April 2008 Calendar Archive

April 2-5, 2008: TESOL 2008 Convention in New York, NY will be on the theme, Worlds of TESOL: Building Communities of Practice, Inquiry, Creativity. The TESOL annual convention offers English language teaching professionals from around the globe the premier opportunity for professional development in the field. Participants exchange ideas and practices, keep abreast of current trends in the field, foster their professional networks, receive mentoring on research projects, review the latest books and professional resources, and learn about advocacy efforts in their community and around the world. For more information, go to the TESOL 2008 Convention web page. 

April 4-5, 2008: GED Academy: Writing - - Session 1: The Struggling Writer: Moving from Sentences to Paragraphs. This first session will focus on strategies that teachers can use to help students: use the conventions of Edited American English; understand the basic elements of writing an effective sentence; and write an effective sentence and paragraph using the conventions of Edited American English. This session will be held on Friday from 4:30 pm -7:30 pm and on Saturday from 8:30 am - 3:30 pm at the Socorro Community Learning Center on 313 S. Rio Vista Rd., El Paso. This is the first of three workshops (remaining sessions April 25-26 and May 16-17). Participation in all three sessions and a follow up activity is required in order to qualify for the available stipend. Follow up activity is scheduled for Friday, May 23, 2008. Limited to 15 participants. Please email farwestg@farwestgreat.org if you have any questions or call (915) 937-1725. Register Online now!

April 5, 2008: BEST Plus Training will be held from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (6 hour training with one hour for lunch) at Midland College 3600 N. Garfield, Midland. Trainer is Bobby Jackson. Please contact Lynda Webb for further information 432-685-4566 or lwebb@midland.edu. You must register to attend. West Registration Form.

April 5, 2008: BEST Plus Administrators’ Training will be held from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM at Austin Community College - Highland Business Center, 5930 Middle Fiskville Road, Austin, 78752. Room 411. Lunch on your own. Vending machines with beverages and snacks are on site. Participants will receive BEST Plus Test Administrator certification at the end of session. For information on directions or other logistics, contact Mario Mokarzel mm64@txstate.edu or 1-877-798-5522. Participation is limited to 15 for this workshop, first come first serve, so please register to attend:   Central registration form.

April 5, 2008: BEST Plus will be held at Yvonne Ewell Townview Center—Rm 289, 1201 E. 8th St, Dallas from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Participants who successfully complete this certification process will be able to give both the computer adapted and print based version of this new oral proficiency test. This test was developed by the Center for Applied Linguistics. It is an individually administered face-to-face scripted oral interview designed to assess the English language Proficiency of adult English language learners. This test can be used for program placement, progress, program evaluation and diagnosis. BEST Plus scores can be converted to SPL descriptors that align with NRS Functioning Level Descriptors. For more information contact Dorris Baker (972) 794-7361.

April 8-10, 2008: Parents Make the Difference professional development event will be conducted in San Marcos for Central, South Central, and South Region Even Start projects, by Texas Family Literacy Resource Center. All Even Start projects in those regions will be emailed once the dates are definite and arrangements are finalized. For more information, email Dr. Deborah Stedman at ds43@txstate.edu or call toll-free at 1-877-245-9605. NOTE: Parents Make the Difference sessions for West and Far West regions were held in November 2007 at the El Paso Adult Literacy and Learning Conference.

April 11-12, 2008: EL Civics Academy II: Living in the US – From Civics to Citizenship, Session 3. This Academy shows teachers how to use PowerPoint ® lessons to teach basic content related to U. S. culture, American democratic values, as well as U. S. History and Government. This session will be held on Friday from 4:30 pm -7:30 pm and on Saturday from 8:30 am - 3:30 pm at the Socorro Community Learning Center on 313 S. Rio Vista Rd., El Paso. This is the last of three workshops (remaining follow up session May 9). Please email farwestg@farwestgreat.org if you have any questions or call (915) 937-1725.

April 12, 2008: BEST Plus Training for Non-Testers will be held from 9:00 a.m. to Noon, at Harris County Department of Education, Irvington Learning Center, 626 Lindale, Houston 77022. Presenter is Judy Bowman. This training is intended for teachers, administrators and other adult education staff involved with but not actually administering BEST Plus. The training will explore objectives, content areas and question types of the BEST Plus oral interview. Participants will experience scoring and appropriate test administration procedures. Test taking techniques will also be discussed. Please use these numbers to register: CABEA 6800129, registration number 76260, and section number CY 418. Coastal Registration form. For more information, please email CoastalCF@lonestar.edu

April 12, 2008: TABE 9 & 10 will be held from 9:00 a.m. to Noon, at Harris County Department of Education, Irvington Learning Center, 626 Lindale, Houston 77022. Presenter is Bill Medina. This training will provide the CTB/McGraw-Hill certification requirements on the best practices of administering, scoring, and interpreting the TABE 9/10. Each participant will receive a copy of the official TABE 9/10 training workbook. Please use these numbers to register: CABEA 6800036, registration number 75816, and section number CY 411. Coastal Registration form. For more information, please email CoastalCF@lonestar.edu

April 12, 2008: BEST Plus Refresher will be held from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Harris County Department of Education, Irvington Learning Center, 626 Lindale, Houston 77022. Presenter is Judy Bowman. This training is designed for additional practice before the BEST Plus Toolkit Calibration training or as corrective training for remediation following unsuccessful completion of the BEST Plus Toolkit training. CAL certified test administrators will review objectives, content areas and question types of the BEST Plus oral interview, review the scoring rubric, review appropriate test administration procedures, and practice scoring the test. NOTE: Participants are required to have a TAG manual. No one will be allowed to attend the session without a TAG manual. Please use these numbers to register: CABEA 6800110, registration number 76258, and section number CY 417. Coastal Registration form. For more information, please email CoastalCF@lonestar.edu

April 12, 2008: Texas Adult Education Content Standards Training will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., at Harris County Department of Education, Irvington Learning Center, 626 Lindale, Houston 77022. Presenter is: Melanie Mayeaux. This training course is for anyone interested in learning more about the Texas Adult Education Content Standards and Benchmarks (TAESB). The main objectives of the training are to familiarize the audience with the TAESB and to develop lesson plans using the standards and benchmarks. Audience members do not need to have previous knowledge of the TAESB, however, they do need to familiar with adult education programs and practices in Texas. Target audience members would include full-time and part-time adult education teachers ( ABE/ASE, ESL), and adult education program administrators. Please use these numbers to register: CABEA 6800139, registration number 75932, and section number CY 410. Registration is closed.

April 12, 2008: Texas Adult Education Content Standards Training will be held at NISD Learning Center, San Antonio from 8:30 am- 3:30 pm. Registration is available through iLearning. If you encounter difficulties registering on line, please contact Central Registration by e-mail registration@esc20.net or by calling (210) 370-5671 or 370-5247.

April 12, 2008: DL 101—Implementation will be held at Region 9 ESC, 301 Loop 11, Wichita Falls, 76306 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. This workshop will explain the role of the distance learning final assignment and familiarize participants with on online resources (i.e., listserves, newsletters, courses and websites). For more information contact Dorris A. Baker (972) 794-7361.

April 15, 2008: Early Childhood Education: Good Start, Grow Smart. This free broadcast from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. Central Time is part of the U.S. Department of Education “Education News Parents Can Use” television series about ways to ensure children's educational success. Satellite coordinates for each broadcast are provided free of charge to all broadcast stations and outlets but requires pre-registration for the 2007-2008 season at http://registerevent.ed.gov.

April 17, 2008: Coastal GREAT Advisory Committee Meeting will be held from 1:00 to 3:00 pm at Fairbanks Center, 14955 Northwest Freeway, Room 214, Houston, 77040. For more information, please contact Tina Washco at (281) 290-5259 or tina.washco@lonestar.edu

April 18, 2008: Content Standards will be held at Grayson Co Community College, 6101 Grayson Dr., Denison 75020 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Participants will be provided with the tools to effectively implement the content standards. All participants will receive the Texas Adult Education Content Standards and Benchmards for ABE/ASE and ESL Learners Implementation Guide. For more information contact Dorris A. Baker (972) 749-2506 or Donna Byrum (903) 463-8745.

April 18-19, 2008: Bridges to Practice Learning Disabilities Training will be provided in Fort Worth as a collaboration of TCALL, Literacy Texas, and United Way of Tarrant County. Participants will earn a certificate of completion only if they attend both days -- 8:00 to 5:00 on Friday and 8:00 to 4:00 on Saturday. (No partial credit for partial attendance.) This in-depth workshop equips adult education programs to meet the challenges of adult students with learning disabilities, including legal issues, assessment, teaching methods and much more. There is no charge to participants, but you must submit the registration form by April 1. Location is United Way of Tarrant County, 1500 N. Main in Fort Worth. Trainers are Amelia Gilley, Cheryl Parker, and Joshua Hayes. For more information including hotel recommendations, contact Amelia Gilley by email ameliagilley@gmail.com or phone 903-714-1641. [Registration form is a Microsoft® Word document.]

April 18, 2008: Geometry and Measurement will be held from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Houston Community College, 3100 Main Street, Seminar B, Houston 77002 . Presenter is Denise Johnson. Geometry and Measurement is designed to provide teachers with creative teaching techniques for units of measurement in different systems to assess the characteristics of lines and geometric figures. The training will include a review on how to convert from metric and customary measures; interpret lines and graphs (e.g., coordinates, perpendicular, parallel, intersections, slope); analyze geometric figures (e.g., angles, congruence, Pythagorean Theorem); and solve problems (e.g., length, perimeter, area, surface area, volume, weight). Please use these numbers to register: CABEA 600159, registration number 77528, and section number CY 420. Coastal Registration form. For more information, please email CoastalCF@lonestar.edu

April 19, 2008: Algebra, Functions, and Patterns/CABEA 6800157 will be held from 9 a.m. to Noon at Houston Community College, 3100 Main Street, Seminar C, Houston 77002. Presenter is Denise Johnson. Algebra, Functions, and Patterns is designed to provide teachers with creative teaching techniques so that they can create and solve algebraic expressions and explain patterns and functional relationships presented in textual, graphical and other forms. The training will include a review on how to create algebraic expressions and equations to model and solve problems; use variables and equations to represent data provided in tables, graphs, and word problems; analyze tables and graphs to generalize patterns and relationships; and understand functional relationships and solve linear, quadratic, and exponential functions. Please use these numbers to register: CABEA 6800157, registration number 77529, and section number CY 421. Coastal Registration form. For more information, please email CoastalCF@lonestar.edu

April 19, 2008: Texas Adult Education Content Standards Training will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., at College of the Mainland, 1200 Amburn Road, Learning Resource Center Room 279, Texas City. Presenter is Cynthia McConnell. This training course is for anyone interested in learning more about the Texas Adult Education Content Standards and Benchmarks (TAESB). The main objectives of the training are to familiarize the audience with the TAESB and to develop lesson plans using the standards and benchmarks. Audience members do not need to have previous knowledge of the TAESB, however, they do need to familiar with adult education programs and practices in Texas. Target audience members would include full-time and part-time adult education teachers (ABE/ASE and ESL), and adult education program administrators. Please use these numbers to register: CABEA 6800139, registration number 77533, and section number CY 423. Coastal Registration form. For more information, please email CoastalCF@lonestar.edu

April 19, 2008: Multi-Level ESL Training will be held from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm (6 hr. training with one hr. for lunch) at the Abilene Adult Education, 1929 South 11th Street, Abilene, Texas. Trainer is Harriet Hubacker. Please contact Merri Lynn Rideout for further information (325) 671-4419 or merri.rideout@abileneisd.org. You must register to attend. West Registration Form.

April 19, 2008: BEST Plus Training will be held from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm (6 hr. training with one hr. for lunch) at Odessa College – Annex C, Odessa, Texas 79764. Trainer is Bobby Jackson. Please contact David Heath for further information 432-335-6384 or 432-335-6380 or dheath@odessa.edu. You must register to attend. West Registration Form.

April 19, 2008: Texas Content Standards Training will be held from 9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at American Youthworks, 1901 E. Ben White, Austin 78741. This training will provide an overview of Texas Adult Education Standards Project (TAESP) and how to integrate into lesson plans. Participants will be given an implementation guide that includes benchmarks for ABE/ASE and ESL Learners. Mary Helen Martinez, Trainer. For information contact Mario Mokarzel mm64@txstate.edu or 1-877-798-5522.   Central registration form.

April 19, 2008: Follow-Up Math GED Training will be held from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm (6 hr. training with one hr. for lunch) at the Abilene Adult Education Center, Abilene. Trainer is Krista Young. Please contact Merri Lynn Rideout for further information 325-671-4419 or merri.rideout@abileneisd.org. You must register to attend. West Registration Form.

April 19, 2008: Texas Adult Education Content Standards Training will be held at Education Service Center Region 20, San Antonio, from 8:30 am- 3:30 pm. Registration is available through iLearning. If you encounter difficulties registering on line, please contact Central Registration by e-mail registration@esc20.net or by calling (210) 370-5671 or 370-5247.

April 21-23, 2008: A Workforce Literacy Summit: Integrated Workforce Literacy in the 21st Century will be held at the Hyatt Hotel Riverwalk, San Antonio. The focus of the summit will be Best Practices in VESL Models of interest to community college workforce training, continuing education, adult literacy providers, adult literacy centers, workforce centers and one-stops. See the conference website here and register using this form by April 4. The conference is hosted by Alamo Community Colleges. For more information, please contact Belkiss Rodriguez at 210-587-4426 or by email bbradford-rodrig@mail.accd.edu.

April 23, 2008: DL 101—Implementation will be held at Student Support Services, Rm 809, 2909 N. Buckner, Dallas 75228 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.. This workshop will explain the role of the distance learning final assignment and familiarize participants with on online resources (i.e., listserves, newsletters, courses and websites). For more information contact Dorris A. Baker (972) 794-7361.

April 23-25, 2008: Parents Make the Difference professional development event will be conducted in Dallas by Texas Family Literacy Resource Center. This is the last opportunity for Even Start projects to participate in this professional development initiative. For more information, email Dr. Deborah Stedman at ds43@txstate.edu or call toll-free at 1-877-245-9605.

April 23-25, 2008: Parents Make the Difference will be held at School Support Center, Rm 805, 2909 N. Buckner, Dallas from :00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Parents Day 1 focuses on a prenting curriculum that provides a framework for positve everyday interactions that support the language development, social development and literacy development of very young children with a focus on ages birth to three in low income, vulnerable families who may have limited literacy and English skills.

Day 2 involves participants in inexpensive but powerful activities for parent-child interactions that support language, social and literacy development throughout early childhood and that can also be used by parents at home and during the Even Start ILA component.

Day 3. Hold onto your socks whiles we explore a strategy that can accelerate language development for children agen 18 months to three years and can be used by virtually any parent or caregiver!! The Parents Make the Difference culminating activity will show participants how to develop Personal Pictures Books at their sites so that parents can develop them for their own children. For more information contact Dorris Baker or the Texas Family Literacy Resource Center.

April 25, 2008: Goal Setting and Guidance Counseling workshop will be held from 8:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. at Southwest Texas Junior College, 2401 Garner Field Road, Uvalde, 78801.  The instructor is Guadalupe Ruvacalba. South Registration Form.

April 25, 2008: Strategies to Combating Absenteeism workshop will be held from 12:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. at Southwest Texas Junior College, 2401 Garner Field Road, Uvalde, 78801.  The instructor is Guadalupe Ruvacalba. South Registration Form.

April 25, 2008: Teacher on Task  workshop will be held from 8:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. at Southwest Texas Junior College, 2401 Garner Field Road, Uvalde, 78801.  The instructor is Tiffany Johnson. South Registration Form.

April 25, 2008: Student Evaluation to Improve Instruction workshop will be held from 12:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. at Southwest Texas Junior College, 2401 Garner Field Road, Uvalde, 78801.  The instructor is Tiffany Johnson. South Registration Form.

April 25, 2008: Oxford University Press will sponsor two workshops presented by author Jayme Adelson-Goldstein at Houston Community College, 3100 Main Street, Auditorium.   Lunch will be provided and free books will be given to teachers. Please use the special registration forms below to register for these two trainings.

April 25-26, 2008: GED Academy: Writing - - Session 2: The Struggling Writer: Writing for Real-Life. This second session will focus on strategies that teachers can use to help students: use the basic rules of grammar; construct simple and compound sentences; write a well-constructed paragraph with a main idea and supporting details about a familiar topic or situation they encounter in real life; and use writing for communication through a variety of formats including letters, emails, reports, directions, etc. This session will be held on Friday from 4:30 pm -7:30 pm and on Saturday from 8:30 am - 3:30 pm at the Socorro Community Learning Center on 313 S. Rio Vista Rd., El Paso. This is the second of three workshops (remaining session May 16-17 and follow up on May 23). Please email farwestg@farwestgreat.org if you have any questions or call (915) 937-1725.

April 26, 2008: Reading Strategies workshop will be held from 5:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. at Laredo Community College, West End Washington Street, Laredo, 78040.  The instructor is Dr Steifer. South Registration Form.

April 26, 2008: Math GED Training will be held from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm (6 hr. training with one hr. for lunch) at Odessa College –ABE-Annex B, Odessa, TX 79764. Trainer is Susan Pittman. Please contact Laura Hermosillo for further information 432-335-6385 or lhermosillo@odessa.edu. You must register to attend. West Registration Form.

April 26, 2008: Speaking English with an American Accent – Introduction to Accent Reduction for ESL Teachers: The objectives of this presentation are (1) to help instructors become more aware of the “rules” of American English pronunciation and (2) to provide effective strategies which instructors can immediately apply to assist their students. This presentation will provide an overview of the techniques of accent reduction with special emphasis on pronouncing the vowels and consonants of American English. Handouts will be provided. This workshop will be held from 9 am to 12 noon at Austin Community College-Highland Business Center, 5930 Middle Fiskville Road, Room # 411, Austin. Facilitated by Suzanne Krause. For information please contact Mario Mokarzel, mm64@txstate.edu or 1-877-798-5522.   Central registration form.

April 26, 2008: DL101: Implementing Distance Learning for Adult Education in Texas will be held from 9:00 a.m. to Noon, at University of Houston, Cougar Den. Presenter is John Stevenson. This training is intended for teachers who have prior approval of their Program Director or Coordinator to use Distance Education as part of their curriculum. If you are interested in attending, please request approval before registering with the Coastal Region GREAT Center. Distance education is now an option for adult education and family literacy programs in Texas. Teachers who wish to use this approach are required to participate in Distance Learning 101: Teaching Adult Learners at a Distance (DL 101). This course is itself a distance course and is designed to help teachers and administrators develop a distance education plan for an approved curriculum for their program.This first session of the course is a mandatory face-to-face orientation. Important topics include:

• Distance education policy in Texas
• Characteristics and requirements of a distance education teacher
• Approved distance learning curricula
• Selection processes for student who will participate in distance education
• Accessibility to materials and technology
• The role the teachers plays in a distance education program,
• Student assessment and reporting requirements
• Components of a distance education plan
• A course overview of DL 101
• An orientation of the Community Zero website

Please use these numbers to register: CABEA 6800158, registration number 77531 and section number CY 422. Coastal Registration form. For more information, please email CoastalCF@lonestar.edu

April 28 - May 1, 2008: Commission on Adult Basic Education National Conference (COABE) 2008 will be held in St. Louis, MO at the Adam's Mark St. Louis Hotel. Preconference sessions are March 26; main conference events are March 27-28. For information as plans are made, watch the COABE website.

April 29, 2008: TETN on Even Start 2008-2009 Grant Application will be held from 9:00 a.m. to noon Central Time on the Texas Educational Telecommunication Network. To attend at your nearest Regional Education Service Center, contact the Service Center’s TETN Coordinator to reserve a spot to view TETN Event #30549.