Words in Motion: The OWL & Habla Winter Institute

OWL and HABLA have created an approach to teaching languages that is creative, engaging, and joyful. The two organizations are teaming up for their second annual Words in Motion Winter Institute, an opportunity for language teachers to participate in best practices from both organizations. Led by the founders of OWL and HABLA, the winter institute will share concrete, hands-on tools for designing a student-centered language environment.

Words in Motion will offer language teachers concrete, transferable activities as a way of  reimagining the language classroom.

A primary focus of the institute will be community building in the target language. With a strong foundation of  play, humor, compassion, and connection, the institute will demonstrate a set of strategies for building healthy, diverse and positive relationships between students. The opening of the institute will introduce teachers to engaging activities for building a strong foundational community using the target language.

At the Words in Motion Institute teachers will experience how to design a student-directed curriculum that empowers students to communicate in the target language from the first moment they walk into the classroom. The language classroom lives in the interactions between students and teachers. Teachers at the institute will learn how to redesign the classroom structure to reflect the resources and “lived worlds” students bring to  the classroom rather than teaching from a prescribed textbook.

Arts integration will be a key focus on the institute. Language will be created around rich works of literature and art. A variety of approaches for “making students thinking visible” will engage participants in deep conversations around cultural artifacts. The arts will be explored in the context of language learning. Participants will create a community mural, write original work around the theme “memory is magic,” and engage in a variety of kinesthetic activities.

This February, make life-long connections with a community of international teachers, experience new approaches and hands-on activities for direct application, and enjoy winter under the mango trees at Habla in Merida, Mexico.

Price: $750- includes 3 days of training, breakfast and lunch daily. **travel and lodging not included**

Questions about the workshop? Contact OWL Team at [email protected] or 857-293-1706

Questions regarding travel and lodging? Contact The Habla Institute at [email protected] or (Mexico): (999) 948 1872  (US): 401 374 3237