Sarah Wroblewski

FLT 898 Final Portfolio

Dr. Amanda Lanier
Summer 2019
Portfolio Reflective Essay

I entered the MAFLT program for various reasons, the primary reason being that I

wanted to receive a Master’s degree in something that would be useful to me as a language

teacher rather than a general degree like Education. My friend and colleague, Jaime Terlaak,

recommended the MAFLT program and said she learned a lot about teaching language. Another

colleague, Tiffany Robinson, also recommended it. The program seemed convenient as it was

entirely online and asynchronous, which meant I could complete it from anywhere and at any

time, although I would need to stick to my own study schedule and remain motivated. I also

liked that I did not have to take the GRE, because it would have been very difficult to fit in the

study time as a full-time teacher. I expected the program to take me more than a few years as I

wanted to focus mostly on the summer semesters. One negative was the cost; I was worried that I

wouldn’t be able to afford it, but I intended to spread it out to make the cost easier to handle. As

far as my expectations for the content, I hoped to learn more about teaching language, especially

practical activities and research-based information I could apply in my classroom right away. I

wanted to take what I would learn and use it throughout my career as a classroom teacher and

potentially beyond as a teacher of teachers or some other as yet unknown language-related career

path. Overall, I would say the program met my expectations.

My first few MAFLT classes were not very difficult and fairly straightforward. Due to

the fact that I started my Master’s almost immediately upon graduation from my undergraduate

programs at the University of Michigan, the methods course and language concepts included a

large amount of information I was already familiar with from past courses. The transition to
graduate level reading was definitely a change, more due to the quantity rather than difficulty. I

found myself skimming more than I had with my readings in undergrad just to try and keep up,

and this was especially difficult during the semesters while I was full-time teaching. The

textbooks were less expensive than in undergrad but sometimes difficult to acquire without an e-

reader. My background in Psychology was very helpful, especially when it came to my

Assessment course which reminded me of some of my research courses from U of M. The

MAFLT readings were denser and more technical, and having a working knowledge of research

methods helped me to better decipher some of the studies. I enjoyed writing my final assessment,

which my school district ended up using pieces of for a real unit assessment.

I found “interacting” with professors through online lectures beneficial because I could

revisit any slides or videos multiple times, but also difficult at times when I wanted to

communicate with my professor. At times D2L could be difficult to navigate, although the

“guides” that some professors used were useful. On a related note, the courses felt pretty

isolated. Even though there were discussion questions where you would respond to others, they

often revolved around the readings and one or two peers, meaning I would just read those few

comments and skim the rest. This was nice in that it required less time, but sometimes I felt like I

was in my own little bubble, a feeling that continued through most of my MAFLT courses. Some

courses included group work or attempts at partner work (i.e. peer editing), but it was few and far

between and incredibly difficult to complete due to the online and asynchronous format. Trying

to coordinate schedules was most difficult. A more active MAFLT community page could help,

or other online presence such as social media as the alumni base grows. I would have liked to

contact my peers outside of D2L to ask questions and work together, but that sort of resource

wasn’t readily available and few people utilized the general discussion features.
 The first course that was clearly new to me when it came to content was the Foreign

Language Program Development and Administration class. I had never thought about running a

school foreign language program since I was a new and lowly staff member in both of my

teaching positions, but it got me thinking about aspects of teaching and working at a school that I

had never considered such as funding, recruitment, and publicity. I found it a bit too focused on

university programs, but I was proud of the imaginary curriculum and program I created at

“Ilvermorny” schools. Creating a curriculum, albeit imaginary, gave me background knowledge I

ended up using as we updated our district Spanish 1 & 2 curriculum in my teaching position. It

also helped me to realize that with the tools I was given I could probably run a high school

program if given the opportunity.

The most difficult classes were the compressed courses during the spring or summer

semesters, simply because they tried to squish all of the content into a few months. Many

professors did their best, but it was also hard to adapt some of the assignments that required a

classroom or student for a project. I’m glad I chose the summer semesters so I was better able to

focus on the courses, but at times I wished I hadn’t to make my life as a student easier. One very

frustrating aspect of the program was the differences between formatting and submission for

assignments across professors. This became especially apparent as I completed my MAFLT

portfolio as many documents required updating of formatting and it was difficult to keep track of

who wanted what in which format (i.e. file names, headers, fonts, margins…).

The only course that I took outside of the program at MSU was my required literacy

course for my teaching certificate renewal, Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners. I

only mention this because I absolutely hated that class because it was nearly useless as it was
focused on English. I would have loved a literacy course within the MAFLT program that would

have fulfilled the Michigan certificate renewal requirements and been focused more on learning

second languages. I believe a course like this may already exist but if not I’m sure many would

appreciate it!

Teaching Foreign Language with Technology gave me some new ideas on how to use

technology within my classroom, particularly communication with other classes or individuals in

other countries. My favorite takeaway from that class was the smartphone app HelloTalk, which

I recommend to my upper-level students as a way to communicate with others. Foreign

Language Acquisition reminded me of my undergraduate linguistics courses and helped refresh

and expand on many of the research-based methods I learned before. This was one of my

favorite courses because it brought me back to how students learn language and how I as a

teacher can best aid them in the process through my classroom environment and assignments.

The course that impacted me the most, as far as teaching me new ideas, was my last

“real” class, the Intercultural class. At times I did not enjoy the course because of the heavy

qualitative focus, which I found frustrating because most evidence or data for the ideas was

difficult to replicate and at times unreliable. Many of the ideas felt contrived and at the same

time too broad, but I began to realize that’s just how it is teaching and learning about culture.

The class allowed me to consider viewpoints beyond what I had previously experienced. I did

not enjoy the textbook at all because of its confusing organization (Holliday, Hyde & Kullman),

but the examples within were helpful. The other book we used about creating lessons by Corbett

was extremely helpful. My intercultural lessons ended up being incredibly useful and I learned

quite a bit about how to help students become more intercultural learners rather than teaching
culture through discrete cultural facts. I was proud of my lesson on bullfighting which I was able

to use in my classroom that same year and it was very successful.

My Experiential Module project, which was a full-fledged research project, was one

aspect of the program that I did not anticipate. It was much more difficult and time-consuming

than I expected from this type of program. I’m not sure if this is because I held myself to too

high of a standard or if Dr. Lanier expected more from me, but I think it was more than I was

able to handle and remain balanced. I’ve learned a lot from my EM project, especially when it

comes to corpus analysis, but dealing with the IRB and all of the red tape of research helped

solidify the reasons I never want to become a full-time researcher. I am proud of what I did, but

it was so much work and felt far outside of my usual classroom teaching. If I had known what

the project would be like going into the program, I’m not sure I would have joined the MAFLT. I

plan on continuing to recommend the program to others, but now I have to give the cautionary

disclaimer of how much work it can become and how difficult it can be as a full-time teacher to

complete. Picking the right EM project for you can make a huge difference, because they are not

always equivalent in workload.

When it comes to how the program has influenced me as a foreign language teacher, I

definitely feel that I am more grounded in research-based methods. A lot of times I find that

colleagues and schools will cling to “trendy” educational activities or curricula, but the biggest

takeaway I have from this program is that it’s important to look at the reasons why we do what

we do in the classroom and continually reflect on them. This means looking at how students

learn a second language and finding a balance between what is fun or interesting for students and

what will best help them learn. For example, focusing entirely on TPRS, or only doing grammar

worksheets, or only doing information gap activities means putting all of your eggs in one basket
rather than looking at the bigger picture and varying what you do to meet learner needs. New

research happens every day and I know I have to try and keep up with it to continue and grow as

an educator rather than becoming set in my ways with what seems to have worked for me in the

past. Through this program I’ve also learned new ways to structure my classroom using tools like

technology for student portfolios and journaling, using a corpus tool to look at authentic readings

and vocabulary to teach, and how to assess my students and look at their progress on various

proficiency scales and in different ways. It also helped me to recognize the idea of an

“interlanguage”, or the idea that language learners are pretty much hardwired to make mistakes

as they acquire a language and experiment with it on their own. This has given me a new

perspective on errors and feedback. Finally, my ideas on how to teach culture have definitely

changed from a more discrete method of exposure to authentic texts and cultural practices or

perspectives to a more organic approach where students learn various types of knowledge that

they can apply to different situations in order to become intercultural learners. In other words,

giving students the tools for their toolbox so they can learn and experience other cultures and

compare perspectives rather than simply memorize facts they will soon forget.

When it comes to what I intend to use in the future, first and foremost I want to remain

updated on current research and ideas. I want to subscribe to some online journals to see what’s

new in the foreign language teaching world instead of just perusing Pinterest or Teachers Pay

Teachers. I’d also like to stay connected with other MAFLT alumni, perhaps through the new

Facebook page or a meet-up at a conference. I want to build a community to help keep me

accountable and stay informed. Second, I look forward to applying the ideas I’ve learned for the

creation of assessment and curriculum as our district updates our curriculum for the lower levels

of Spanish and the IB updates. Working with my colleagues I want to use the information I
acquired when it comes to sequence of learning (the set order in which students learn various

grammar structures) and vocabulary (what is most common and useful based on corpora of the

language). Third, I want to change how I teach culture and create more intercultural lessons

where my students can build up their “toolboxes” of knowledge. This will take time and it will

be difficult to change the perspectives of my colleagues when it comes to teaching culture

differently, but I know in the end it will be worth it, particularly as we move in a more global

direction with the International Baccalaureate program at my school. Finally, I hope to use the

ideas from the technology course when it comes to finding an online exchange with students

from another country that speak Spanish so they can communicate with my classes. I think this

will contribute to the building of the “toolbox” of intercultural exchange and also help my

students to grow in their communicative skills as they negotiate meaning with others.

In conclusion, the MAFLT program has allowed me to grow as a language educator in

many ways. I ended up taking five (almost six) years to complete the program, which is more

than I expected coming in, but as I finish I can look back on everything I’ve learned and how I

grew. I look forward to continuing to apply what I’ve learned and stay connected with the

MAFLT community.