• Action Learning Project Goal(s)
• Methodology
• Outcomes and results
• Resources
• Reflections on accomplishments, challenges, and the impact of the Action Learning Projects on learners and their own professional practice as teachers.

Presenters: Susan Pittman & Bonnie Vondracek
Contact Hours: 3
Audience: ESL Teachers

Activity Overview:

Matching teaching styles to the learning styles of students makes it easier to engage the sometimes reluctant student in the learning process. This workshop will provide adult education teachers with strategies and techniques they can use to better engage their students in the classroom. This session will provide information on both learning styles and multiple intelligence theory and how to incorporate both into the classroom.

Objectives:

In this workshop, teachers will learn how to

• Identify types of learning styles of students.
• Identify one’s personal learning and teaching styles.
• Describe characteristics of learners when given a particular learning style.
• Discuss the importance of matching teaching styles with learning styles.
• Understand the basic theory of multiple intelligences and how to adapt instruction to match student intelligences
• Identify different teaching strategies that are appropriate for a diverse classroom.
• Apply different types of learning styles to different curricular lessons.

Reference Resources:

How Do I Learn Best? The VARK Questionnaire

A Learning Style Survey for College, Diablo Valley College

The Success Types Learning Styles Indicator, Texas Tech University (PDF document-download Adobe Acrobat to view.)

Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire, North Carolina State University

Multiple Intelligences Teacher Inventory

Capitalizing on Your Best Learning Style, Career and Counseling Services

Make Your Learning Style Work for You – LD Pride

Concept to Classroom: Thirteen Ed Online in collaboration with Disney Learning Partnership (Short interactive Multiple Intelligences Survey with results)

Multiple Intelligences Theory and English Language Teaching. Lin, Po-Ying, Department of English, NCCU

Eight Ways of Being Smart

Pronunciation with an Eye on Multiple Intelligences, WATESOL Convention, Fall 2001

Using Multiple Intelligences in Testing and Assessment

Gross, R., Peak Learning (pp. 98 and 99), Putnam, 1991.

Each participant will receive a Learning Styles Activity Guide. The guide will include a list of all references and resources used in developing this workshop. In addition to research and reference materials, the guide includes websites that teachers may use with their students.

Instructional Activities:

Individual and small group activities will be interspersed throughout the workshop. Teachers will have an opportunity to practice a variety of activities designed to address various learning styles as well as multiple intelligences so they in turn will be comfortable using them with their students.

Activities completed during the workshop will be taken from the Learning Styles Activity Guide provided to each participant.

Presenter: Glenn Young
Contact Hours: 3
Audience: Teachers of ABE, GED, ESL

Activity Overview:

This session will provide attendees with a background in the area of leaning disabilities as it pertains to older youth and adults. The material will cover the research concerning what is happening to persons with LD in other settings such as adult education, vocational training and employment. The primary focus of the training is to show the limited success of the existing approaches to meet the needs of persons with LD, and to offer alternative means of meeting needs.

Objectives:

The participants will gain knowledge concerning the most current and valid research on issues associated with learning disabilities in adult settings, with a primary focus on the actual rates of persons with LD and how so few are actually identified and classified as having LD. This failure to identify leads to systems often approaching LD with incorrect approaches.

The session will attempt to disprove the extensive myths about learning disabilities, to help the participants to recognize the rates of LD among poor populations, people of color and immigrants and among females, and how these factors should influence intervention models.

Reference Resources:

Much of the information provided is based on the “Bridges to Practice” manual developed by the National Institute for Literacy (www.nifl.gov)

Other resources on learning disabilities and adults can be found at the web site of the National Association of Workforce Boards (www.nawb.org)

In addition, there is extensive information on disabilities at the web sites of the National Centers on Work and Disabilities.

In additional other resources can be found at the Job Accommodation Network and at the US Department of Education Office of Vocational and Adult Education http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/index.html?exp=0

Instructional Activities:

The primary presentation will be lecture format.

All participants will be divided into teams at the beginning of the session, and provided with case studies. During the session, the teams will have opportunities to discuss the information provided in the lecture and the case study. The teams will be asked to develop a “work plan” for the individual, and discuss their projected plan with the other teams.

Presenter: James Powrie
Contact Hours: 12 hours
Audience: ESL teachers and administrators

Activity Overview:

The course will introduce ESL teachers to the use of digital cameras and video camcorders as tools for the preparation of teaching materials and for use by students in projects. The activities will be set in the context of contemporary learning theory but will focus on hands-on skill development. It will include basic techniques in camera operations and an introduction to editing skills using Photoshop Elements and video using Premier Elements.

Objectives:

The participants will gain an overall understanding of how photo and video technologies can enhance their instruction and student learning. They will learn the basics of how to use digital cameras (still and video) and associated software so that they can use these tools immediately in their classrooms. After the introduction, teachers will be expected to continue learning on their own.

Reference Resources:

Hester, N. (2005) Retouching Photos in Photoshop Elements. Peachpit Press.

Ozer, J . (2005). Making a Movie in Premiere Elements: Visual QuickProject Guide. Peachpit Press.

The books each take a task-based approach to teaching the potentially complex software. They are well illustrated with color images and are designed for the true novice. After an initial introduction, these books should provide an accessible guide for further exploration of the software.

Instructional Activities:

The first workshop will begin with a discussion about how the teachers would like to use the digital photo and video tools and will determine how much the teachers already know about the subject. This will lead into a broader discussion of the role that technology has played in other classrooms with examples illustrated by a PowerPoint presentation and videos created by students. Connections will be made to contemporary learning theory and how the proper use of technology can enhance engagement and learning. Cautionary information will also be presented to illustrate how inappropriate use of technology can be costly and ineffective. The introduction and discussion will last no longer than one hour. This will be followed by a short demonstration of the use of the digital still cameras, a basic discussion of what to consider in taking a picture, then a short project assignment that the teachers will do. The teachers will then upload their pictures to a computer, edit the pictures in Photoshop Elements, and produce a basic slide show.

The second workshop will focus on using a digital video camera and editing the video using Premier Elements. After an introduction to the use of video cameras, tripods, lights, and microphones, the teachers will be broken into groups and asked to film a project. The workshop leader will then demonstrate how to upload video to a computer and then use Premier Elements to edit a basic video.

The first two workshops will be provided sequentially over two days. The third workshop will occur over a month later. This session will be used to answer any questions that teachers have after working with the cameras and software and will also focus on more advanced Photoshop and Premier techniques. The teachers will put together a more complex project using both Photoshop and Premier.

Presenters: Susan Pittman & Bonnie Vondracek
Contact Hours: 3
Audience: ESL Teachers

Activity Overview:

Today, adult educators work with younger and more diverse student populations. With these diverse student populations come some unique problems that can impact student achievement and the classroom environment. This workshop will provide teachers with behavior management techniques that can help de-escalate problems and help resolve conflicts in the classroom. This session will provide information on verbal techniques as well as how to use appropriate body language to help students refocus on the work at hand and decrease tense situations in the classroom.

Objectives :

Teachers in this workshop will:

• Identify who adult education students are through dispelling myths and meeting personal needs.
• Identify effective classrooms and discuss classroom management rather than dictatorship.
• Define problematic behavior in the classroom and personal responses.
• Define the Seven Steps of Escalation in behavior and apply strategies for each step.
• Engage in appropriate body language and verbal judo when dealing with behavior management issues.
• Identify instructional management strategies that work to retain students and ensure a more peaceful learning environment.

Reference Resources:

Dr. Mac's AMAZING Behavior Management Advice Site - This fun site offers a primer for new teachers on basics of behavior management, provides lots of useful intervention tips, and also gives step-by-step directions for more complicated strategies such as school/home collaboration. The website was created by Dr. Tom McIntyre, a special education professor at Hunter College.

Classroom Management: A California Resource Guide - Free 133-page teacher manual available for download. Gives great advice on organizing classroom instruction to prevent problem behaviors, using rewards to motivate children, teaching social skills, communicating with parents and more. A must-have resource for teachers! Funded and sponsored by the California Department of Education.

The Really Big List of Classroom Management Resources - This site, compiled by graduate students in education, claims to have the most comprehensive list of behavior management resources on the web.

Center for Teaching and Learning - A great site for information on teaching strategies and how individuals learn.

Questionnaire for Staff - Assessing the Problems - A questionnaire on what you believe the behavior problems are in your classroom.

What is Your Classroom Management Style - Learn about the different types of management styles for the classroom.

Tips for Creating a Peaceful Classroom - Some basic articles on how to create a better, more peaceful classroom.

Classroom Management Prevention and Intervention - Information on behavior management.

Each participant will receive an activity guide that will include a list of all references and resources used in the development of this workshop. In addition to research and reference materials, the guide will include activities that teachers can do with their students to help resolve conflicts and de-escalate problems in the classroom.

Instructional Activities:

Individual and small group activities will be interspersed throughout the workshop. Teachers will have an opportunity to practice a variety of activities designed to help de-escalate problems as well as resolve conflicts in the classroom.

Activities completed during the workshop will be taken from the activity guide provided to each participant.

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