Janice Holter Kittok is a sought after presenter whose lively and thought-provoking seminars consistently receive raving reviews. She is a knowledgeable and intuitive master teacher who knows how to engage her audience throughout the whole day.
Jan speaks from her 30 years of experience as a K-12 teacher, college instructor, curriculum resource teacher, dean, and educational leader. Doing national-level presentations, serving as the World Languages Specialist at the Minnesota Department of Education and testifying as a world languages advocate before the Minnesota Senate and House Educational Committees are highlight achievements of her career. She is currently the Content Lead for World Languages in the Multilingual Department of Minneapolis Public Schools where she oversees all the language programs in the district.
Numerous honors and awards bear witness to the caliber of Jan’s work. The Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (CSCTFL) honored Jan with the prestigious Founders’ Award in recognition of her leadership and service to the profession. The AATSP-MN chose her as the 1995 recipient of the Narvaéz Award, the Minnesota Spanish Teacher of the Year. The Minnesota Council on the Teaching of Languages and Cultures (MCTLC) and the Central States Conference awarded the “Best of Minnesota” and the “Best of Central States” to her TPRS demonstration Swedish lesson. The University of Minnesota selected Jan to mentor teachers doing graduate work in a language immersion and content-based instruction (CBI) methods course. As a graduate student herself, Jan wrote a content-based thematic unit entitled “Los Maya y El Norte”, later published as a model unit in Proficiency-Oriented Language Instruction and Assessment: A Curriculum Handbook for Teachers published by CARLA (Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition), Diane J. Tedick, editor, Minneapolis, MN.
Jan holds Minnesota K-12 Principal and K-12 Spanish Licenses. She earned a Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction-Teaching Second Languages and Cultures from the University of Minnesota and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish and Education from Concordia College, Moorhead, MN. Always in the forefront of her profession, Jan attends and frequently presents at annual state, regional and national education conferences. She has attended training in Cognitive Coaching, Danielson’s Framework for Teaching, Understanding by Design, Differentiated Instruction, Dimensions of Learning brain research and International Baccalaureate Programs.
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Workshop Presenter
A frequent presenter at professional conferences across the country, Jan also contracts to provide workshops for organizations and school districts. She has presented across the United States, in Canada and China.
Motivated both personally and professionally, Jan founded Educator in Service to share her expertise and passion for the teaching and learning of other languages.
Selected contractors of Janice Holter Kittok’s Workshops
- Association of Chinese and Mongolia International Schools
- Blaine Ray Workshops, Utah
- Bureau of Education Research, Washington
- Center for Advanced Research in Language Acquisition, U.S. Department of Education National Language Resource Center
- Keller Public Schools, Texas
- Minneapolis Public Schools, Minnesota
- Middle Tennessee State University
- Minnesota Department of Education
- Minnetonka Schools Immersion Teacher Training, Minnesota
- Moline Public Schools, Illinois
- Springfield Public Schools, Missouri
- Oakland Public Schools, California
- Ohio Foreign Language Teachers Association
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Professional Memberships
- American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)
- Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)
- Central States Conference Advisory Board (CSCTFL)
- Minnesota Council on the Teaching of Languages and Cultures (MCTLC)
- National Council of State Supervisors of Foreign Languages (NCSSFL)
- National Network for Early Language Learning (NNELL)
- Partnership for Global Learning (Asia Society)
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Leadership in Professional Organizations
- President, MCTLC
- Editor of Minnesota Language Review, MCTLC
- Membership Services Chair, MCTLC
- Fall Conference Chair, MCTLC
- President, AATSP-MN
- Vice-President, AATSP-MN
- National Spanish Exam State Coordinator, AATSP-MN
- State Spanish Contest and Festival Quijote Coordinator, AATSP-MN
- Local Arrangements Chair, Central States Conference
- Advisory Board Member, Central States Conference
- Exhibitors’ Liaison, Central States Conference
