2016 NETA Award Winner: Teacher Resource

The people who made this: Teresa Day, Mary Duncan, Carla Gover, Sara O'Keefe
Budget: $128,050.00

Imagine trying to teach Spanish if you don't speak it. That's the challenge many Kentucky teachers face in light of new requirements to offer foreign language and exposure to global cultures.
Exploraciones is a multimedia collection of standards-aligned teacher resources. The video lessons and segments, many of them re-purposed from existing KET materials, are highly engaging, while teacher guides and lessons were re-tooled to offer audio pronunciation files and language background information for teachers who may not be fluent Spanish speakers. Materials are
accessed online but Exploraciones also includes non-digital resources such as assessment flashcards and classroom posters.

What the Awards Judges review panel said:
“Exploraciones fills a great need by providing resources for different learning styles (visual, auditory, tactile) and supporting non-Spanish speaking educators. Lessons and resources also
include cultural aspects .”

“The teacher resource guide is well laid out and very easy to follow. The flashcard images are clear and colors are bold, engaging. Animated footage is well-cut, and the audio is very clean.”

“The resources have been made easily accessible and even schools with no budget for a language program are able to make use of them. The promotion of the project was also well designed, and
appears to have been effective. The teacher testimonials are very positive, and there are reports of school districts using this program in different ways, indicating that it is very flexible.”