Meet Your NILA Board: Past President Alicia Dallman Shoemaker

Alicia Dallman Shoemaker, Past President
Spanish Educator at Elkhorn Public Schools
President, Malaika Foundation
adallmanshoemaker@epsne.org

Alicia speaks…
French, Spanish, Japanese.

How do you maintain your proficiency in the language?
Practicing with friends and family in person or via technology is by far my preferred method of maintaining and enhancing proficiency levels. As often as possible, I also creatively seek opportunities and slices of time to practice the various modes.

If you were involved in the standards revision, please share what you feel is a strength within the new standards.
The fourth and fifth standards bring an entirely new dimension to the standards this year. However, I also feel that all standards were elevated to match increasing demands and opportunities for students.

What would you recommend to educators to build their pedagogy and practice?
Work to find time to build your network within NILA and other language-centered communities; we are together as one in our efforts to improve our skillsets and offerings.