The ACTFL OPI and The Elementary Teacher
Valerie Shull
Rogers Park Montessori School, Chicago
Danielson Domain 4: Professionalism
4a Reflecting on Teaching
4b Maintaining Accurate Records
4c Communicating with Families
4d Participating in a Professional Community
4e Growing and Developing Professionally
4f Showing Professionalism
The ACTFL OPI: What is it?
The Full OPI Workshop is an intensive four-day introduction to the techniques of administering and rating the Oral Proficiency Interview. The rating scale and techniques for eliciting a ratable sample are highlighted in daily plenary sessions and then reinforced in language-specific break-out sessions. Participants have the opportunity to observe live demonstration interviews conducted by their trainer. Under the trainer’s supervision, they then conduct their own practice interviews with volunteer candidates. The group critiques and discusses both these practice interviews and their ratings. Following the workshop, participants may apply to become ACTFL OPI Testers.
What are the benefits of Attending the ACTFL OPI Training?
Brings teaching practices into focus
Provides concrete benchmarks and
language to communicate progress to the
children and their families
Connects teachers from a variety of levels
Provides context for creating concrete goals using ACTFL Can Do Statements
Helps to set realistic goals for FLES
programs
Provides perspective on taking the
long view of building proficiency
Provides common language and targets to
be used from preschool through university
levels
SELF
DAILY LIFE
COMMUNITY
WORLD