1-day AIM Specialty Sessions
Date: July 17, 2026
Prerequisite: Teachers must have attended at minimum one Beginner AIM Training (live online or in-person) to attend these sessions.
Each session will be 70 minutes long. You will receive a link to each of the 5 live sessions and can attend whichever ones you like. Since some of these sessions will overlap, you will receive recordings of the sessions to view at your leisure for 90 days!
Cost: $250.00 per teacher for all 5 courses
Virtual Summer Institute participants can bundle this product with any 2-Day Training Session for $639.00 (Reg. $679.00)
To do so, you must order your bundle at one of the links below:
Level 1 - 2 Day Training - Core French
Level 1 - 2 Day Training - French Immersion
Level 1 - 2 Day Training - Spanish
Level 2 - 2 Day Training - Core French
Level 2 - 2 Day Training - French Immersion
PLENARY 8:00 am-8:10 am PST / 11:00 am-11:10am EST
1. Hands-on Basic Gesture Practice -8:10am-9:10am PST / 11:10am-12:10pm EST with Wendy Maxwell, Creator of the AIM
In this 70-minute interactive session, we will:
- review important high-frequency gestures, practise teacher-led self-expression, and how to vary your gesture reviews,
- demonstrate how to conduct an 'Opposites Review' and some targeted work with gestures relating to grammar.
- Wendy will also take requests based on the needs/interests of the group!
2. AIM and the CEFR - 9:20am-10:20am PST / 12:20am-1:20pm EST with Wendy Maxwell, Creator of the AIM
In this 70-minute session we will:
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Review what the CEFR represents and how it has impacted language instruction
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Show how AIM offers solutions so that teachers deliver a program aligned with the CEFR
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View videos the demonstrate how AIM Activities support the CEFR
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Engage in a few AIM activities
3a. Classroom Routines/Management Part 1 - 10:30am-11:30am PST / 1:30pm-2:30pm EST with Pauline Galea
In this 70-minute session, we will focus on:
- reviewing the AIM strategies and techniques designed to support your classroom management
- introducing new strategies developed that have worked effectively such as 'le prof du jour'
- sharing with each other additional systems and strategies that have been effective
3b. Classroom Routines/Management Part 2 - 11:30am-12:40pm PST / 2:30pm-3:40pm EST with Pauline Galea
- Continuation of Classroom Routines/Management Part 1
4. Higher Order Thinking and AIM - 11:40am - 12:40pm PST / 2:40pm-3:40pm EST with Beth Hill
In this 70-minute session, we will
- explore the importance of critical thinking in Second Language classes and delve into how easy it is to ensure that your students are thinking critically with AIM kits.
- define critical thinking and the 3 question types
- work with partners to create critical questions related to the play you are working on
- discuss criteria vs requirements
- discuss critical challenges and how they fit in AIM plays
- create and examine critical challenges
5. How to Write AIM Raps - 12:50pm-1:50pm PST / 3:50pm-4:50pm EST with Richard Smith, Certified AIM teacher/facilitator
In this 70-minute session, we will:
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review the role that rhythm and rhyme play in AIM
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brainstorm rhyming words from the PDL
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work hands-on through the process of creating a rap. You will take some with you at the end of the workshop that you may use with your students!
Classroom Management Strategies - with Pauline Galea, AIM certified Teacher/Mentor, host of Parlez avec Pauline
Prerequisite: For teachers of Core French/FSL or Immersion students (Grades 2 and up) who have taken Level 1 Beginner AIM Training.
In this 70-minute session, we will:
- Review the AIM strategies/techniques designed to support classroom management
- Learn new strategies developed that have worked effectively such as ‘le prof du jour’
- Share with each other additional systems and strategies that have been effective
Being Creative with Les mots qui vont ensemble and Les phrases bizarres! - with Isabelle Racine, AIM teacher
In this session, you will:
- Discover a fun, low-prep vocabulary activity—“Bizarre ou pas?”—that boosts student engagement through prediction, visualization, and critical thinking.
- Learn how to use short 4-minute videos to reinforce specific AIM vocabulary through word association and sentence analysis.
- Leave with ready-to-use ideas for integrating “Les mots qui vont ensemble” into your classroom, including an end-of-year project to showcase student learning to parents.
Teaching reading to Beginner French students with Les sons readers series - with Pauline Galea, AIM certified Teacher/Mentor, host of Parlez avec Pauline
- Experience Pauline’s new readers series ‘Les sons’ with a focus on the Science of Reading
- Provide hands-on practice to show how to effectively use AIM strategies such as des questions totales et partielles and
- Provide hands-on practice with activities such Qu’est-ce que tu vois dans l’image ? and Décris l’image to develop oral language skills in short, simple activities
Richard - Classroom organization/management deskless classroom
Fun Oral Vocabulary-building Activities - with Wendy Maxwell, Creator of the AIM
In this session, you will:
- understand how AIM effectively builds students' vocabulary from one Kit to the next in a spiralling manner
- gain hands-on experience with AIM's most popular vocabulary-building activities
- view video samples of classes and individual students engaging in these activities!
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Refund Policy:
Up to 2 weeks prior 90% refunded.
No refunds two weeks prior to Summer Institute.
