Day 2

It was difficult to decide what sessions to attend because there were so many choices! One of the most amazing presentations was about experiential learning activities. It was a hands-on presentation. The attendees participated in a group juggling exercise followed by a very fruitful discussion. The researchers also shared with the audience their findings from a semester-long project. They use this activity in their introductory writing classrooms  to promote critical thinking, organization, productivity, community building, collaboration, etc. It is a wonderful motivational tool as well. I believe that it can certainly be used in many other classes. In the future I am planning to use this exercise in one of my advanced Spanish classes. 
Another great presentation was focused on effective service-learning projects. The presenter shared some of her successful and unsuccessful experiences with the audience. This presentation generated a very interesting discussion about multiple challenges of service-learning projects. We also talked about some great ideas for service-learning activities. I found this session and the group discussion  very useful because I have included a service-learning component in my Spanish 450 classes before and would like to include it in other advanced classes in the future. I learned that in some universities (e. g. Tulane)  participation in service-learning projects is a requirement for graduation!
I also enjoyed a presentation on mistakes that teachers make in the classroom. The audience was comprised of students and professors and we had a powerful debate about teaching and learning in today's world. It was a lot of food for thought for everyone.
 The conference is well organized and the topics are absolutely essential for American educators. Tomorrow will be the last day, but it is an annual conference and hopefully I will be able to attend it again :-)