Meet Mrs. Williams

Hola! I have been teaching since 2003, and at Free State since 2015. Below you can see my credentials and service to the profession. I believe that everyone can succeed in a acquiring a language -- in fact, you already have because you speak and understand at least one language right now! Second Language Acquisition (SLA) is an area of Linguistics that focuses on how the brain acquires language. The research indicates that comprehensible input is necessary for acquisition to occur. I base my instruction on Second Language Acquisition research and aim to engage my students in relevant and interesting content. SLA research also says that acquisition is a very personal process--that we don't all acquire at the same rate. Each student's growth will be unique to them and is dependent on their engagement in the course. My goal is to provide the conditions for language acquisition to occur, as well as support and encourage them to engage in class every day. A student's language proficiency will not affect their grade and there is no requirement to be at a specific proficiency level by the end of the school year.

In my class, we will listen and read a lot (input), work on speaking and writing (output), and engage in the reflection process to monitor our growth. There are also some things that you will NOT see in my class: vocabulary lists, grammar tests, or homework. Parents / Caregivers can support their students at home by talking to them about what we did in class, what we're learning about, and how they feel they are progressing with their language skills. Please contact me if you have questions--my goal is to be as transparent as possible with students and parents / caregivers. 

Education and Certifications

• BSBA Marketing, University of Missouri - Columbia, 2000

  • Spanish Minor

• BA Secondary Education, University of Missouri - Kansas City, 2003

• BA Spanish, University of Missouri - Kansas City, 2003

• MA Romance Languages and Literature, University of Missouri - Kansas City, 2006

• National Board of Professional Teaching Standards - World Languages other than English, 2009

• Missouri K-12 Spanish

• Kansas Pk-12 Spanish

• Kansas Pk-12 ESOL

 Service to the Profession

• Equity Team, Free State High School

• Kansas World Language Association, Member, 2015 - present

• Kansas World Language Association Executive Board - Vice-President, President, Past-President, 2019-2021

• Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (CSCTFL), Advisory Board Member

• Language Learner Literature Advisory Board, Member 

• #LangChat Moderator on Twitter

• Kansas World Language Educators Facebook Group, Moderator

• The Kansas World Language Chronicle, Creator / Writer / Publisher

• Kansas Teacher Talks, Creator / Organizer, Host and Moderator

• Centrals States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (CSCTFL), Board of Directors

  • Head of Delegate Assembly Committee

• 2024 Recipient of the Partner in Language Education Award, CSCTFL 2024

Professional Presentations

2024

• Decoding the Text: Strategies to Support All Readers, Building PD, Free State High School

• Joyful Content Instruction: Engage and Elevate Languages and Cultures, Central States in Minneapolis

• Building Student Efficacy through Lit Circles and Reading Workshops for Comprehensible Iowa

• SLA Summer Workshop, Co-creator and facilitator in Lawrence, KS

2023

• Using Anchor Charts to Support Student Learning, Building PD, Free State High School

• Using Reflection Portfolios to Build Student Autonomy for KSWLA

• Using Reflection Portfolios to Build Student Autonomy for Comprehensible Iowa

• Become a Teacher Powerhouse for Central States in Columbus, OH

• SLA Summer Workshop, Co-creator and facilitator in Emporia, KS

• Using Literature Circles in the World Language Classroom for the World Language Teachers Summit

2022

• Become a Teacher Powerhouse for KSWLA

• Become a Teacher Powerhouse for Comprehensible Iowa

2020

• Summer World Language PD: Standards Training within the Context of a Model Lesson for the Kansas Department of Education

• What a Novel Idea, Wichita Public Schools District PD

2019

• Hitting that 90% for KSWLA

• What a Novel Idea for KSWLA

• Diving into CI for Comprehensible Iowa

• Best Practices for Teaching Spanish as a World Language for the Kansas Department of Education

2018

• Getting to 90%: Three Things to get you Started for KSWLA / FLAM Joint Conference

• Using the MovieTalk Strategy to Adapt #AuthRes for Novices KSWLA / FLAM Joint Conference

• Navigating Sr. Wooly Pro for KSWLA / FLAM Joint Conference

• How to Teach a Novel for KSWLA / FLAM Joint Conference