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Adult Education Professional Development Opportunities for
September 2024
VALRC PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR THIS MONTH
The following professional development opportunities are offered to Virginia adult education practitioners as well as adult education partner organizations.
For an overview of VALRC's planned PD opportunities for Fall 2024, see VALRC's Fall 2024 PD Planner.
SEPTEMBER
10
1:30–3 p.m. EST
LACES: Getting Off to a Good Start
This is a LACES demo webinar.
SEPTEMBER
16
1:30–3:30 p.m. EST
VDOE: Bimonthly Program Managers Meeting
This year’s bimonthly program managers meetings will be held on Mondays at 1:30p – 3:00p with an optional 30 minutes for discussion. Registering once will enable you to join ALL of the meetings for the 2024 – 2025 year.
SEPTEMBER
18
2–4 p.m. EST
Science of Reading Overview Webinar
This session presents a basic overview of the science of reading and effective reading instruction, including alphabetics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. During the session, we discuss strategies for each component of reading and how to use them in the classroom. Participants will leave with resources for teaching each component.
SEPTEMBER
19
1–2:30 p.m. EST
Career Pathways PLC #1
A 3-part 90-minute Professional Learning Community (PLC) series (1st of 3) for ALL IET, IELCE, workplace literacy, and workforce development practitioners. This PLC will focus on targeted topics related to program design, using data to communicate needs and successes, locating and adapting instructional materials for all skill levels, and engaging employers and other partners to secure supportive services for all learners. Breakouts will focus on targeted topics for specific types of career pathways programming. Details and guest speakers will be announced on the listservs and on the VARLC Event Calendar.
SEPTEMBER
19
4 Week Online Course
Beyond Basics: An Introduction to Multilevel ESOL Instruction
This course is designed for teachers who want to tackle the challenges of teaching multilevel classes. It is for teachers who want to address the varied learning needs of individual students without planning individual lessons and burning out. It is for teachers who want to become highly effective multi-level classroom teachers by using strategies that work.
Through the online course format, you can learn at your own pace from the comfort and convenience of your own home or office. Facilitators, available to help you throughout the four-week course, lead you through the content and technical aspects of the course. Each week’s lesson addresses a topic in adult education pertaining to multilevel ESOL instruction. Course activities include readings, videos, assignments, and discussions. Learn more about this course on VALRC's website.
SEPTEMBER
24
3:30–5 p.m. EST
Lesson Planning for Adult ESOL Instruction
Lesson planning is an important part of instruction but can also be overwhelming and time-consuming. Are you interested in learning and sharing strategies, tips, and templates for effective lesson planning?
During this webinar, we will discuss the importance and impact of lesson planning, lesson plan routines and templates that support English language instruction, important content and engaging activities to include in a lesson plan, and how to create a lesson plan strategy. In addition, participants will leave the webinar with customizable lesson plan templates and resources.
In this one-hour, self-paced tutorial, you will learn about the five main components of accessibility. These components include: color-contrast, hyperlinks, alt-text, tables, and headings.
This one-hour, self-paced tutorial introduces a working overview of this topic to begin incorporating trauma-informed teaching into classroom instruction. Participants will also gain a better sense of what is happening to a learner’s brain when they experience stress and trauma.
This two-hour, self-paced tutorial supports adult educators and practitioners in developing effective lesson plans for adult ESOL instruction that support language acquisition and prioritize learner needs, goals, and engagement.
This 90-minute, webinar recording presents part basic overview of the science of reading and effective reading instruction, including alphabetics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. During the webinar, we discuss strategies for each component of reading and how to use them in the classroom.
See this announcement with more information about registering for and accessing VALRC's on-demand and self-paced learning opportunities using the Reach 360 platform.
VALRC's Resource Highlight
This resource provides tutorial videos and important information about the state’s new data system.
This google folder contains curated resources for the science of reading, including assessments and each component of reading (alphabetics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension). Many of these resources are open-source from other agencies. VALRC staff are continually adding new resources to the folder, so check back often!
This page contains resources that can be used to integrate content related to the upcoming 2024 elections and voting into the adult education classroom.
This online guide provides information for instructors who are new to adult education in Virginia and may also be useful for returning instructors. The resources connect instructors to the field of adult education and provide information on quality instruction for the adult education context. It includes featured resources by subject area, information on essential topics such as standards-based instruction and inclusive practices, and an updated Adult Education Glossary and Acronym List.
When it comes to adult learners who have a disability, we oftentimes don’t know what we don’t know. Some of our learners are comfortable sharing with us that they have a learning or mobility-impacted disability. Others, however, are reluctant to disclose information about a disability—or, they have never been identified as having a disability. The Spring 2024 issue of PROGRESS goes beyond lists of accommodations and strategies to focus on shifting our instructional and programmatic designs toward a culture of inclusion through collaborative activities that create equitable adult education programming that benefits all learners.
Read the latest edition of SPOTLIGHT, Virginia's publication of writing by adult learners. SPOTLIGHT's third annual issue features more than 50 contributions from adult learners across Virginia, including poetry, inspiring personal stories, visions for the future, and more. SPOTLIGHT showcases the value adult learners place on education and the strengths they bring to our communities.
REGISTER NOW: VAACE's 2024 Conference
Now register for VAACE's 2024 conference, scheduled for October 21-23 in Charlottesville!
Additional Fall 2024 Conferences
- VATESOL: Richmond, VA ┃Sept. 27 & 28
- NEDP: Niagara Falls, NY ┃Sept. 30-Oct. 1
- ProLiteracy: Baltimore, MD┃Oct. 6-9
- National Center for Families Learning (NCFL): Louisville, KY ┃Nov. 18-20
ADDITIONAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR THIS MONTH
The following webinars are offered by various adult education organizations and are all FREE to attend. Click the Register button below the event description to sign up for any webinars of interest.
SEPTEMBER
5
5–6 p.m. EST
edWeb: Small Groups and the Science of Reading: Helping Students Get Unstuck
While following an explicit and systematic approach to your reading instruction, how can you help students who seem to get stuck on a particular skill? What can you do for students who “can’t blend?” What’s a good routine for students who are great at decoding but can’t read texts fluently? In this edWebinar, Dr. Julia Lindsey is back to share strategies for using research-based routines to meet students’ literacy needs, especially with small groups. Dr. Lindsey is a proud former elementary school teacher, foundational literacy expert, and author of Reading Above the Fray: Reliable, Research-Based Routines for Developing Decoding Skills.
You’ll walk away with classroom routines that will help your readers get unstuck and build key foundational literacy skills so they can decode, comprehend, and enjoy what they read!
SEPTEMBER
11
2–3 p.m. EST
LINCS: Promoting Digital Literacy for Adult Learners: Resources and Reflections
The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy and Digital Promise partnered to develop, design, and launch new training materials to support Promoting Digital Literacy for Adult Learners: A Resource Guide.
Participants will learn about dynamic resources that support the whole adult learner and improve the quality, effectiveness, and comprehension of instruction delivery, with a specific focus on digital literacy. Findings from use cases will be shared to support participants in using these new resources.
SEPTEMBER
12
1–2 p.m. EST
ProLiteracy: “Why Do I Have to Read This?”
One of the most important skills on the High School Equivalency (HSE) tests is reading comprehension. Students who are strong readers will often perform better than struggling readers on all sections of the HSE tests, even math (something that can surprise students). What happens, though, when a student says, “I hate reading?” In this webinar, Kara will share techniques to help those resistant readers.
SEPTEMBER
12
3:30–4:30 p.m. EST
LINCS: Guidance on Voting Rights of People with Disabilities
Voting is one of our nation’s most fundamental rights and a hallmark of our democracy. However, due to limitations in access, many people with disabilities have been excluded from this right of citizenship.
Join LINCS moderators, Michael Cruse (Learners with Disabilities) and Jennifer Gagliardi (Civics Education & Citizenship) on September 12th at 3:30 ET. We will review the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other federal protections to identify and eliminate barriers preventing persons with disabilities from full voting participation.
SEPTEMBER
13
1–2:30 p.m. EST
EdTech: Strategy Sessions – Open Education for Digital Equity
Join EdTech every month on the second Friday to hear practical strategies and innovative approaches to the use of educational technology and the implementation of digital inclusion in education. Each EdTech Strategy session includes:
- two lightning talks
- a breakout room for small group discussion
SEPTEMBER
18
2–3 p.m. EST
LINCS: Strategies to Support English Learners with Entering a Career Pathway through Integrated Education and Training
This event will provide adult education practitioners with strategies that support English learners with entering a career pathway through participation in IET. Christy Schaffner from Ohio will share how data analysis has led them to focus on increasing IET programming and ways they support learners to enter and complete training.
SEPTEMBER
19
3–4 p.m. EST
LINCS: Interactive Grammar Presentations that Center Students’ Experience
ESOL teachers know that grammar instruction is an essential component of any adult ESOL class, but how can we teach grammar to support learner engagement and inquiry?
Will Linn, ESOL Specialist and Coordinator of ESOL Certificate Programs at the Literacy Assistance Center in NYC, will introduce teachers to a discovery-based approach to grammar that draws on students’ experiences to support learners to see how grammar is a meaning-making tool for self-expression.
SEPTEMBER
20
1–2 p.m. ET
LINCS: A Look Into the Future: AI in Correctional & Reentry Education
Do you have adult English learners who have limited formal schooling in your class? Do you have questions about how to effectively support these learners with the language skills they need to achieve their goals? International expert, Dr. Helaine Marshall, will share highly effective approaches for teaching this population of learners. She will also identify approaches to avoid. Participants will leave with a treasure trove of ideas and resources to implement in the classroom.
SEPTEMBER
20
1–2 p.m. ET
World Education: Equipped for the Elections: Media Literacy and Voting (Part 1)
Navigating Echo Chambers, Fake News, and Misinformation in an Election Year -- presented by Jen Vanek and Cynthia Peters
SEPTEMBER
25
12–1 p.m. ET
LINCS: Financial Literacy Skills for the 21st Century: Results from PISA 2022
Please join AIR, the National Center of Education Statistics (NCES), and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to discuss the latest Financial Literacy results from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), an international assessment of 15-year-olds. The webinar will include results from the recent 2022 release as well as comments on the implications for policy around youth financial education mandates and opportunities that exist to bring equity in the area of youth financial education.
SEPTEMBER
26
1–2 p.m. ET
ProLiteracy: Developing Vocabulary: Effective Strategies for Adult English Learners
Building vocabulary is key to language development. Join ProLiteracy to discover practical techniques for expanding vocabulary in adult English language learners from low beginning to advanced. Explore engaging methods, useful tools, and real-world applications to enhance retention and usage. This session is perfect for educators and tutors looking to support adult learners in achieving language proficiency and confidence.
SEPTEMBER
26
3:30–4:30 p.m. ET
LINCS: Facilitating Conversations About Difficult Topics
Wondering about best practices for having difficult classroom conversations on topics like race, politics, and other controversial issues? The live event will provide answers.
SEPTEMBER
27
1–2 p.m. ET
World Education: Equipped for the Elections: Media Literacy and Voting (Part 2)
Get Out the Adult Education Vote! -- presented by Cynthia Peters, Jennifer Gagliardi, and others.
Brought to you by:
THE VIRGINIA ADULT LEARNING RESOURCE CENTER AT VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY
"Equipping the field of adult education and literacy with essential skills and resources through an equity mindset."
