This article gives suggestions for applying the concept of literature circles to audiovisual media rather than to literary works as a way to support learner autonomy and interaction with the target language.

This guide is designed to enrich your reading of the articles in this issue. You may choose to read them on your own, taking notes or jotting down answers to the discussion questions below. Or you may use the guide to explore the articles with colleagues.

This session, "Teachers Working Together: A Successful Community of Practice," explores best practices and innovative ideas that can be shared and cultivated in a collaborative and engaging professional network called a Community of Practice (CoP). Participating in a CoP can help educators gain a positive outlook towards professional development through increased autonomy-the ability to choose learning topics as well as how and when to learn. A successful CoP can grow and sustain a continuous professional education mindset, especially in contexts where educators may have limited options for training and development. In this webinar, we will define a CoP and its components, discuss the benefits of a CoP, share the successes of an ongoing CoP, and examine practical steps for building a sustainable CoP.

This interactive webinar will focus on maximizing vocabulary acquisition for English learners with a focus on easy-to-implement classroom strategies and activities based on brain-based learning and critical thinking. The session will begin with how to assess students’ vocabulary knowledge and determine what words to teach and then move on to a discussion of how the brain learns and stores words. Strategies that will be introduced include graphic organizers, word walls, word study, word sorts, games and technology apps. Participants will be actively engaged in trying out the strategies for themselves during the webinar.