Inside, Outside, and Upside of HYBRID IETs

June 6

10:00 AM

By

Peg Gould

Using labor market data strategically to guide IET decisions and actions can have a positive effect on WIOA Title II courses and student successes. The presenter will show teachers and administrator teams how to move beyond looking in on other IET programs to applying easy data research to build strategic IET courses. The presentation will also discuss key steps to build an IET from scratch to implementation.

Applying Adult Learning Principles to Connect with Refugee Students

June 6

11:00 AM

By

Rishan Habte

Rishan Habte, Program Officer for Economic Empowerment at LIRS/ Switchboard will give an overview of the refugee resettlement process including topics such as entry status and documentation for new arrivals. Participants will learn how to apply adult learning principle to connect with refugee students. This training will conclude with a Q&A session.

How do I login? Lessons learned from logging in hundreds of students every semester.

June 6

12:00 PM

By

Lindsay Conboy & Julie Fanara

Going virtual shined the light on the need to help our students develop digital literacy skills. Whether you use a learning management system, such as Canvas or Google Classroom, or digital products such as EssentialEd or Burlington English, students need to be able to login. This poses a challenge for students with low, or no, digital literacy skills, low literacy, and/or English Language Learners. The presentation will incorporate what we have learned in this process, how we teach our students, and instructors, as well as how we adapt to increased cybersecurity measures.

Strengths + Interests = Motivation: Confessions of a Former Career Coach on Building Confidence in Adult Education

June 6

2:00 PM

By

Laura Ostrowski

Amidst the daily challenges facing our students, there exist drivers, like personal interests, personality type indicators, and work styles preferences from which educators can harness student motivation and engagement. The goal of this workshop is to link free online assessment tools aimed at interest and personality exploration, forging a connection to promote resiliency and engagement. Participants will recognize and interpret the standards and values that inspire their students as we examine various assessments. Join Laura to hear more!

Little Tools of Power! Strengthening Academic Vocabulary Instruction

June 6

4:00 PM

By

Kristine Kelly

Academic language is a key part of the CCRS English Language Arts shift of complexity. During this presentation, the presenter will guide participants in exploring different levels of vocabulary, where to find tools to identify words and how to decide which words to teach and how to teach them whether through conversation--at lower levels--or more explicitly at Higher-Intermediate and Advanced English levels and ABE levels.

Digital Differentiation

June 7

10:00 AM

By

Katie Edwards & Nikki Sappington

What do you do when you have a student who has never used a computer and another who knows more about technology than you do – in the same classroom? As instructors, we must expect and plan for a range of abilities, including digital abilities. Digital differentiation is not only possible; it’s crucial. In this session, we’ll discuss practical strategies to address the needs of students no matter their digital literacy. The presenters will briefly define the terms, and share strategies from their own classroom experiences, learned from fellow teachers, and found in the research.

Countering the Self-Limiting Mindset to Empower Students

June 7

12:00 PM

By

Lindsay Little

Students take classes to learn new skills and often approach their skill acquisition with a 'lack mindset' instead of realizing what they already possess. And teachers sometimes unconsciously confirm that mindset. What if, as educators, we helped students flip the script? If you are interested in exploring ways to engage students and empower them, this session will give you the opportunity to learn and imagine new ways to support your students.

Fostering Brave Spaces for More Speaking and Mutual Learning 

June 7

2:00 PM

By

Lee Shainis

Whether we are teaching English classes online or in person, it is crucial that students experience a sense of belonging in the classroom and feel safe to share about their perspectives and experiences.This interactive workshop will explore concrete approaches for teachers of all levels to increase the sense of safety and belonging in their virtual or in-person classrooms. Engaging content addressing bias and stereotyping will challenge attendees to build understanding and empathy for all students. The workshop will also explore how to achieve a powerful experience of multi-directional learning that forms strong bonds and meaningful cross-cultural connections, while simultaneously increasing student engagement and practice.  

Join the Crowd: The Digital Skills Library

June 7

4:00 PM

By

Rachel Riggs

The Digital Skills Library has thousands of free and open resources for teaching and learning digital skills, organized by the user-friendly SDEI Digital Skills Framework. Join us to hear about how adult educators from across the nation worked together to build the library. In this interactive sessions we’ll explore the library and share ways that you can Join the Crowd!

Marketing (and Illimunating) NEDP!

June 7

6:00 PM

By

Laura Ostrowski & NEDP Assessors

What do our communities currently know about the National External Diploma Program (NEDP®)? Overwhelmingly, the answer is not much. So, how can we educate our populations about the NEDP® brand? How are we currently conveying the information about NEDP® in a way that acknowledges our “customers’” pain points, motivations, and preferences? Creating urgency and importance about earning a high school diploma, and linking it to learners’ goals and dreams, can start the conversation. Join us as we brainstorm ideas for a widespread, cooperative social media effort designed to reach our students.

Rethinking Goals and Motivation

June 8

10:00 AM

By

Ramona Kunkel

Adult literacy programs have used goal setting and other techniques to inspire and motivate students. Research suggests that students might be better served if we found some alternatives to goal setting, or at least used a different approach, and if we rethink what we think about motivating our students. The presenter will cover why traditional goal setting may not be as helpful to our students as we thought. Some alternatives to the approach we take and what strategies could be more productive will also be discussed with focus on motivation.

Cultural Humility, Not Just Cultural Competence

June 8

12:00 PM

By

Lee Shainis

What happens when we re-frame the concept of cultural competence and instead find an approach that incorporates constant learning, curiosity and appreciation for differences, and the desire to question our own beliefs and biases? In this interactive presentation, we will explore what cultural humility means, how to practice it, the impacts of building (and not building) cultural humility as teachers and administrators, and how this approach can help us better communicate across cultural barriers. We will investigate these concepts using specific tools and explore common cultural differences and biases. For anyone interested in advancing their journey around equity, this topic is foundational.

Culturally Responsive Teaching

June 8

2:00 PM

By

Elizabeth Ljubic

What assets do multilingual students bring to the classroom? How do you leverage those assets to enhance instruction? What steps can you take to affirm multiculturalism and multilingualism in your classes? In this session, participants will explore their own cultural identity and how that impacts their teaching from the lens of Culturally Responsive Teaching. Asset based approach that places students at the center of learning will be a key component of this presentation.

PRE-SESSION ASSIGNMENT: Please visit https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/selectatest.html and complete the free Social Attitudes Assessment prior to the session.

Aligning performance instruction and assessment tasks for adult basic education

June 8

6:00 PM

By

Nicholas Hobar

In a simulated real world challenge, participants will discover similarities and differences between performance instruction and assessment tasks. Then, participants will analyze examples that contain CCRS standards, student performances, real world settings, evidence-based learning and assessment strategies, scoring tools, and results. Participants will explore ways to engage adult basic education instructors in an instructional improvement strategy to plan, teach, check, and act on results of aligned CCRS-based performance tasks.

Beyond the Form: Making Grammar Instruction More Meaningful.

June 9

12:00 PM

By

Ingrid Alonsagay

Grammar instruction has often been reduced to the idea of boring rules and drills. Both teachers and students tend to shirk away from it.Grammar is more than form; with it comes function and meaning.During this session, we will discuss ways that teachers can use to help emerging bilinguals understand grammar beyond its structure. It will feature techniques that can help learners make sense of grammar by understanding its features, i.e., why we use them (function) and how we use them (meaning).

Adapting IET for English language learners to virtual instruction

June 9

2:00 PM

By

Soo Park, Jackie Corkins, Vaishali Deshpande & Xavier Munoz

The purpose of this presentation is to share how we adapted IET for virtual instruction. We will describe the original intent and design of our hospitality customer service IET program and how it was scaffolded for English language learners. We will then share the adaptations we made to deliver it virtually and discuss lessons learned during the process.

GED Test-Taking Tips

June 9

6:00 PM

By

Kalie Borries

This interactive presentation that will cover the question types, test-taking tips, and screen tools for the GED test. Participants will explore online screen tools tutorials, gain familiarity with GED question types, brainstorm test-taking strategies, and analyze sample test questions to anticipate student difficulties.