Pre-NECTFL: on the Plane and Prepping
Finally, the anxiety ends, and the excitement begins! Before any conference (or any time I travel), I can’t truly be excited about it until I’m on the plane. There’s an endless list of things that could be done before, so it’s hard for me to feel excited until I am on the plane and unable to run more errands. Of course, I know when I land, I’ll still have a million things to do, but I can stress about that later.
Later always comes sooner than we expect. Once we landed my brain immediately went into panic mode… Okay, we’ve landed, what subway do I take from JFK to the Hilton Midtown? It’s already 4pm, and I have to be set up by 7pm; what’s the best order of doing things so that I can get everything done? *Walks 4 blocks in the wrong direction* Okay, everything I brought has been put in place, time to figure out how to get to Best Buy and FedEX. *Carries TV 1 mile with 5 ridiculous layers because what is cold weather?* Of course, one of my favorite prep moments, the TV came with screws for the TV to stand, but no screwdriver and all the set up guys have already left because it’s 7:30.
Well, you get the idea—it was quite a hectic day that started at 3am Pacific time and ended at 3am Eastern time.
Highlights from NECTFL
Meeting current FluentKey users
It was amazing to put a face to the name for so many of our users! They provided me with feedback including what they love about us, and what would make us better. My main takeaways from this feedback include the following:
1. The dashboard needs to be more powerful. We know! We have some amazing ideas for improving this, so stay tuned.
2. Advanced features rock! Students actually have to do the work; they can’t cheat like they can with a worksheet. No skipping ahead; no having one tab open on Fortnite and one on FluentKey (the FluentKey video will pause). This ensures that students can’t just answer the questions without watching the video.
3. The content is really relevant. We’ve made an effort to produce content that can be easily incorporated into teachers’ lesson plans. For example, in the past few weeks we’ve made videos on Black History Month, Valentine’s day, the Coronavirus, and current music.
4. We’re real people! Possibly my favorite interaction of the entire conference was when one of our current users walked by, looked at me, and yelled “You’re Mandy from FluentKey!!” I couldn’t help but smile. As language teachers, we know the importance of personal connection, so being able to show people we’re not just robots made me really happy.
Introducing FluentKey to teachers and administrators who have never heard about us
FluentKey was literally started to help save language teachers time and engage students with real, authentic content in the target language that’s culturally relevant. When I introduced FluentKey to teachers that haven’t heard about us, I’m thrilled because I know that I may be saving that teacher hours of prep time. That just makes my heart happy because language teachers work so hard to support their students. As a small company of language teachers, being able to actually reciprocate that support is one of the best feelings.
One quick note, many people asked me about the differences between FluentKey and EdPuzzle. I wanted to share this post written by Hollin (our CEO, founder, french teacher, and most importantly, my brother). He highlights the main differences and gives some background on how FluentKey got started!
Other moments of absolute glee (there were so many!)
Before I mention the amazing people that made my weekend so great, I have to give myself a shout out. This was my first conference on my own, and it went perfectly. I know that there is always room for improvement (I am my biggest critic), but I’m so proud of myself for taking on this challenge. I learned so much, and I made many new friends!
Heide Trude (@htrude07),
Just wow. When you saw me, you ran up and gave me the biggest hug. Honestly, I don’t have words to express how happy that made me, but just know that you touched my heart. I’m so humbled by the work that you do for your students and other language teachers. Thank you for letting FluentKey be a part of that. I hope that we can be a part of FLAVA to show you how much we appreciate your support.
Richard de Meij,
I am still thinking about your magic tricks. HOW DID YOU DO IT?!?! For anyone who doesn’t know Richard, please check out his website. He uses magic to help expose his students to languages by using engaging materials and comprehensible input. This man astounded me. He taught me so much in the few hours we spent together, and I am so excited to continue our friendship at future conferences. Not to mention, he danced Salsa with me at the Cuban Lounge!
Señora Christina Buck (@hola_profesora),
I’m so happy that you like our videos! It always brings a smile to our face when we find a good resource and are able to share it with other teachers. Her favorite video (so far) was this one about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: https://fluentkey.com/content/quien-fue-martin-luther-king-jr/
Monsieur Nason,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on how we could improve FluentKey, as well as the compliment that your students love us! It was really nice to put a face to the name, and I hope to see you at more conferences!
Madame Schlegel,
I’m so happy that our videos engage your students! Thanks for taking the time to stop by and chat with me, and sorry I kept you for so long! I just loved hearing about your experience with FluentKey.
My new exhibitor friends (Squad!)
Mike and Sam (@Extemporeapp), What. A. Weekend. Thank you for being my partners in crime. I am so happy to have developed such a beautiful friendship with you two, and I look forward to all of our future conference adventures. (I could say so much, but I’ll resist since this is already so long). If you haven’t checked out Extempore, please do! These two guys are awesome, and they’d love to help you learn more!
Chris (@Boomalang) Always nice to meet another Southerner! I had a lot of fun being your next-door neighbor in the alley of fun (let’s be real, our aisle was the best). Boomalang is five years old and helps connect people from all over the world, so that students can get real, authentic practice. Thanks for sharing your insights, and hopefully I’ll see you at another conference soon!
The biggest disappointment
With all the positive moments, I must take a second to acknowledge one of the low points. I became truly obsessed with language learning at my high school, Lawrenceville, where I had the privilege of being taught by some incredibly intelligent and passionate people. I had originally planned to meet up with Señor Alcantara, one of the teachers who most inspired me to pursue language learning. Unfortunately, he couldn’t make it to the conference, and his presence was missed dearly. I look forward to meeting up with him hopefully in the near future.
A note of appreciation
This trip would not have been possible without the support of my team. Hollin, Hugo, and TJ, thank you so much for helping me make this conference such a success! Our product is incredible, and I’m SO PROUD to be a part of this company.
