Accelerate Your Students’ Communicative Proficiency: Practical Strategies for Maintaining 90%+ Target Language Use in Your World Language Classroom, Grades 6-12

This online course features experienced teacher, curriculum developer, and national trainer Catherine Ritz. You will learn practical ways of achieving ACTFL’s goal of 90%+ use of target language in your world language classroom. This course also covers how to effectively structure your lessons and create comprehensive speaking performance assessments with focus on communicative proficiency.

You’ll receive ready-to-use ideas and strategies to increase the time both you and your students spend communicating in the target language. Catherine shares true-and-tried methods to set and maintain the expectation of speaking in the target language at least 90% of the time, beginning with the first day of class. You will learn how to effectively create lesson plans so that you and your students are using the target language almost exclusively. Catherine also shares how to create speaking assessments with a focus on communicative proficiency, and evaluate all three modes of communication: interpersonal, presentational and interpretive.

You will learn how to:

Engage your students in the target language from day one
Create an environment where speaking the target language is the norm
Increase the time both you and your students use the target language in an authentic way
Motivate your students to communicate authentically and almost exclusively in the target language
Structure your learning targets to include students in the planning process and establish use of the target language as an expectation in every lesson plan
Create speaking performance assessments that focus on communicative proficiency and provide opportunities for students communicate interpersonally

Watch an excerpt from this course:

On Demand Video-Based Courses

Start whenever you’d like. You have up to 90 days from date of purchase to complete your course.
View model strategies filmed in actual classrooms or live seminars.
Self-directed; work at your own pace.
You’ll complete your own personal action plan to provide a blueprint of strategies you choose to implement in your own classroom.
Each course requires approximately five to six hours to complete.
Earn optional graduate credit.
Earn optional professional organization CEUs.

View a Demo Course

*On Demand Video-Based Courses are for individual use only.

Optional University of Massachusetts Global Graduate Level Professional Development Credit course code: EDDU 9510

For an overview of how to earn graduate level credit for an On Demand Video-Based course, click here.

You can also find more information about how to apply for graduate level credit at the University of Massachusetts Global website.

To register for graduate level professional development credit from University of Massachusetts Global BER for On Demand Video-Based online courses, click here.

"I thought the presenter Catherine Ritz was very informative and enthusiastic in promoting the naturalist approach to learning language. I definitely have a new set of strategies and activities which I can use to keep my Italian and Spanish classes in the target language 90% of the time during class. It was extremely helpful to know how to use that 10% of English in a purposeful manner for learning targets students' reflection and directions so students can process what the task is requiring."
– M. Piccirillo

"I like how the online class was organized in short videos that allow you to stop and reflect more that if it had been a long session without pauses. It was easy to follow and with enough reflection time to complete our action plan."
– A. Lasala

"Catherine Ritz did a fantastic job giving very practical strategies for how to get students to communicate more and stay in the TL 90% and more. As I took the course I found it was very easy to start implement strategies in my classroom immediately. Her takeaways for each module were great and I love having the resource handbook so I can keep referring to it as needed."
– K. Fagan

"She was a clear and engaging speaker and I appreciate the accompanying handbook! I also enjoyed how concrete she was in giving activities and models that we can build on. Her student assessment samples were a good way for us to see how this approach really does work."
– K. Ford

"Very helpful easy examples and ideas to incorporate into all levels of language learning!"
– K. Ryzewski

On Demand Online Course FAQ and Help

Will I get a certificate at the end of my course?

You will receive your Certificate of Completion once you’ve completed your course.

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