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December 2008 Calendar Archive

A list of local, state, and national professional development events of interest to adult & family literacy practitioners in Texas. If you know of other professional development opportunities or important dates of interest to Texas practitioners, please submit them to our Calendar Committee for consideration. For more information join one of our email discussion groups so you will always hear about the latest training opportunities. Click on "Discussion Lists" to read about these discussion lists and how to join.

December 2008

December 5, 2008: ESOL Workforce Academy (Session II of IV) will be held from 9 AM to 4 PM at Austin Community College-Highland Business Center, 5930 Middle Fiskville Road, Room 215, Austin. You must have attended Session I in its entirety in order to be eligible to attend Session II. Nationally known researchers Dr. Heide Wrigley and Jim Powrie will facilitate this academy where teachers learn how to use scenario-based strategies drawn from the workplace to improve their students’ ESL workforce communication skills. Participants will also receive materials that focus on communication and literacy skills for work that can be integrated with and supplement instruction in the conventional ESL classroom. This twenty-four (24) hour course is held over four Fridays. Future sessions will be held February 27, 2009; and April 17, 2009. Participants must attend all sessions! Registration for the ESOL Workforce Academy has closed.

December 5, 2008: Content Standards will be held from 8:30 am – 2:30 pm at Paris Junior College located at 2400 Clarksville Street in Paris, Texas. For more information, please contact Louisa Kessel at 903-782-0422 or lkessel@parisjc.edu.

December 5, 2008: BEST Plus for Non-Testers will be held from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm, at Houston Community College, 3100 Main St, Seminar B, Houston 77002. 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 98421, and section number CY 532. Coastal Registration form. For more information, please email CoastalCF@nhmccd.edu

December 6, 2008: BEST Plus for Non-Testers will be held from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm, at Houston Community College, 3100 Main St, Seminar B, Houston 77002. 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 98422, and section number CY 533. Coastal Registration form. For more information, please email CoastalCF@nhmccd.edu

December 6, 2008: ESOL Academy I: Techniques for Teaching Adult ESOL (Session II of IV) You must have attended Session I in its entirety in order to be eligible to attend Session II. Academy will be held from 9 AM to 4 PM at Austin Community College-Highland Business Center, 5930 Middle Fiskville Road, Austin 78751, room 103.2This twenty-four (24) hour course, held over four Saturdays - and led by Dr. Heide Wrigley - is for ESOL teachers who want to “beef up” their everyday teaching skills and for newer teachers of Adult ESOL. You will learn about and practice developing new strategies, activities, and lessons that will support your students’ learning. This workshop will let you increase your repertoire of skills and make it easier to make informed decisions about what to teach and why. After participation in the Academy and engagement with the ideas presented, you will know why some activities and approaches are more effective than others in fostering second language acquisition and promoting deeper learning. Future sessions will be February 28, 2009; and April 18, 2009. For information please contact Mario Mokarzel mm64@txstate.edu or 1-877-798-5522. Registration for the ESOL Academy I is currently full and closed.

December 06, 2008: Retention Strategies V - Planning to Succeed with Adult Learners will be held from 8:30-12:30 at Harris Middle School- Adult Ed Building, 325 Pruitt Ave, San Antonio, 78204. Additional session Information and 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

December 6, 2008: New Teacher Academy - Session 2: Training session will be from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and will take place at El Paso Community College - Valle Verde Campus (room to be announced at a later date). This is the second of four sessions (remaining sessions: 1/17, 3/7). Attendees must participate in all four sessions and the mentoring component to be eligible for the stipend. Please email farwestg@farwestgreat.org if you have any questions or call (915) 937-1725.

December 6, 2008: Away from Worksheets and Into an Active Classroom will be held from 8:30 am – 3:00 pm at Fort Worth Adult Ed Center located at 1066 West Magnolia in Fort Worth. For more information, please contact Sofia Zamarripa at 817-852-1000 Ext. 241 or sofia.zamarripa@fwisd.org.

December 6, 2008: Multi-Level ESL Professional Development Training will be held from 8:30 am – 3:00 pm at Fort Worth Adult Ed Center located at 1066 West Magnolia in Fort Worth. For more information, please contact Sofia Zamarripa at 817-852-1000 Ext. 241 or sofia.zamarripa@fwisd.org.

December 6, 2008: Teacher Retention Workshop will be held from 10 am – 11 am at the TexTESOL III Fall Conference, Wooldridge Hall, Nueces and 24th Street, Austin 78712. Mary Helen Martinez will facilitate. In this session, participants will discuss current methods of recruiting and retaining teachers as well as develop a plan of action. Retaining teachers is important to all adult literacy administrators as it can shape programs from being good to being great. As well as being cost effective, developing a teacher retention plan can improve student retention and student outcomes. Programs with consistent and sustained instruction can have a continuing impact in their local communities. For additional information contact Mary Helen Martinez mm42@txstate.edu or 1-877-798-5522. Special Note: You must be registered for TexTESOL III Fall Conference to attend. View the registration form for TexTESOL III [Adobe® Acrobat® Reader]

December 6, 2008: Student Retention for Adult Education will be held from 2 – 3 pm at theTexTESOL III Fall Conference, Wooldridge Hall, Nueces and 24th Street, Austin 78712. Denise Guckert will facilitate. In this session, we briefly review NCSALL-funded research on adult student persistence (National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy). Initial findings outline four supports to increase adult student persistence. Participants will use the four supports model to create a plan which addresses student persistence, motivation and retention in their own programs or classes. The target audience is adult ABE/ASE or ESL. For additional information contact Denise Guckert dg21@txstate.edu or 1-877-798-5522.Special Note: You must be registered for TexTESOL III Fall Conference to attend. View the registration form for TexTESOL III [Adobe® Acrobat® Reader]

December 11th & 12th, 2008: Bridges to Practice Learning Disabilities Training will be held Thursday, 8:00am - 5:00pm and Friday, 8:00am - 4:00pm at United Way of Metropolitan Dallas - CitiGroup Room - 5th Floor, 1800 North Lamar, Dallas, 75202. The training is a collaboration of TCALL, Literacy Texas, and Read, Write, Learn Adult Literacy Coalition (Dallas, Denton, Collin, Rockwall, Southern Denton Counties) is bringing the Bridges to Practice Learning Disabilities training to Dallas, Texas. This is an in-depth workshop that focuses on equipping adult education programs and their partners to meet the challenges of adults with learning disabilities. The training covers legal issues, assessment, teaching methods, and much more. Each participant will earn a certificate of completion for Bridges to Practice Learning Disabilities Training. There is no charge to participants. Attendance is mandatory for both days (no partial credit for partial attendance). Registration deadline is Friday, December 5, 2008. For questions and registration information, contact Amelia Gilley at ameliagilley@gmail.com or 903-714-164. *Free Parking located within the structure of the building on Corbin St. Call 214-978-0000 for location directions.

December 12-13, 2008: GED Academy: Building Integrating Technology into Content Areas- Session 2 - This session will focus on Connecting to Information and Background Knowledge. Training sessions will be from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Friday and from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. The training will take place at Socorro ISD - District Service Center at 12440 Rojas Dr. This is the second of three sessions (remaining session: 1/23-24). There is one follow up session scheduled for this academy: Feb. 20. Attendees must participate in all three sessions and the follow-up to be eligible for the stipend. Please email farwestg@farwestgreat.org if you have any questions or call (915) 937-1725.

December 12 & 13, 2008: ESOL Work-Based Literacy Academy (Sessions I &2) will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Room Seminar A at HCCS - 3100 Main Street, Houston 77002. Participants must plan to attend both sessions. Nationally known researchers Dr. Heide Wrigley and Jim Powrie will facilitate this academy where teachers learn how to use scenario-based strategies drawn from the workplace to improve their students' ESL workforce communication skills. Participants will also receive materials that focus on communication and literacy skills for work that can be integrated with and supplement instruction in the conventional ESL classroom. Teachers in the Coastal Region may apply for a stipend to participate in a Master Teacher project as part of the Academy. For information please contact Tina Washco at tina.washco@lonestar.edu, or 281-290-5259. Please use CABEA 6800134 to register for the Academy. Registration is closed.

December 13, 2008: Teaching Adults to Read will be held from 8:30 am – 11:30 am at Fort Worth Adult Ed Center located at 1066 West Magnolia in Fort Worth. For more information, please contact Sofia Zamarripa at 817-852-1000 Ext. 241 or sofia.zamarripa@fwisd.org.

December 13, 2008: Math for the GED will be held from 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm at Fort Worth Adult Ed Center located at 1066 West Magnolia in Fort Worth. For more information, please contact Sofia Zamarripa at 817-852-1000 Ext. 241 or sofia.zamarripa@fwisd.org.

December 13, 2008: Mastering Collaborative Teaching Strategies for ESL will be held from 8:30 am – 3:00 pm at Fort Worth Adult Ed Center located at 1066 West Magnolia in Fort Worth. For more information, please contact Sofia Zamarripa at 817-852-1000 Ext. 241 or sofia.zamarripa@fwisd.org.

December 13, 2008: ABE/ASE Academy (Session III of V) will be held virtually from 10 AM - 1 PM. Ms. Barbara Baird will facilitate. This academy began with an initial 2 day face-to-face session on November 7 & 8, 2008. The Academy provide ABE/ASE teachers with adult learning theory including brain-based instructional strategies and how to apply them in the classroom. Various classroom strategies are introduced covering reading, writing and math, and teachers have the opportunity to practice strategies in their classrooms between sessions. This session is the first of 3 virtual follow-up sessions. Two more virtual web-based sessions (3 hrs each) will follow on February 7, 2009, and April 18, 2009). Teachers who did not attend the initial 2-day workshop are still welcome to attend! Master Teachers must attend all sessions! For additional information contact Mary Helen Martinez mm42@txstate.edu or 1-877-798-5522, Apply to attend this academy [Microsoft® Word]

December 17, 2008: TABE Teaching will be held from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. at the Adult Continuing Education, I625 Price Road, Brownsville 78521. The instructor will be Irene Ramos. South Registration Form.