2026 Summer Virtual Conference

9:15am-9:30am (EST) Opening Remarks

9:30am-9:50am (EST) Lightning Session by Language Testing International (LTI)

10:00am-10:50am (EST) Low-Tech Engagement To Keep Kids Off Their Device by Masey Ringlein (Best of Nebraska)

11:00am-11:50am (EST) Interactive Activities and Board Games for Student Engagement by Fernanda Espinosa (Best of Arkansas)

Lunch Break

1:00pm-1:50pm (EST) Building Classroom Community by Nicole Luo and Erica Franco Rivera (Best of Illinois)

2:00pm-2:50pm (EST) Por and Para Painlessly by Melinda White (Best of Indiana)

2:50pm-3:00pm (EST) Closing Remarks

9:30am-9:50am (EST) Lightning Session by Language Testing International (LTI)

Description coming soon!

10:00am-10:50am (EST) Low-Tech Engagement To Keep Kids Off Their Device by Masey Ringlein (Best of Nebraska)

This presentation provides educators with numerous resources that have been proven successful in the WL classroom. These resources reduce screen time for students, and increase face-to-face interaction, and can be easily adapted for any level or language. Educators will walk away from this session with many ideas that they can use in their own classroom, and will get templates or examples of every activity mentioned in the presentation.

11:00am-11:50am (EST) Interactive Activities and Board Games for Student Engagement by Fernanda Espinosa (Best of Arkansa

Language games in the classroom make learning more engaging and effective by providing students with a fun, interactive way to practice language skills, encourage interaction, and boost motivation. They help students retain information, build confidence, and foster a more positive learning environment.

1:00pm-1:50pm (EST) Building Classroom Community by Nicole Luo and Erica Franco Rivera (Best of Illinois)

Engaging students in learning through classroom jobs, motivating students to participate in class, and other strategies for building classroom community. Participants will have the opportunity to collaborate and share ideas about instructional strategies that better support students and make class time more engaging.

2:00pm-2:50pm (EST) Por and Para Painlessly by Melinda White (Best of Indiana)

Por and Para are “widely recognized as particularly difficult to master, often challenging even high proficiency L2 speakers” (Kissling, et al. 2018). This new method, grounded in the theory of dual coding and information processing, shows that teachers are able to engage their classes in learning quickly, while enhancing retention, application, and integration of por and para in student interlanguage, reducing cognitive load, and lowering the affective filter that would impede learning.