In-person training and unit-writing institute for language teachers with Janice Holter Kittok
This event was launched in July 2024. Contact Jan to bring an institute to your area in 2025.
This three-day institute offers the opportunity to earn professional development hours and graduate credit for license renewal and salary advancement.
20 CEU (Continuing Education Units) for attending
4 Graduate Credits from the University of the Pacific (accepted in all states) for continued learning and project completion after the institute
Register now! Space limited to 25. Reduced rate hotel block ends June 21.
IMAGINE students graduating from your program not only with communicative language skills but also savvy about the world and the people who speak the language they have been studying. It’s time to rethink the content of our language courses. Let’s get beyond talking about ourselves and how to be a tourist. Let’s prepare our students to be knowledgeable global citizens!
Are you frustrated with students’ lack of world knowledge but are puzzled as to how you can integrate more meaningful content into your language curriculum?
Would you like to write your own culture-based lessons, but it seems too daunting to do all alone?
Are you a language teacher looking to enhance your teaching skills and engage your students more effectively?
Are you looking for ways to incorporate Comprehensible Input (CI) principles for language acquisition while teaching your district-mandated curriculum?
Are you a TPRS (Teaching for Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) teacher who wants to go beyond improvised storytelling to include more nonfiction content?
If you answered “yes” to any one of these questions, the RPLL Institute is designed for you!
What are the benefits of attending?
Certificate for 20professional development hours for re-licensure
Option to earn 1-4 graduate continuing education credits for salary advancement
Renewed energy to teach with joy and professional fulfillment
New and innovative ideas to increase the cultural content of your curriculum … Teach geography, history, biography, and other world knowledge topics in the target language
Classroom-tested techniques to achieve ACTFL’s goal of 90% use of the target language from the very first day of class … Increase communicative proficiency at every level
Easy-to-implement lesson plan designs to both maximize comprehensible input AND create a bridge to scaffolded speaking and writing activities
Who should attend?
K12 World Language Teachers, Department Heads, Curriculum Directors, World Language Administrators, Instructional Coaches for World Languages
This is exactly what I’ve been looking for! Sign me up now! Click here.
What will we be doing during the institute?
This is a truly unique professional development experience. Not only will you be learning about language acquisition and practical ways to implement them in your classroom, but you will also experience language acquisition as a learner!
Jan presents her nationally acclaimed Swedish mini-lessons throughout the institute so you can see the teaching strategies modeled and experience the power of Comprehensible Input from the student’s perspective. You will understand what you hear and read and even be able to start speaking and writing! Amazing!
The schedule will keep you actively engaged the whole time. Time is divided between the instructor’s presentations, modeled language lessons, small group sharing, peer collaboration, time to begin creating instructional materials, quiet reflection, and socializing. We will meet as a whole group from 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM. Evenings will be unscheduled. Participants may want to plan dinner together. Come prepared for inspiration, fun, and laughter.
Design templates will help you create content and language-integrated lessons during the institute. Take advantage of peer collaboration and expert feedback from the institute leader. You’ll be amazed at how rewarding, fun, and easy it is!
If you can stay in the target language and be comprehensible, you can teach cultural content (geography, biography, history…) at any level – even to novice learners.
Janice Holter Kittok
Overview of Agenda Topics
Principles of Language Acquisition
Input to Output Lesson Planning
Content-Based Instruction: Geography Lessons in the Target Language
Content-Based Instruction: Biography Lessons in the Target Language
Content-Based Instruction: History Lessons in the Target Language
Addressing Social Justice Issues in Today’s School Environment
The Big Picture Curriculum: A Vision for Redefining Content in World Language Classes
Oh my goodness! Wouldn’t it be fun if my teacher friends and colleagues came too! Share the URL for this page on your social media. Register here.
Logistics and Pricing
Where will we stay?
The meetings will be held at the Holiday Inn Express, 21 Holiday Boulevard, Mercer (Grove City), PA 16137. The hotel offers rooms at the discounted eventrate of $125 + tax for a Standard Double-Queen room. Call the hotel directly to make your reservation at (724) 748-5514. Mention the Redefining Possibilities for Language Learning event. Or, click this Easy Booking Link. Once you enter the dates, the discounted room price will automatically appear.
To receive the group rate, you must reserve directly through the hotel, not any third party (e.g., Expedia). Any room cancellation must be made by midnight, the night before the reservation.
Hotel Amenities
In-room microwave, refrigerator, and coffee maker
Heated indoor pool & hot tub
Workout room
Outdoor patio with gas grill
Free shuttle service within 10 miles
Free Parking
Coupons to local restaurants
What about food?
Coffee (regular and decaf), hot tea, bottled water, and light snacks will be provided throughout the day. Hotel guests have a full breakfast included. There are several restaurants in the area. You can also bring your own food. There are microwaves and refrigerators in the sleeping rooms.
What is the cost?
Registration is $490 per person. Register online at this Eventbrite link. Pay with a credit card or have your school send a purchase order to Janice Holter Kittok, Educator in Service, Box 607, Delano, MN 55328. Your school will be invoiced for payment.
How do I get additional professional development hours or graduate credit?
Educator Inservice is proud to partner with the University of the Pacific to offer teachers a way to earn graduate credits doing work that is relevant to them. Post-institute learning is personalized and personal.
It’s easy! Make a plan for continued learning (reading, reflection journaling, research, lesson planning, curriculum writing…). You decide what will benefit you. Log your hours. Communicate with the instructor (Jan) before and during your project. Turn completed work into Jan for feedback (instead of sending something off to someone you don’t know and likely knows nothing about language teaching). Educator Inservice will provide you with a certificate of hours, allowing you to register for credits. You will receive an official transcript from the University of the Pacific. Credits can be used for credential renewal and salary advancement.
What is included?
Institute registration
Certificate for 20 professional development hours
An electronic copy of Jan’s 190-page teacher resource handbook, Rethinking Language Instruction
Print materials for the in-person training
Post-institute support to complete graduate extended learning work
Follow-up online consultation for 3 months
What is not included?
Sleeping rooms (See above for making your reservations)
Lunch and dinner
Optional graduate credit: Teachers can earn 1-4 graduate credits with the University of the Pacific (accepted in all states) $99/credit
That’s it! I am so psyched. Please reserve a space for me at Redefining Possibilities for Language Learning (RPLL). Click here to register.
Institute Leader
A Message from Jan, Institute Creator and Instructor
Dear Langauge Teachers,
My teaching philosophy is founded on significant experiences I had early in my career. First, in the 1980s, I learned about the Principles of Language Acquisition made popular by Dr. Stephen Krashen. I found great success as a K12 classroom teacher implementing a Comprehensible Input approach even when using a traditional textbook. Second, I spent 17 summers working at the Concordia Language Villages, an immersion camping program for youth. I learned that language acquisition happens naturally when you live in the language more than when you study the language. Lastly, my Master of Education work focused on Content-Based Instruction. I learned that students can do two things simultaneously – learn about a topic and acquire a new language at the same time.
I had a big “Aha” moment when I was about to start a unit on the Spanish Civil War and Picasso’s famous Guernica mural. I asked my high school seniors what they knew about Spain. They had been in our language program since middle school, and yet they could only tell me a few trivial pursuit facts. I realized we had to rethink the content we teach in a language program. We had to get beyond students talking about themselves and being a tourist if we were to prepare our students to be global citizens.
That’s when I got to work finding ways to integrate teaching more concrete and in-depth knowledge of the target culture(s) and doing it in the target language appropriate for every level of proficiency. At the RPLL Institute, I’ll share what I have learned over the past three decades. I have created tools to help you create meaningful cultural content lessons in your classroom.
Small changes in how we teach and what we teach will have ripple effects across our language programs. Instead of preparing global tourists, we’ll be preparing informed, global citizens with multilingual skills. Together, we can redefine what’s possible for language learning!
Jan
P.S. If you want to learn more about my background, check out the About Jan page on this website or my LinkedIn profile.
What do teachers say about Jan’s training?
“Your presentations were inspirational and informative, relevant and useful. Your presentation skills areworld-class…Your workshops were well prepared, exposing us to a range of research, strategies and ideas…Your enthusiasm was boundless and you are a wonderfully talented entertainer…You made us laugh, you made us think and you made us learn some Swedish!” Association of Chinese and Mongolian International Schools
It was amazing! Jan is fabulosa! I learned a lot with fun and comprehensibility! Lucrecia M., Spanish Teacher
The resource pdf is a marvelous piece for us! Jan Kittok has incredible knowledge and provides useful information for all teachers. Anne, Spanish Teacher
One of the best presenters I have ever listened to in my career. Thank you for what you are doing for educators. Kerrie, Middle School Spanish Teacher
Janice was very engaging. I love how she models the techniques that she teaches. It was super helpful. Maria A., Middle School Spanish Teacher
New information and great reminders of how to incorporate grammar, specifically “pop up grammar”, and to slow down with students. Nikki, French and Spanish High School Teacher
This seminar has helped me tremendously in shifting my view of language instruction and what comprehensible input is. Karina S., K-8 Spanish Teacher
Fantastic! Loved the hands-on demos and learning with the methods. Actually feeling how it is to be a learner in a CI class is invaluable. Bethany L.
I have been using CI for 2-1/2 years. This seminar has changed my thinking about teaching with CI for the better…I had been struggling to feel confident. Jackie A., High School Language Department Head
I’ve always been scared of CI and how to begin, but this made me realize that it’s not so scary, and I can incorporate this into my practice. Elizabeth R.
Jan is a master. She is so skilled in every way. Jill M.
Jan was so kind and supportive in our journey throughout the hours we spent together. She is insightful and passionate. Jillian S.
I came into this thinking one way about CI and came out with a completely different mindset. Plus, I learned some Swedish! Joanna J.
Thank you for sharing more examples than just stories with a funky twist. Maria A.
I’ve been teaching for 14 years and this is the best seminar I have attended – the most engaging, fun, and practical presentation … I cannot wait to use it in my Mandarin teaching. Nancy Z.
Jan’s presentation opened my eyes to new possibilities. Rita B., German Teacher
Carpe diem! Seize the day! Click here to register.
