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Sally Barnes is a former Spanish teacher and world language program coordinator overseeing language teachers in a large school district outside of Houston TX. She has pursued her career in language teaching since her first Spanish and French class in seventh grade, and that dream has taken her from a small town in Wisconsin to living in Costa Rica, teaching in Arizona, Colorado, and Texas, and working with educators across the nation to support their language students, teachers, and programs!
Sally was named Texas Foreign Language Teacher of the Year by TFLA, and Alumni of the Year at Northern Arizona University. Her presentations have won Best of Arizona and Best of Texas and she has presented and/or keynoted at multiple regional, state, national, and international conferences. Her biggest accomplishment has been 10+ years as an educator, serving students with diverse needs and skill sets. Today, her focus is creating meaningful, engaging, and fun experiences in all classrooms in which languages are being taught and providing teachers and administration with tools and strategies they need to feel successful and supported every day. She prioritizes realistic expectations, reaching and teaching the students of today, and striking the balance between trying new ideas and strengthening current strategies to support all learners.
Sally met Anna at the TFLA fall conference in 2018 and shortly after began working for Seidlitz Education as a part-time consultant while still teaching in the classroom. In 2024, she and Anna published the second edition of 7 Steps to a Language-Rich, Interactive World Language Classroom. She now is a full-time consultant and works with teachers all over the country through professional development, coaching, and curriculum writing.
Sally is able to customize world language trainings for school districts based on her areas of expertise including:
planning with proficiency levels and leveling up with supports
lesson planning, curriculum design & development, and rubric + assessment design & development
authentic resource usage for all levels, foreign language pedagogy, and purposeful PLCs.
Reviews
"Sally was amazing! So much so that we already booked her again for training in February and hopefully we will be able to continue to book your services for years to come."
"Sally is great! We sent over some of our district priorities, and she made sure to connect the 7 steps to the big picture. Her energy is always great, and our teachers love learning with her."
"Ms. Barnes was amazing! So energetic, engaging, and knowledgeable. Teachers are still talking about the training."
"This is the best training experience I have ever had with teachers. The teacher feedback was overwhelmingly positive and I have seen many activities already being implemented in classrooms within one week of the training. We are so excited for part 2. It was powerful to remind teachers of what it feels like to be learners again."
“Sally’s session on the 7 Steps for World Language instruction was truly outstanding. Her approach was hands-on, interactive, and deeply engaging, allowing our teachers to experience the strategies as learners in an active, student-centered classroom. Sally brought such a positive, passionate, and enthusiastic energy to the day. She was approachable, grounded, and highly relatable, which made the content feel accessible and practical. She clearly understood the current challenges teachers face and addressed them with empathy and real-world strategies for increasing engagement. We were so impressed and inspired that we are already hoping to invite her back next year for a Part 2. I was so proud of the training that I shared it with our state team and other district supervisors.Thank you, Sally, for supporting our teachers with tools that build confidence and promote meaningful learning. Your impact is lasting and appreciated.
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