Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award

The road to ACTFL starts here!

Award Description

The Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award (K-16) recognizes an individual of the world language teaching profession who has demonstrated long-term achievement and service to the profession. Candidates for this award are automatically those who have been named the “Teacher of the Year” selected and awarded by the executive boards from the Kentucky Chapters of each of their own respective professional language teaching organizations (AATSP, AATF, AATG, KCA, KACLT, KAJLT, KY-NNELL). The winner of this award will represent KWLA in the running to be named the Regional Teacher of the Year at SCOLT (www.scolt.org) or CSCTFL (www.csctfl.org), and then, potentially, at the national level at ACTFL (www.actfl.org)! In order to represent KWLA well, the winner of this award will be someone who exhibits the following qualities and to the highest degree:

Frequent use of the target language in instruction
Designs instruction to meet the individual needs of all learners
Designs and implements activities that meet the goals of the World Readiness Standards set forth by ACTFL
Engages students in cultural learning both inside and outside of the classroom
Continuously seeks out opportunities to grow and improve his or her own professional practice
Stays actively involved in professional language teaching organizations
Exhibits strong leadership skills through various experiences (e.g. presenting sessions and workshops for conferences)
Exhibits excellent verbal and written communication skills
Regularly and effectively advocates in his or her community, and if given the opportunity at the state and even national level, for the advancement and enhancement of world language teaching and learning for all students.

*Special Note:

Teachers selected as “KWLA Outstanding Teacher of the Year” and “Outstanding New Teacher” will be asked to fill out and sign a commitment form indicating they will:

Attend the KWLA conference next year (2020) and the following (2021),
Serve on the KWLA Awards Committee and participate in the interview process to help in determining the winner of next year’s Outstanding Teacher of the Year,
Co-present the Teacher of the Year Workshop at the 2020 KWLA Fall Conference,
Be willing to serve as a spokesperson for the profession at KWLA and other advocacy events, and
Attend the affiliated regional conference (SCOLT) to represent KWLA and commit to attending the ACTFL National Convention if selected as the regional winner.

Award Criteria

Current KWLA members in good standing with a minimum of three consecutive years of membership and a minimum of five years’ experience as a world language educator (K-16). In addition to KWLA membership, candidates must also be current members in good standing with their affiliate organization (AATSP, AATF, AATG, KCA, KACLT, KAJLT, KY-NNELL) and with a minimum of three consecutive years of membership. Candidates must be full-time language teachers who spend at least half of their time in direct teaching, and who expect to continue teaching for at least two more years.
A record of excellence in teaching
Professional achievements and activities
Evidence of continued professional growth
Service to the world language teaching profession

Award Nomination Evidence***

Letter of endorsement from a professional colleague
Letter of endorsement from a supervisor/administrator
Letter of endorsement from a current or former student or parent
Current Curriculum Vitae of not more than five pages which includes: Educational background; Teaching experience; Recent travel related to teaching; Service to the world language profession as a whole; Membership in other professional organizations; Workshops given, papers presented, articles published; Awards and honors received
A five hundred word first-person statement on the importance of developing language and cultural competencies
Commitment Form (Downloadable here! Please print this off, sign, then scan and turn into a PDF file that can be submitted electronically by email to awards@kwla.org along with the other required documents listed above!)

Award Nomination Procedures

Select a candidate who meets the award criteria listed above* and forward the following information by email to the president of your nominee’s professional language teaching organization (see the list of contact info below**) by April 15th: Name of Nominee, Language(s) Taught, School/Organization, Email Address, Contact Number, Your name (the person nominating)
Work with the person you are nominating to collect all of the required documents under “Award Nomination Evidence”*** and submit them to the president of the affiliate organization of your nominee by May 15th
All presidents of each affiliate organization will then decide, out of their pool of candidates, who will be named the “Outstanding Teacher” for their organization and submit that name by email to the KWLA Awards Committee Chair along with the required documentation at the address awards@kwla.org by the deadline of June 15th in order for their outstanding teacher award winner to be in the running for the 2018 KWLA “Outstanding Teacher Award”
Once the names for the winners of the “Outstanding Teacher Award” from each affiliate organization have been submitted along with the required nomination evidence or documents to the Awards Committee Chair, each winner from all affiliate organizations will then be scheduled to be interviewed by members of the Awards Committee. During the interview, each candidate will be asked 3-5 questions on topics ranging from, but not limited to, strategies for implementing the ACTFL World Readiness Standards in the classroom (i.e. instructional strategies for engaging students in the three modes of communication as well as for integrating cultural learning and authentic resources), involvement to enhance and better the profession by sharing successes, tools, and strategies with fellow teachers, leadership experience in the profession, and strategies for effective advocacy for world language education
For more information, as to how each candidate’s interview will be evaluated, click here.

**List of Professional Language Teaching Organizations & Contact Info:

(KY-NNELL) National Network for Early Language Learning (KY Chapter) – Representative Madeline Griffitt: madeline.griffitt@jefferson.kyschools.us (If you would like to nominate a world language teacher who teaches at the elementary and middle school levels, no matter what language they teach, this is the person you will contact!)
(KAJLT) Kentucky Association for Japanese Language Teachers – President Spencer Zimmerman: spencer.zimmerman@jefferson.kyschools.us
(KACLT) Kentucky Association for Chinese Language Teachers – President Yanhong Zheng: yanhong.zheng@fayette.kyschools.us
(KCA) Kentucky Classical Association – President Brandi Larkey: blarkey@lexingtoncatholic.com
(AATG-KY) American Association of Teachers of German-Kentucky – President Matthäus Huelse: matthaeus.huelse@boone.kyschools.us
(AATF-KY) American Association of Teachers of French-Kentucky – President Tracy Rucker: trucker@loucol.com
(AATSP-KY) American Association of Teachers of Spanish & Portuguese-Kentucky – President Chelo Diaz-Martin: mariaconsuelo.diaz-martin@boone.kyschools.us

SPECIAL NOTE: If your candidate teaches a language that is not represented by one of our affiliate organizations, follow all of the steps above and submit all required documents to awards@kwla.org. The Awards Committee will convene to review the Nomination Evidence for your candidate. If the candidate meets the criteria for the Outstanding Teacher Award (see above), then the Awards Committee will confer upon them the title of “Outstanding Italian/Arabic/Russian/etc. Teacher of the Year” and they will officially be in the running to be named “Outstanding Teacher” overall by KWLA and announced at the Awards Banquet during the fall conference.

Have any further questions about awards and nomination procedures? Please contact the KWLA Awards Committee Chair anytime at: awards@kwla.org

DISCLAIMER: A press release for winners of the Outstanding Teacher Award will be published within a week after the conference. Press releases for all other awards winners will be available by request only.