A Venezuelan experience: Professional development for teachers, meaningful activities for students

Foreign language (FL) educators have very specific professional development requirements that include maintaining language skills, increasing cultural knowledge, and keeping current with developments in the field that will enhance their performance as a classroom teacher. These professional development needs are germane to all FL teachers, irrespective of years of service in the discipline. This article presents a model for professional development that is suited to the in-service Spanish teacher with limited time and financial resources who wants to improve in all the aforementioned areas and maximize performance outcomes. The article details a summer program for Spanish teachers in Merida, Venezuela that combines an immersion experience with an advanced methodology course emphasizing a Standards-based approach to curriculum development. The program also requires the use of authentic materials and sound pedagogical models in lesson preparation and stresses incorporation of technology in the FL classroom.