Lunches during teacher workshop August 6th-9th

About the Instructors

Elissa McLean
Founder, Director, and Spanish Instructor

Elissa founded Express Fluency in 2012 to bring Comprehensible-Input based language classes to adults. Tired of hearing (almost) everyone say “I studied (fill in the blank) language in school for 4 years and I can’t speak a word now” – she decided to be part of a movement to change that. She holds a Masters degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and has taught Spanish to students from preschool to college and adults. Prior to teaching Spanish full-time she co-founded two innovative expedition-based high schools. She loves to travel, meet new people, hang out with her 12-year old daughter, and help bring more joy and multilingualism into the world.

Justin Slocum Bailey
Latin Instructor

Justin Slocum Bailey, a longtime learner and teacher of Latin and other languages, operates Indwelling Language, a collection of resources and habits for boosting joy and success in language learning and teaching. In addition to teaching languages rapturously, Justin trains and mentors teachers and learners worldwide while helping schools, publishers, software developers, and nonprofits make the world a better place for language learning. He also serves on the board and faculty of the North American Institute for Living Latin Studies (SALVI), coordinates the Latin Listening Project, and is the translator of TPRS® Publishing’s forthcoming Brando Brown Canem Vult. Justin grew up in Vienna, Austria, and now lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with his wife and two German-speaking children. When he’s not playing with languages, Justin enjoys studying and teaching jujutsu and lolling lakeside with his family.

Annabelle Allen
Spanish Instructor (elementary)

Annabelle Allen, a.k.a. La Maestra Loca, is a passionate Spanish teacher at St. Martin’s Episcopal School in New Orleans, Louisiana, where she has taught for two years. Annabelle loves teaching middle school but she has taught students ranging from 2-82 years old. She taught for a year in China in 2014-15 and before that taught for 4 years in public schools in Denver, Colorado, where she learned from a community of brilliant CI (Comprehensible-Input) teachers in the area. Since then she has developed her own unique style, which her students call “loca” or “crazy”. She enjoys helping students of ALL ages acquire the Spanish language. Her goal for her students, children and adults, is communication and joy. In her free time Annabelle enjoys traveling the world and blogging about her travels. She also loves eating! Anything and everything, even duck tongue and sheep brain! Her favorite thing in the world is spending time with her family, and picnicking with her boyfriend Paul and bonus-daughter Isla Rose who just turned three and LOVES all things magical like unicorns, fairies, and mermaids, just like La Maestra Loca.

Grant Boulanger
Spanish Instructor

Grant Boulanger is an innovative public educator living in St. Paul, MN. He is a 2017 ACTFL National Language Teacher of the Year Finalist and co-founder of the Comprehensible Midwest Conference. He holds a BA from Gustavus Adolphus College and an M.Ed. in Second Languages and Cultures Education from the University of Minnesota. He has taught in and directed innovative language acquisition programs since 1997. His joy is pioneering equitable, engaging and effective classrooms where EACH student belongs, acquires confidence and competence, and sees themselves as a natural language learner.

Tina Hargaden
French Instructor

Tina Hargaden is a middle school French and Spanish teacher in Portland Public Schools (Oregon).  She has taught middle school for twelve years, and she has enjoyed (almost!) every minute. She loves the creativity, community, and smiles that comprehension-based teaching brings to her classroom each day.  Tina has presented at several conferences and is organizing the Cascadia CI conference in June 2017. Recently Tina collaborated with Ben Slavic on a book called A Natural Approach to Stories – the Invisibles. She recently worked with Beniko Mason on The Bite-Size Book of Story Listening.  A video series to accompany the books is available online.  She is really excited about helping other teachers find the fun, ease, and happiness that comprehension-based teaching has brought her.  Tina has a firm belief that everyone can be successful with CI strategies, teachers and students alike.  Tina also enjoys riding her bike, yoga, theatre, drawing, reading, taking walks with her dog, Max, and listening to music.  

>Rebecca Lynch Nichols Spanish Instructor

Rebecca started teaching Spanish (and art) in Boston Public Schools in 1998 where she taught high school students with social-emotional disorders.  She then moved to Maine in 2005 where she taught middle school Spanish for almost ten years at Greely Middle School. While at Greely in 2007, she discovered the Comprehensible Input (CI) methodology and worked in a team of 5 teachers to develop the art of teaching with CI.  In October of 2013 she moved to Portland Public Schools and is now teaching at Casco Bay High School.  She is also the World Language Acquisition Specialist for Portland Public Schools and continues to support teachers as they learn to implement Comprehensible Input in their classrooms among many other programs and initiatives across the district.  
Rebecca is passionate about language learning and has lived in Costa Rica and Spain and has traveled extensively in Latin America including spending time in a rural village in Guatemala.  She enjoys bringing the culture of Latin America and Spain into her teaching through music and dance.  She holds a Master’s Degree in Spanish literature and language from Middlebury College.

Ben Wang Mandarin Instructor

Ben teaches Chinese using CI/TPRS strategies at Vermont Commons School in South Burlington, Vermont. He also ran a language-learning software company and taught the first Chinese courses offered at Saint Michael’s College and the Community College of Vermont. Ben has also brought students to China and hosted groups from China, performed translation and interpretation services, and studied, worked, and traveled in China and Taiwan, where he was born. Since moving to the U.S. at the age of ten he has always been fascinated by the nexus of American and Chinese world views. Ben led the transformation of the World Languages Department at Vermont Commons School to CI, and is excited to share its magic with teachers and students. Ben is also a seasoned wilderness guide and embarks on many adventures with his students and his family.