As participants arrived at a dinner in their honor at the Campanile Room of  the Iowa State campus, they were greeted by Janis Jensen, NNELL President, who presented an overview of the three-day institute. Jean Modig, National Networking Coordinator, facilitated an "icebreaker" activity allowing participants to get to know one another. In a grass-roots networking organization, familiarity breeds success!    

Day 1 of our institute began with a presentation by second language author and researcher, Carol Ann Dahlberg, whose workshop on "Tools for Thematic Planning" included the discussion of a framework for curriculum development with a particular focus on Story Form and using the Understanding by Design or Backward Planning Model.

Carol Ann's presentation was punctuated by urging those in attendance to carry on the work of educators who have preceded them in the commitment to excellence in early second language instruction. She referred to attendees (in German) as her "nachwuchs" or "those who will carry on the work".

Terry Caccavale, NNELL Vice-President, led an interactive discussion on early language learning developments within each state.

Ana Lomba, NNELL Advocacy Chair, conducted a 90-minute discussion of advocacy during which time several participants shared their own advocacy stories with the group.

Day 2 of the institute was highlighted by a presentation entitled "Culturally Focused Thematic Units", given by NNELL Journal Editor Paris Granville. Paris guided participants through the process of weaving culture into curriculum and daily instruction in ways that support the second language acquisition process. Using the Backward Design model, she guided participants in outlining performance assessments and then choosing learning experiences that would help students to succeed in these same assessments. Her use of Total Physical Response (TPR) Storytelling techniques to explain the creation of Tahiti was particularly enjoyed by institute participants! 

Jimmy Moorhead, Senior Educational Sales Representative, Santillana USA, conducted an interactive presentation on the educational implications of social dynamics in the elementary school classroom. Jimmy, a native of Nebraska, impressed all participants with his fluent Spanish!

Jean Modig, NNELL’s National Networking Coordinator, led an interactive discussion of the roles and responsibilities of our State Representatives.

Elizabeth Lee of Wright-Group McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, outlined the steps to successful reading in a second language.

As participants said their fond farewells and headed back to the Des Moines International Airport,  they commented on the success of the institute. Special tokens of appreciation were presented to both Dr. Marcia Rosenbusch, NFLRC Director, and her assistant, Vicki Gray.