Wisconsin Voices: 2022 WAFLT Fall Conference Keynote Presentation

Wisconsin Voices was a TED-talk style event that centered around the conference theme, Level Up: Embracing Change, Empowering Learners What follows are the four presenter’s remarks

Pablo Muirhead Instructor of Spanish and Teacher Education, Milwaukee Area Technical College, JNCL-NCLIS Board Member

Humbled to stand here before you, I will always be grateful to one of my wonderful professors and mentors, Paul Hoff, for encouraging our methods class to attend this conference back in 1994. Out in the crowd I also see two other mentors and giants in our field, Donna Clementi and Paul Sandrock. I vividly remember meeting them in the late 90s and have been so appreciative of their influence and guidance over the years

When I was invited to share some thoughts, my mind immediately went to asking ourselves what we want our students to be able to do years from now, not tomorrow nor next week nor on their summative assessments. I had wanted to share some thoughts on the long-term impact we have. I guess I still do but the topic has changed.

As the date approached, the climate we live in was not lost on me. I struggled to simply speak about long-term proficiency goals when there are more pressing issues

It really is the best and the worst of times. The colors, the weather, the fresh air, absolutely enthralling. On the other hand, there is the political season. I love and hate this time of year. You know, that time of year when the intellectual bar is lowered to our least common denominator. Yep’, that’s right. Fear is stoked. Fear of the other. Fear of losing some idyllic past. Fear of losing perceived power. We know better.

This season is no different. The fall has been one of the most beautiful in recent memory and the election season one of the most hateful I’ve seen in some time. Scapegoating immigrants is not new. It is a bit ironic since we are a country of immigrants, some by choice and others by force. And at a time when we could welcome more immigrants, they have been falsely made out to be murderers, drug dealers, criminals, you name it. And those that may not look like “real Americans” are lumped into that maligned group.

During the lockdown, I was teaching from my home office when my son’s art teacher messaged me to tell me to check on my son. My then 13-year old son had just taken our dog around the block between his virtual classes when a white man saw him and brought his car to a screeching halt in front of our house. The man proceeded to roll down the window and spew some hateful language at my brown-skinned son. Shaking, my son came in the house and continued with his next class where his art teacher noticed something was amiss. That’s why I got the message from her. He later recalled hearing something about “go back to Mexico.” He refused to leave the house for about a month after that incident.

Unbridled xenophobia has gotten a green light. We know better.

Let’s pause for a moment and acknowledge that we have gathered on the ancestral homelands of the Menominee and Ho-Chunk people. Seriously, think about that for a second.

And then let’s get comfortable with discomfort. It is through discomfort that we can ask ourselves tough questions, self reflect, make changes, and grow.

Is the cup half full or half empty? I think that as a profession we have done ourselves a disservice by viewing heritage speakers as half empty. Stick with me for a second. When we talk about heritage speakers, it is often from the perspective of what they are lacking. We might say things like,

“Their writing is, well, sloppy”, “they mix up their Bs and Vs”

“they forget to include the silent H,” “they use too much Spanglish”, “they don’t always know where to put accent marks,”

“they…, they…, they…”

Ever caught yourself saying things like that? Ever heard others say things like that? It’s natural as that was how we were conditioned to think of language learning, a series of rules and patterns that we learned that way and thus, others must as well. As teachers of WORLD languages, we serve as gatekeepers for our students into other cultures.

Additionally, we need to recognize the role we play in advocacy.

We have tremendous opportunities for growth. During a time that we have a great need for language teachers and teachers period, let’s revisit the tremendous potential we have within our classrooms. As the U.S. is the fourth largest Spanish-speaking country in the world, we don’t need to look far to find speakers among us.

A scan of this space might suggest that we have fallen woefully short of tapping that pool of talent.

We have some challenges ahead of us but none that we can’t tackle.

My younger brother and I were fortunate enough to have parents that resisted societal pressures to speak only English to us. As a result, we grew up bilingually and spent most summers in Arequipa, Peru, a place we return to as often as possible.

When my brother was in the second grade, his teacher was appalled that my parents spoke Spanish to him. Forget the fact that he was also fluent in English and could use the subjunctive in Spanish before he could tie his shoes, this form of bilingualism was seen as a deficit. She could think of nothing better than to put him in a special education class. Luckily my parents learned of this and intervened.

However, the broader issue of perceiving heritage speakers through a deficit lens persists. I remember my pronunciation being corrected in high school during a unit on Spanish pronunciation because I hadn’t mastered the seseo. Imagine me going home speaking like that to my abuelita. Now back up and think of how so many of our heritage speakers feel in society, not fully celebrated in our classrooms nor seen as fully from here.

We’ve got some work ahead of us. Let’s couple this with the immense need we have for future teachers. We have an untapped pool of folks ready to join our profession.

Let’s flip the script and think of these same learners from an additive perspective. Consider the amount of language input they may have had, that reservoir of language waiting to be tapped into. Consider the expressions they know, the cultural wealth they have, the fluency they bring, the pronunciation, etc., all things considerably more difficult to teach than what one might wish they had.

My own experience taking Spanish in school officially started in 9th grade. My placement exam consisted of a grammar-focused test and some oral questions. Nope, not the oral proficiency interview type of questions but rather, “conjugate the verb to sleep in the second personal singular in the preterite tense”. Imagine how I did. I didn’t know what conjugate meant, I thought that was something folks did to make their marriage official. I took a stab in the dark and said “duermo” or “dormir” or something with some form of that verb. Had I been asked to just translate “Did you sleep?”, I would’ve gotten it right. I remember the teacher seemed disappointed in me and I felt that I was lacking in my Spanish. It was the tiny chipping away at what I perceived to be a strength that made me question myself and start to see it as a weakness. Not to mention this has always been an important part of my identity.

Luckily I would later have some fantastic college professors that chose to see what I brought as a strength and supported my continued growth. Thanks again to Paul Hoff and his late mother, Roma, along with many other wonderful faculty at Eau Claire. I was also fortunate enough to have parents that instilled in me great pride and safety in who I was. And honestly, I have typically been able to pass as “white” which I recognize has conferred upon me a certain degree of unearned privilege.

How many have not had the stars align the same way? How many feel the brunt of society’s rising xenophobia and choose to obscure their identities? I can tell you that my two children experience this in vastly different ways. My son, who has the most beautiful brown skin, refuses to speak Spanish when we are in red counties. My lighter-skinned daughter doesn’t make a distinction between where she speaks Spanish.

These are but my family’s stories, yet they may serve to indicate how others experience this phenomenon. They have helped me tap into the strengths that my students bring that may not be as easily measured by our more traditional approaches.

It’s not enough to vote. We need to combat the rising xenophobia and nativism by presenting counterarratives that serve to raise the bar and also question our own complicity. Let’s embrace the Seal of Biliteracy to help elevate all students and recognize the amazing talents they bring.

Remember, our words, actions, and approaches have a significant impact. As teachers tasked with helping our students approach the world from different cultural perspectives, we can gain so much if we view our heritage speakers from an additive perspective.

Devin Pettys French Teacher, Onalaska High School

As I look at my computer screen in the fall of 2020 and 25 blank expressionless foreheads look back at me, it’s hard not to think, “Is this what I really want to do?” My name is Devin Pettys, and I am currently in my second year at Onalaska High School. I’ve thought a lot about that question “Is this what I really want to do?” these last two years since then. I’m sure a lot of you have thought the same thing.

This all begins with why I am here in the first place. I am here because of all of the great teachers I have had along the way. My journey started in 6th grade French with Christy Wopat who I imitate in class to this day with her “Question chi-cha-bing” when asking questions before having Justine Horvath who challenged me in new ways and pushed me to success in high school. I had Brian Wopat for one year of French before he moved districts and left me with the great wisdom—Don’t do it—when I told him I was interested in becoming a French teacher. However, if anything, that only grew the fire under me to keep going. I continued on with Svetlana Ott who helped me grow personally and in my French skills while having an engaging and fun classroom

From there, I went on to register as a French Education Major from day one at University of Wisconsin La Crosse. I had a great time learning with Virginie Cassidy and Anna Keefe as my professors where I expanded my professional skills and pedagogical knowledge. But if I’m being honest with all of you, that is why I was faced with those 25 foreheads in 2020 and embraced minutes of silence on Zoom when asking a question, not why I am standing in front of you all today.

Ultimately I do it for the students that I get the incredible privilege of interacting with each and every day. I don’t know if there is another job in the world that has me bending over laughing as much or as often as I do right now. I brought a few of my favorite stories of my interactions with students just in the short history as a teacher so far, and how they make every day better. No matter how much they can frustrate me at times, I still care about them deeply, and ultimately they’re the reason that I am there.

I can remember back in the time of my first level field experience when I had a student, Raphael. After refusing to let him know how to swear in French, Raphael stands up in class and shouts at his Siri, “How do you say the ‘F’ word in French?” Siri replied back “le mot F.” He looked at me confidently and shouted “Le mot F!” laughing and proud of his accomplishment. I couldn’t help myself but to laugh for quite a while leaving the confused Raphael to question what he did wrong.

I go to school every day enjoying my job where I have students that draw the Pettys of the day. While there are those that work and others that don’t, here are a few of my favorites: Taylor Swift Pettys which coincided with the release of her new album, ghost Pettys with bedsheet and all staying festive with Halloween, French Pettys which contained nearly every French stereotype you can think of, and even high heel Pettys

I go to school every day because of the student who, when we do our bellringers talking about the weekend at the beginning of class, instead of a simple, “I hung out with my friends,” gave me an epic tale of the pétanque match with her friend where she had been hit with the ball, sent to the hospital, and put on a liquid diet for several weeks all while remaining in the target language. This student was bored with the daily talk and wanted to expand more and more in the target language. Every other student will struggle to match the creativity of Aurélie.

I go to school every day because of the students who, even during our time on Zoom, had their backgrounds show the text, “if Monsieur P ever leaves I will cry myself to sleep for at least 5 weeks.”

I go to school every day because even as a 24 year old adult, I can’t help but giggle when students say “ta mère!” to each other during class after we have covered that vocabulary

As much as I may have struggled at times during the pandemic, as we all did, and we all do now with different factors, I go to school each day because of the wonderful students that have such great senses of humor both in French and English, and that’s why during my first year, as I walked back into school after winter break, I had the biggest grin on my face ready and excited to see my students once again.

Deana Zorko

2020 WAFLT

Distinguished Language Educator

Hello all. WELCOME to the 2022 WAFLT Fall Conference, Level Up: Embracing Change, Empowering Learners. I'm Deana Zorko, a former high school Spanish teacher and currently a Social and Emotional Learning Curriculum developer for my school district. I would like to thank the program committee for giving me the opportunity to share the stage with my WAFLT colleagues during tonight's Keynote Address.

Tonight I would like to give you a short snippet of embracing change. On this slide you see 2 pictures that have had an intense impact not only on my career as an educator, but my life in general.

(Photo 1) In 2013…These two plush cuddly organs represent my kidney-pancreas transplant. An event that was both life saving, and life improving. I had a few small adjustments to my life and career, but changes were adaptable and a definite level up from my 20 year adventure with Type 1 diabetes. Fast forward to 2020…

(Photo 2) Then came Covid, life as I knew it stopped and significantly changed forever.

Covid in conjunction with MMSD and my immunocompromised status effectively ended my 32-year teaching career as I knew it. I can no longer be in person in a classroom with unmasked students if I want a chance at staying Covid free to protect my transplant and to protect my life. There still is not an effective way to protect those of us who don't respond to vaccines due to anti rejection medication. What do you do when life changes in the blink of an eye, where do you find your teachable moment? Where do you find your creativity, innovation, resilience, and tenacity? You find it in the PIVOT!

I know the word pivot has been somewhat overused, but for me the visual of being anchored and flexible to change all in one is brillant. For me pivot means, try not to focus on what’s wrong and how to fix it, but rather what happened and how do I adjust and move on to keep… leveling up to engage learners. Now what? Teach virtually, but in an innovative way that is not well known in the K-12 world? Yes, for 1.5 years I followed a model set forth by the Collaborative Language Program (Thank you, Lauren Rosen!) as part of the University of Wisconsin System. It worked and my students were successful.

Then came the…NO! My school district deemed my actions as an “unreasonable accommodation”. This decision paired with society's view of virtual education being harmful and insisting that we must ALL return FULLY to in-person education no matter what, led to me being replaced with an online curriculum program. I disagreed and fought, but unfortunately I no longer have a voice in this matter. Sometimes others cannot pivot!

What now? How do I continue to empower student learning in my new role… pivot again! Think of what I know and hold dearly in world language education and mesh it with the knowledge that my new role has refreshed and has taught me. Take a moment to compare, overlay, and connect the WI WL standards and the CASEL SEL standards. There are so many connections when we look at Standard 4 and 5 (Global Competence & Community Engagement and Intercultural communication and how they align with Social-Awareness, Self-Awareness, and Relationship skills to name a few. Here is my PIVOT! There is still a lot of work to be done, but I feel confident that I am moving in an empowered direction to pair our WL language standards with SEL standards for students and staff well-being and growth. I hope that I have ignited a spark in you to do the same!

I’d like to leave you with a quote by Maya Angelou: “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better." I will continue my efforts to do better in my new educational role and look forward to my continued learning in order to level up.

Thank you for the privilege of your time and attention. Take care all and I hope to see you all in person sometime soon.

Jody Ziemann 2021 WAFLT Distinguished Language Educator

Good afternoon! I am honored to be here with all of you today. I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I have been teaching longer than many of you have been alive. Forty-four years in education seems unimaginable but here we are. This is such an exciting time to be back together at the WAFLT Fall Conference after several of the toughest years there have ever been in the classroom, for students as well as for teachers.

Last year in my Distinguished Educator speech, I began with a famous quote by Confucious: “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” This might need to be adjusted to “unless there is a pandemic upending everything you thought you knew about teaching and learning.” But, true to the hearts and passion of educators we persevered and made it through together.

I come from the generation of teaching with filmstrips, cassette tapes, albums, or vinyls as they are now known, purple copies run off on ditto machines, electric typewriters, handwritten attendance cards, and report cards. Authentic educational resources were often unavailable until you traveled to a foreign country. Newspapers, books, realia, music were all but unattainable in many places, particularly in small, rural communities.

Teaching Spanish 40+ years ago included lots of “drill and kill” activities, a heavy reliance on textbooks, and memorized dialogues about fictitious “Juan” and his friend “María.” And you know, when traveling, my students and I never met anyone who knew their half of any of these dialogues. How far we have come from those days!

The emphasis in our classrooms today is on building relationships with our students. We are assisting students to acquire language and cultural competency, not just teaching a subject. This is a shift in thinking from previous paradigms. Everything from the methods and materials we use to how we assess has changed dramatically. It has become our challenge to adapt and keep up with changes both in what we teach and how we teach a totally different generation of learners, which is often tech savvy beyond some of our own abilities.

As our conference title indicates, to level up is to embrace change and empower our learners. But this is also needed for ourselves as we prepare to better understand how to help our students level up. It helps to reflect on when and how we took the opportunity to level up ourselves.

In my training to become a teacher in the late 70’s, it was suggested, but not mandatory, to study in a country that spoke the language you were majoring in. One of my big mistakes and regrets was not taking the leap and doing this. My linguistic ability needed leveling up as well as my cultural competence. I could speak to what I had read about, or seen in movies or travel photos from friends. I needed to level up my own competence so that I was teaching about what I had actually seen and experienced in another country. I provided as much as I could for my own students but for a number of years I felt I was missing something. I read incessantly, took a UW-O literature class, and made the effort to speak to as many native speakers as I could but beyond that it was difficult to improve my own abilities. I had traveled to Cuernavaca, Mexico, a number of times with students and had taken courses offered for teachers while my group was in class but these brief experiences didn’t give me enough to help me grow as a learner and teacher of culture, and language. In 2002, with overwhelming support from my husband and stepchildren, I made the decision to find a program that would offer linguistic, cultural and pedagogical opportunities for me. I traveled to Salamanca, Spain, and participated in a summer course for teachers, staying with a family and taking numerous side trips to Madrid and Barcelona. What a difference this made in my ability to communicate and live as a member of a family in Spain. Again, in 2019 I attended a program in Sevilla, Spain, staying with a family and taking pedagogical sessions in the mornings for one week and attending cultural events in the evenings.

Gaining the cultural competence for my teaching has made me even more passionate about offering travel experiences to as many students as I can during the span of my career. To date, this spring will be my 20th trip and the response from students has been amazing. But, what about those students who are unable to travel? Videos and personal photos that I have can certainly enhance cultural contact for students but what can I do to help growth in oral communication?

For me, in my situation, increasing reading in my classes has had a tremendous impact on my students and their linguistic abilities. There is such a wide variety of authentic resources and leveled readers which center on culture in many Spanishspeaking countries. Getting more print into my students’ hands and then talking about readings with partners or sharing with the entire class has really helped students acquire more vocabulary, language chunks, and cultural understanding.

In closing, I would like to share an excerpt from an email I received at the beginning of September from a former student who is now a Spanish teacher in another state.

I wanted to reach out as the start of my second year teaching approaches on Monday and thank you for the impact you've had on my life and continue to make on the lives of so many students. Thank you for igniting and feeding the spark of wonder and desire to learn Spanish, and for all of the doors you opened by setting me down this path. Thanks to your classes, I've been able to study Spanish in college, study abroad in Spain and meet my wife, and now go into my second year of embodying the same passion, energy, fun, and wonder that you created in my classes with you, to ignite that same spark in each of my students. I'm forever grateful that thanks to your example I get to pass on a love and appreciation for Spanish, the cultures, and all of the fun games, songs, and activities to all of my students.

Communications like this, my friends, are why I/we teach and are passionate about language acquisition and culture. I feel so very proud to be a member of this profession and especially to be a member of WAFLT. Wisconsin has proved time and again what dedicated, caring, and talented educators we have here.

May you all have successful school years continuing to touch your students and the future. Thank you!