Proven Practices. Professional Growth.PEARLL’s online institutes are designed for busy educators like you.

PEARLL online institutes give you the chance to dive into a topic that matters to your growth, guided by experienced classroom educators who understand your day-to-day reality. You’ll explore proven practices, connect with a supportive group of fellow educators, and apply what you learn right away—with expert guidance every step of the way.

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Summer Institutes

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Registered Participants

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PEARLL Summer Institutes: 2019-2024

PEARLL summer institutes are fully online: each 15-hour institute combines live sessions for connection and collaboration with flexible, self-paced tasks that fit your schedule. Join from anywhere and engage with a community of educators!

what previous participants said

The instructor was amazing. She helped me understand what is essential in terms of designing a thematic unit, and performance-based/proficiency-focused assessments. She helped me broaden my perspectives and insights when using authentic resources.

The scheduling of the synchronous and asynchronous sessions was perfect! I loved being able to hear the facilitator present and share and then having time to absorb on my own as well as take care of life happening here around me in my home.

I am very excited to get started teaching life-like tasks. I feel as though I have been caught in between former ways of teaching (worksheets, etc.) and this way of teaching, but never quite knew how to make the shift.

Thanks to PEARLL’s summer institute, I am motivated to continually improve my lesson plans to help students to be more engaged and productive in learning.

I really enjoyed the online format of the class. The asynchronous time provided an opportunity to digest the material and the group time was helpful.

It was brilliant – I got to meet with 15-20 colleagues from around the world without leaving my living room.

Celebrating Teacher Professional GrowthHelping hundreds of teachers teach with the learner in mind—since 2019.

PEARLL thanks the many educators who have shared their time and expertise to facilitate the summer institutes since 2019. Thank you for helping hundreds of teachers focus their practice in order to discover what it really means to teach with the learner in mind.

2025 Institute ScheduleJoin from home. Connect with peers. Walk away inspired.

Each institute provides 15 hours of professional learning by combining online synchronous presentations, small group processing, as well as independent, asynchronous activities. Each institute will take place via PEARLL's learning management system and Zoom. All institutes are scheduled for 11 AM - 4 PM (Eastern Time).

Do you ever feel like your students know the language—but still aren’t using it to communicate? If you’re looking for ways to spark authentic conversations and foster consistent target language use at all proficiency levels, this institute is for you. Together, we’ll explore a step-by-step approach to help students take ownership of their learning and feel confident expressing themselves in the target language. You’ll leave with practical tools and a deeper understanding of how to create a classroom culture where language production thrives—and where students speak because they want to, not just because they have to.

The most important idea was actual strategies that were practical for motivating students to stay in target language besides having a sign hung up.

All participants created an activity and shared with the group. I came out of the institute with materials I can use in my classes.

July 8 - 10, 2025Institute #1

Katrina GriffinNorth County High School (MD)

Designing lessons shouldn’t feel like a guessing game. In this hands-on institute, you’ll learn how to plan with clarity and purpose using the principles of backward design and the latest insights from the science of learning. We’ll dive into how to capture students’ attention from the very start and lead them through a carefully crafted sequence of communicative tasks that lead to real, measurable growth you can grade. You’ll explore how to use learning targets and success criteria to design cohesive lessons that enable students to level up their language proficiency—without the overwhelm. Walk away with a flexible planning routine that simplifies your workflow and maximizes student learning every step of the way.

Thanks to PEARLL’s institute, I am motivated to continually improve my lesson plans to help students to be more engaged and productive in learning.

I learned to think more carefully about essential questions/ topics/themes and plan lessons/tasks small and large to align with these.

July 15 - 17, 2025Institute #2

Jenna FloodOak Canyon Junior High (UT)

As the shift toward proficiency-focused instruction continues to grow, many educators still wonder: Where does grammar fit in? This institute dives into practical, research-based strategies for teaching grammar in ways that support communication rather than interrupt it. Participants will explore how to present grammar as a tool for meaning-making—through context, interaction, and real-world use using different discovery models. You will then focus on ways to help students acquire grammar and eventually produce new structures in output. You'll leave with ready-to-use examples and a clearer lesson sequence showing grammar can support—not sideline—proficiency development.

July 22 - 24, 2025Institute #3

Mike TraversWellesley High School (MA)

What if a single image could spark curiosity, evoke emotion, and unlock meaningful communication? In this interactive summer workshop, explore how thoughtfully selected visuals can transform your language classroom into a space of deeper engagement and cultural exploration. Grounded in proficiency-based practices, this institute will show you how to harness the power of images to support all three modes of communication—interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational—while building students’ visual literacy and global competence. Leave inspired with practical strategies and ready-to-use resources that make language learning more vivid, relevant, and unforgettable.

July 28 - 30, 2025Institute #4

Laura TerrillIndependent Consultant & Author

Tired of teaching long lists of vocabulary that students forget by Friday? This hands-on summer workshop explores how to introduce and recycle vocabulary in context using authentic resources and communicative tasks. Learn how to leverage a single resource over multiple days and modes of communication to build real-world vocabulary that sticks. Leave with strategies to help your students engage with language meaningfully—and remember it.

August 5-7, 2025Institute #5

Rebecca BlouwolffWellesley Middle School (MA)

2025 Institute FaciliatorsPD by teachers, for teachers—because you deserve both!

PEARLL summer institutes are facilitated by highly experienced educators who have a demonstrated history of classroom success. They bring a passion for supporting other educators to identify and reach their own professional goals through sharing of resources from their own practice. PEARLL is honored to be able to offer a series of online institutes with such a highly qualified group of educators.

Rebecca Blouwolff

Rebecca Blouwolff has taught French at Wellesley Middle School in MA since 1998, but fell in love with teaching middle schoolers while serving as a Fulbright teaching scholar at a collège in Saint-Omer, France. Novice students inspire her to create engaging, age-appropriate lessons focused on global awareness. Together with her husband, she speaks non-native French at home to her own two children. She earned a B.A. magna cum laude in American Civilization and Judaic Studies at Brown University, and an M.Ed. in Teacher Leadership at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is a National Board Certified Teacher, 2019 MaFLA and NECTFL Teacher of the Year, and 2020 ACTFL Language Teacher of Year.

Jenna Flood

Jenna Flood is a French teacher and District World Language Instructional Coach in Utah’s Alpine School District (ASD). She was recognized with the ASD Accent on Excellence award in 2024 and named Utah Foreign Language Association’s Best of Utah in 2025. Jenna co-founded the district’s 23-member French professional learning community and co-created its university-accredited methods course for new language teachers. She holds a Master’s in Language Education from Utah State University and a B.A. in French Teaching from BYU, where she has also completed all coursework for a second M.Ed. in Second Language Acquisition. Jenna, her husband—a university French professor—and their three French dual-language immersion-educated children spend every other year leading study abroad programs in Paris.

Katrina Griffin

Katrina Griffin is a German teacher and department chair at North County High School in Glen Burnie, Maryland.  She was named the ACTFL Teacher of the Year in 2017 and received the ACTFL Leo Benardo Award for Innovation in K-12 Language Teaching in 2017. Katrina is also a founding member of the STEM magnet program at her high school, where she initiated an annual German STEM Immersion Day for local students and developed STEM resources for language teachers. She holds a Master’s degree in German from Middlebury College, a B.S. in Secondary Education from Bloomsburg University, and B.A. degrees in International Politics and German from Penn State University. Additionally, Katrina is an AP College Board Consultant and a workshop presenter and keynote speaker on topics such as proficiency-based language learning, student engagement strategies, and developing leadership skills.

Laura Terrill

Laura Terrill is a nationally recognized independent consultant who recently worked as the senior associate for professional development for the National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland. She taught French at all levels for 21 years before becoming the coordinator of foreign language and English as a second language and then director of curriculum for a school district in Missouri. She has taught methods courses in St. Louis and Indianapolis and continues to present at the local, state, regional, and national levels. She has served on the board of directors for the Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages and ACTFL. She coauthored the second edition of The Keys to Planning for Learning: Effective Curriculum, Unit, and Lesson Design. Ms. Terrill holds a BA in French from the University of Missouri and an MA in secondary administration from Northeast Missouri State University.

Mike Travers

Mike Travers is a Spanish teacher at Wellesley High School in Massachusetts and has taught learners both Spanish and French at the novice and intermediate levels. Mike is very active in professional learning communities through MAFLA, NECTFL, and ACTFL, where he presents, facilitates or participates in conferences and workshops to continue learning more about proficiency-based teaching. Mike is a the president of MAFLA and a member NECTFL’s advisory board as well as the winner of multiple awards for his presentations at MAFLA and NECTFL. In 2024, he co-authored the book Proficiency Based Instruction: Teaching Grammar For Proficiency. 

2025 RegistrationSummer Learning. Even More Accessible.

Be sure to review all registration policies outlined on this page BEFORE completing your registration! Each institute has a unique registration link. Be sure to choose the link that aligns with the title of the institute you plan to attend. If you want to register for more than one institute, you will need to complete registration for each institute separately.

July 8-10Institute #1

Give Them Something to Talk AboutFostering Spontaneous Oral Language Production

$99

July 15-17Institute #2

Plan with PurposeUnlocking Student Success Through Sequencing

$99

July 22-24Institute #3

Making Grammar MeaningfulCommunicative Strategies for Proficiency-Oriented Classrooms

$99

July 28-30Institute #4

The Power of the ImageUsing Visuals to Inspire Communication

$99

August 5-7Institute #5

Not Just WordsIntroducing Vocabulary with Purpose

$99

registration policy

– All participants for a summer institute must register online using the links above.

– If you plan to register for more than one institute, you will need to complete registration for each separately.

– Registration will close three business days before the start of each institute (on Thursday of the previous week).

– All registrations must include payment via credit card. Registrations via purchase orders cannot be accepted by the University of Maryland.

–  PEARLL will confirm your institute registration upon receipt of full payment.

– All registrations are on a non-credit basis. A professional development certificate for 15 hours will be made available upon completion of all tasks at the end of each institute.

cancellation policy

If you must cancel:

If a participant chooses to cancel their confirmed registration or does not attend the institute, the following refunds will apply:

– The registered participant may invite another person to substitute their place in the institute in which they are registered at any time at no charge;

– If a cancellation request is received 3 or less days from the scheduled starting date, no refund will be offered; and

–  If a cancellation request is received 4 or more days from the scheduled starting date, a full refund will be offered.

If PEARLL must cancel:

If PEARLL has not received sufficient confirmed registrations 3 days in advance of a scheduled starting date, the institute may be canceled. In the unlikely event that the institute is canceled, PEARLL will notify all confirmed participants immediately, and all participants will receive a full refund.