Category: Updates

  • Andrew Burke

    About the Presenter Contact [email protected], USA Born in San Diego, California, Andrew Burke earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Hispanic Studies from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. With a minor in Latin American History, he completed his studies abroad in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic with a program focusing on Dominican-Haitian relations. Since

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  • Grant Castner

    About the Presenter Contact [email protected] Grant Castner is the Community Manager at Extempore, which means you may have seen him at any number of conferences for language educators! At Extempore, Grant travels and gives presentations that focus on how the app can be used to foster in-class connections and improve speaking assessments. The spring 2023

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  • Melanie Vander Ploeg

    About the Presenter Contact [email protected], USA Melanie is a Second Grade Spanish Immersion Teacher in West Michigan. During her undergraduate years, she completed two semesters abroad. Melanie first studied abroad in Arequipa, Peru. She absolutely loved the community and the Andes Mountains. Later, she studied abroad in Oviedo Spain. While there, her favorite part was

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  • About the Presenter Contact [email protected] Carolina, USA Born and raised in Japan, Makiko moved to the U.S. as an adult. She went back to school wanting to contribute to her children’s education. While homeschooling, she majored in linguistics at UNC, where she found her passion of becoming a Japanese teacher. Having acquired English as an

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  • Izumi Olsen

    About the Presenter Contact [email protected], USA Izumi is from Ehime, Japan, and currently lives in Hawaii. She has extensive experience as a teacher of Japanese in the United States and English in Japan. Most recently, she has taught Japanese to heritage and foreign language learners at the secondary level through the Language and Culture Immersion

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  • Mike Nunley

    About the Presenter Contact [email protected], USA Mike has been teaching high school Spanish for 6 years. He currently teaches in Decatur, Georgia, about 15 minutes outside of Atlanta. He enjoys cooking, going on runs and traveling during the summer time when he is not teaching. Click to go to Session page

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  • Amanda Ferris

    About the Presenter Contact [email protected] Coloma, MichiganColoma Community [email protected] Amanda Ferris teaches Spanish at Coloma Junior High School in Michigan. She graduated from Central Michigan University in 2016 and started the MAFLT program at MSU spring of 2021. She enjoys traveling, reading, and spending time with her friends and family. She is currently in her

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  • Laura López

    About the Presenter Contact [email protected], USA Laura is a current Spanish language tutor who formerly taught Spanish in the classroom to PK3 through 8th grade students in WI and IL. She attended Dartmouth College for her undergrad where she majored in Linguistics and minored in Hispanic Literature. She has studied in Mexico, has worked in

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  • Verónica Arriaga-Orts

    About the Presenter Contact [email protected] Pennsylvania, USA Verónica was born and raised in Puebla, Mexico, and moved with her family to the United States in 2007. She has a bachelor’s degree in architecture. However, however the love for her language and traditions pushed her to pursue a career as a Spanish teacher. Since then, she

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  • Kari Seymour

    About the Presenter Contact [email protected] Oklahoma, USA Kari is a middle school Spanish teacher in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In 2018, she graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University with a BA in Spanish Education. During her time at Ohio Wesleyan, Kari traveled to Salamanca, Spain where she completed her study abroad experience at la Universidad de Salamanca

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