Idioma Star Newsletter - May 2026

Idioma and Central States: Languages for All Partner in Support of World Language Education in the Central States

We are thrilled to announce a dynamic new partnership between Idioma Education & Consulting and Central States: Languages for All, a collaboration committed to empowering world language educators throughout the central states.

Through this partnership, we are bridging the gap between professional inspiration and career advancement. While Central States: Languages for All provides dedicated advocacy and programming through their annual and summer conferences, Idioma provides the high-quality, graduate-level coursework teachers need to turn those experiences into tangible professional growth.

As a part of our partnership, we are offering several key benefits designed to support world language teachers in their professional journeys:

• 10% Course Discounts: Register for a Central States Annual or Summer Virtual Conference and receive 10% off all Idioma course registrations for an entire year!

• M.Ed. Scholarships: Idioma is proud to sponsor $500 scholarships toward a Master of Education (M.Ed.) through CSU Pueblo for Central States conference attendees. Inquire and apply through Central States.

• Teacher Travel Subsidy: To ensure educators can access these vital networking opportunities, Idioma is sponsoring a $500 travel subsidy for a world language teacher to attend the Central States Annual Conference. Inquire and apply through Central States.

Explore all our partnership details, get the links to register for Central States conferences, and stay connected to our ongoing partner activities on our Central States partner webpage by clicking 👉here👈.

New Courses for Summer!

We are proud to launch brand new instructor-facilitated courses this summer! These courses focus on key methodology topics such as classroom management, special education in the world language classroom, strategies for teachers of heritage language learners, and childhood and adolescent development. With these new courses we also welcome our new instructors: Jessica Godburn, Kevin Pollicino, and Dr. Mary Wells! Read more about all our instructors on our team page 👉here👈.

Click on each course title below to learn more, request a syllabus and register. Registration for graduate-level credit opens June 1st!

World Language Methodology & Pedagogy

• Foundations of Special Education in the World Language Classroom

• Classroom Management: Balancing Human Connection and Digital Integration for 21st Century Students

• Heritage Language Learners: Specialized Pedagogy

General Education

• Teaching Core Content to ELL Students: Digital Resources for Equitable Learning and Scaffolding in Core Secondary Classes

• Childhood Development for Educators in Elementary Classrooms

• Adolescent Development for Educators in the Middle and High School Classrooms

Mandarin Chinese

• Novice-level Novels for Communication in the Mandarin Classroom

Self-paced - 15 PD hours or 1 graduate-level credit

• Foundations of Special Education in the Classroom

Upcoming Events

Highlights include:

• Idioma’s Elisa Kirschhoffer and Alba Wagar presenting at AATSP NJ for the Celebración Primaveral on May 16

• Spring 2 courses starting May 26

• Summer courses starting July 6 - check out our NEW courses!

• Idioma exhibiting and presenting at the 108th Annual AATSP Conference July 8-11 in Orlando

• Idioma exhibiting presenting at AATG 100th Anniversary Conference with AATF July 11-14 in Boston

  Click 👉here👈 to explore all of Idioma’s upcoming events.

In the Loop

Is your culture curriculum stuck at the "food and festivals" level? This guide explores how to integrate the ACTFL Cultures Standard into daily instruction. Learn practical strategies to shift from teaching "what" people do to "why" they do it, using inquiry-based questions, authentic resources, and perspective-taking tasks that build both proficiency and empathy.

Read more by clicking 👉here👈.

Course Spotlight

Hertiage Language Learners: Specialized Pedagogy

Led by Dr. Mary Wells, this asynchronous instructor-facilitated course moves beyond traditional L2 instruction to focus on asset-based, identity-affirming strategies. You’ll walk away with a capstone unit plan and practical tools to differentiate instruction in both mixed and dedicated heritage classrooms.

Click 👉here👈 to learn more, request a syllabus and register!

Recommended Resource

7 Steps to a Language-Rich, Interactive World Language Classroom

At the EMME conference this spring, we were lucky enough to participate in highly engaging workshops with one of the co-authors of the book, Sally Barnes. This book is loaded with immediately implementable strategies organized within easy-to-follow 7 steps that lead to stronger communication in the world language classroom.

Click 👉here👈 to learn more.