jealousy, sexism, and racism. With the highs and lows, I have taken advantage of numerous opportunities to reflect, stay hopeful, and most importantly, be resilient. Through the smiles, tears, hard work, and faith, I can honestly say that everything has worked out and continues to work out for my good. 

Here are my three key takeaways from my time at ACTFL 2019: 

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING

This was my first time attending and presenting at ACTFL. It was a very surreal and humbling experience for me to present and attend such a large conference. I was so thankful to be there to speak on a topic that I have always been very passionate about: Afro-Latin Culture. This refers to people living in and/or are from Spanish-speaking countries whose origins are rooted in Africa as a result of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.  This is a topic that is very much needed to be discussed in the educational language community, as well as incorporated in the Spanish Classroom on a consistent basis.

I also looked forward to traveling alone! Yes, alone. I am a coach’s wife, and mother to three young children under the age of six, so you can imagine how hectic it is in my home on a daily basis. 🙂 I had time to reflect, stay quiet, sleep, watch Grey’s Anatomy and A Million Little Things without interruptions, as well as finalize points on my presentation in my hotel room. Yeah, I’m a bit of an introvert and I need quiet time to recharge too. 

CONNECT WITH YOUR PEOPLE

As I entered the Convention Center on Friday, it was a bit overwhelming! I saw educators from all over the world gathered at this event. I was fighting isolation while working to navigate within the crowds of people.  At this point, I yearned for connections with my twitter and facebook colleagues. After roaming around a bit, I finally saw, met, and spent time with many of my colleagues, and even made some new friends as well. It was amazing and a breath of fresh air! 

     It is truly a humbling experience when other educators value your voice. Often times, when you have experienced situations (like me) in which your voice is not valued, insecurities can take root and linger.  For example, when I was just about to give my presentation on Afro-Latin culture, I was ready. However, as the presentation moved forward, I began to fight that feeling of doubt that I had no idea what I was talking about and that I did not know enough.  However, I kept going with confidence knowing that my voice was valuable and that people were going to be blessed by what I had to share. As a whole, I have had to work through and shut down many insecurities to get past the uncomfortable, in order to get to the other side of awesome! 

GROW AND INNOVATE

Having attended many informative sessions on topics such as (proficiency, social justice, and intercultural competence), I walked away with an immense sense of growth and inspiration, which gave me a greater understanding of the importance of making my classroom community more equitable.  My professional growth was expanded thanks to ACTFL. With the new knowledge and resources, I was recharged and ready to get back into my classroom community. Unfortunately, I was not able to stay until the last day, but I did catch a few video glimpses of the speaker’s keynote. I returned to Chicago changed and even more motivated to continue to do the work of providing an equitable learning experience for ALL learners. 

I have always been an “out of the box” educator who takes risks in and outside of the classroom, yet I just recently accepted that about myself. I am growing in the area of being comfortable in being the one that makes others uncomfortable and/or encouraged to make changes for the better. In other words, getting comfortable with being uncomfortable, because that is the only way that growth can happen. 

Thank y’all so much for reading. Let’s continue to do the work, be influencers, and change our students’ experiences in the language community! 

Until next time….. 
Kia 

P.S.  If you are interested, I share more about my journey here of how faith did and will always defeat fear!