I was reminded again tonight about how fortunate I am to work in an Immersion school in West Michigan. I just got home from the West Michigan Alliance of Immersion Educators. This alliance was started about 4 years ago as an attempt to give Immersion educators more support. We usually meet two times during the school year, with different schools hosting the group. Ada Vista Elementary in Ada, MI and Zeeland Christian in Zeeland, MI have been the two schools/districts that have hosted most of the meetings. We have teachers and administrators from public and private schools; from Spanish Immersion, Chinese Immersion, and two-way Immersion schools in attendance.
Each time we get together the host school invites a speaker to give us new food for thought. Tonight we were very fortunate to have Dr. Myriam Met, an expert educator in foreign language immersion. It is so refreshing to have a presentation specifically designed for us immersion teachers. It makes us feel like we're "home", knowing that this presenter has been where we are, and can empathize with our challenges and keep us focused on best practices for immersion. Thank you, Dr. Met!
Dr. Met will also be speaking at the MABE (Michigan Association of Bilingual Educators) conference in Detroit, Michigan May 10-11. If you've never been to MABE, I encourage you to attend this year. If you're from another state, I encourage you to seek out a similar Immersion association for further professional development and collegiality. (We also throw in a pretty yummy meal each time!)
Here's hoping all you immersion educators find those special groups and moments to build up and bless each other!
~Sheryl René
Found your blog over at the Bilingual Teacher Clubhouse! I am always excited to find another dual language/immersion teacher and blogger, because I love idea swappin! I teach 2nd grade dual language, as well as have taught 1st grade dual too in the past! I'd love it if you would hop on over to my blog sometime as well!
ReplyDelete-Krista
The Second Grade Superkids