Ā”Excelente! ā MSUās Moser wins regional award for world language teaching
Contact: Sasha Steinberg
STARKVILLE, Miss.āThe Southern Conference on Language Teaching is honoring Mississippi State Assistant Professor of Spanish and Pedagogy Kelly M. Moser with its 2020 Educator of Excellence Award.
Moser, who joined the universityās Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures in 2018, is a former high school Spanish teacher and coordinator of MSUās world language education program. She said she consistently strives to improve her practice, collaborate with world language educators across the globe, and advocate for quality programs for all learners.
āAs co-coordinator of the basic language program at Mississippi State and trainer of our departmentās graduate teaching assistants, I work daily to affect the practice of those at theĀ university and educators in the community,ā she said. āI am honored to be considered for such anĀ esteemed award and to be recognized by wonderful Mississippi teachers who continueĀ to make me proud to be from our state.ā
The SCOLT is a professional organization, serving 13 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with a mission to promote universal world language education supported by the community, valued by political and business leaders, encouraged by parents and peers, and taught by exemplary instructors. For more, visit .
SCOLTās Educator of Excellence Award recognizes educators at the community college, college and university levels who have demonstrated excellence in language teaching, active organization participation, and leadership and advocacy at the local, state and/or regional or national level.
The SCOLT was unable to hold its annual conference in Mobile, Alabama, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the organizationās Board of Directors nevertheless recognized Moser for her prestigious accomplishments.
Moserās selection as this yearās recipient was based on her teaching portfolio and letters of recommendation.
One of her nominators said she observed the assistant professorās pedagogy through her Spanish courses.
āHer teaching absolutely epitomizes all of the teaching techniques that I encourage my pre-service Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages teachers to use: modeling, scaffolding, authentic materials, authentic tasks, and the four modalities of language,ā a nominator said. āFurthermore, I estimate that she and her students use Spanish at least 90-95% of the class time. I genuinely wish that the foreign language classes that I took as a student had been even half as communicative as Dr. Moserās classes!ā
Another nominator praised Moserās dedication āto making a difference for language teachers and future language teachers in our state.ā
Moser holds multiple language-focused academic degrees. She earned a 2001 bachelorās in Spanish, a 2003 masterās in Spanish literature and 2007 masterās in world language education, allĀ from the University of Tennessee. She also is a 2011 Ph.D. graduate of MSUās Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Special Education, having concentrated in curriculum and instruction with a foreign language minor.
Among other honors, Moser has received a three-year, $850,000 U.S. Department of Education grant as co-principal investigator for an āEducating Migrant Children in Mississippiā proposal.
Learn more about MSUās College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures at and .
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