Professional Development on Diversity and Global Perspectives

Consortium for Professional Development on Diversity and Global Perspectives -

facing history 2008 institute

This Consortium invites educators to acquire the knowledge and skills to better serve their culturally and linguistically diverse, and minority student population. This translates into learning about their students’ cultural background, weaving a range of perspectives throughout the curriculum, and understanding that diversity issues do not come into play only during celebratory moments but are an integral part of who their students are.

It is our hope that the programs offered through this Consortium will help teachers prepare all of their students for life and work in the new global economy, where emerging nations such as China and India play a key role. All students in the United States must have an understanding of the challenges and opportunities created by our increasingly global society. These programs will promote awareness of the world, provide accurate historical information, examine current issues facing diverse groups within the United States, and focus on our students’ social responsibilities as global citizens.

About the Consortium

The Greater Capital Region Teacher Center (GCRTC), in collaboration with the Bilingual Education Technical Assistance Center (BETAC), and the Capital Region/North Country Regional Special Education Technical Assistance Support Center (RSE-TASC) are proud to present this program initiative for educators in all subject areas who wish to gain the broad background and specific strategies required to embrace culturally responsive and globally aware teaching.

Reflecting national demographic shifts, our region is becoming more diverse. This means that more educators will be likely to have English Language Learners (ELLs) from many different cultures and backgrounds in their classes. However, recent statistics show that fewer than 13 percent of teachers in the United States received any professional development designed to help them effectively teach this population of students. (National Center for Education Statistics, 2002 in Educational Leadership, ASCD, vol62).

In addition, the Greater Capital Region Teacher Center offers a wide variety of programs for educators teaching diverse learners, support for language teaching, and programs on infusing Multicultural and Global Education in the classroom.

Hispanic Students in Context Professional Development Series: The Mexican Student

The Mexican Student

This is the second program in a series co-sponsored by the Diversity Consortium - Questar III BETAC, RSE -TASC, and the Greater Capital Region Teacher Center

All educators are invited to participate in this interactive program covering...

The experience and perspective of Mexican students including a description of the contemporary education system in Mexico.
Mexico's culture and its people's motivation for moving their families to New York State.
Discussion of the factors that shape the academic experience of Mexican students.
Instructional strategies and ideas for ways to connect with the Mexican student in the classroom.
Ideas for incorporating the rich resources students bring to the classroom: their language, culture, and experiences.
Resources for reference and instruction.

For more information please contact the BETAC, 518-477-8771 or Greater Capital Region Teacher Center at 518-525-2678.

Dates/Times: *** NOTE DATE CHANGE*** March 9 and 16, Tue, 2010;4-6:30 PM

Location: *** NOTE NEW LOCATION*** Ichabod Crane CSD - Middle School Library

Code: WS 3340. There is no fee for this program. Registration is REQUIRED.

Register for this program here.

Presented by: Dr. Susan Gauss

Assistant Professor in the department of History at the University at Albany (joint with Department of Latin American and Caribbean Studies) as well as BETAC, and RSE –TASC staff.

Look for the following program in the series - COMING SOON!

The Dominican Student

A presentation will be offered to describe the experience and perspective of Dominican students beginning with a brief history of the Dominican Republic including a description of its unique education system. We will compare school structure and instruction in the Dominican Republic with that of New York State. The Dominican Republic’s rich culture and its people’s motivation for moving their families to New York State will be described through readings and personal narratives. Participants will leave this seminar with an understanding of the factors that shape the academic performance of Dominican students.

These events are funded through a contract with the NYS Education Department.

Contact BETAC for more information or the Teacher Center at 518-525-2678.

Instruction for Students with Interrupted Formal Education (SIFE)

SIFE

Many districts in our region are facing an increase in students who have gaps in their educational backgrounds, are overage, and/or have no or low literacy or education in their native language. In response to these particular challenges, we are very pleased to announce the second special conference opportunity regarding Students with Interrupted Formal Schooling, (SIFE). Nationally renowned specialists in ESL, bilingual and dual language education, and SIFE students will present on the effective elements of an instructional program for SIFE students and how best to teach SIFE students who do not have literacy proficiency in their native language. We will also have presentations from Migrant Educational Outreach Programs (MEOP) and the NYS Immigration Coalition.

Date: March 5, 2010
Time: 8:30 AM – 3:30 PM (Coffee and light lunch provided)
Location: University at Albany Alumni House
Registration (Conference is free, but registration is required) Please register online at www.betac.org.

This event is funded through a contract with the NYS Education Department.

The following programs are offered by GCRTC:

Programs on Teaching Diverse Learners - 2009-2010

ELL Literacy

Child Reading Are you looking for ways to help English language learners in your class succeed? Here are the tools you've been looking for. Click to learn about the new educators' site on www.ColorinColorado.org—a free resource to help PreK-12 educators of English language learners, created by the American Federation of Teachers and the Reading Rockets project of public broadcasting station WETA.

Colorín Colorado's latest cutting-edge offerings are Webcasts that feature top researchers and experts on the instruction of English language learners discussing pressing instructional issues and the latest research. The Webcasts will be available and archived on http://www.colorincolorado.org/webcasts/ for on-demand viewing and are available absolutely free of charge and registration.

The first Webcasts in the series will focus on the following topics:

Contact the Teacher Center for ways we can support you and help you build a facilitated discussion or study group around these topics using Colorin Colorado resources in your district.

GCRTC Programs on Multicultural and Global Education - 2009-2010: The National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA)

Asia Programs

The National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA), funded by the Freeman Foundation, is a multi-year initiative to encourage teaching and learning about Asia in world history, geography, social studies, art and literature courses. NCTA in the Northeast is administered by the Five College Center for East Asian Studies. Learn about the NCTA initiative in other parts of the country...(+)

NCTA Seminars
Each 30-hour NCTA seminar incorporates historical and cultural content about China, Japan, and Korea into a rewarding professional experience for K-12 educators of the humanities. Individual seminars are adapted to the needs of the participating teachers and school districts to promote long-term engagement in Asian studies. NCTA seeks to develop a community of inquiry among educators interested in Asian studies.

Union College and GCRTC NCTA Program

GCRTC was fortunate to have been selected by the Five College Center for East

Asian Studies to co-sponsor,with Union College, the prominent National Consortium for Teaching about Asia Seminar on East Asia. In spring of 2008 and 2009, Teacher

Center constituent educators were selected to participate in this stipended opportunity. We are pleased to extend this opportunity again to capital region social studies, English, and art teachers in Winter/Spring, 2010.

You are invited to apply to participate in this opportunity designed to enrich your knowledge of East Asia. The seminar runs over a series of six Saturdays from 9:00–3:00 from January-April and includes presentations from experts on China, Korea, and Japan. All materials and texts for the seminar are provided free of charge and participants receive a stipend as well as funds to purchase materials for use in their classrooms. Participants who complete the program are eligible to apply for a study tour in one of those Asian countries the following summer. For further information, email seminar facilitator, Catherine Snyder, snyderc@union.edu.

EAST ASIA FOR TEACHERS

The Newsletter of the Five College Center for East Asian Studies "East Asia for Teachers" documents cultural activities and educational opportunities in the Northeastern United States of interest to educators who teach about East Asia.

Included in the newsletter are a calendar of museum exhibits and cultural events, listings of seminars, workshops, grants, travel opportunities, and resources on East Asia. The newsletter is distributed three times a year and is available in electronic form

at www.smith.edu/fcceas/newsletter.html.

GCRTC Support for Language Teaching - 2009-2010: Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling

TPRS

Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling (TPRS) helps students learn a new language in context; through stories, readings and conversations. This one day workshop will give you a brief overview of the TPRS steps to language acquisition. We will practice the planning and teaching of a TPRS lesson, from the introduction of vocabulary to a final reading and assessment. Included with your lesson planning will be the keys to a strong TPRS lesson and how to make your lesson:

Comprehensible – helping your students understand what is being said, by using pacing, translation and keeping vocabulary limited.
Repetitive – Just like babies, students need to hear new vocabulary over and over again before they can produce.
Interesting – How do you engage a student in a new language? Learn how to personalize the lessons to YOUR classes and YOUR students thus promoting high student interest.

Location: East Greenbush Community Library, East Greenbush, NY

Dates/Times: Sat, Mar 20, 2010, 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM; 6 hrs. There is no fee to register; however, registration is required and space is limited.

Code: WS 3385

Instructor: Mary Holmes currently teaches French at the New Paltz School District and serves on the NYSAFLT Executive Board. Mary was the Associate for Foreign Languages at the New York State Education Department where she worked on standards revision, curriculum, certification and professional development, winning the 2008 NYSAFLT President’s Award. Previously, Mary taught French and Spanish for over 13 years in the Marcellus Central School District and was a national presenter for Blaine Ray TPRS Workshops.

Maximizing Target Language Use from Day One

Target Language Use

Language teachers often struggle to sustain Target Language (TL) use while still engaging students, particularly at the lower levels. Teachers know the way to learn a language is to use it and students want to speak as quickly as possible. However, fairly quickly, both teachers and students can become frustrated with the lack of comprehension between them.

This workshop addresses the stumbling blocks that discourage TL use and assist teachers and students to negotiate TL use from day one in class. A critical step in doing that is establishing a common, reliable classroom TL vocabulary that sustains student engagement while facilitating new language acquisition.

In order to establish and build a shared classroom TL vocabulary, we will examine the following specific topics:

Quantity and speed of vocabulary presented versus acquired vocabulary in the first year.
Vocabulary that builds proficiency and focuses on structure.
Designing lessons that limit and maintain TL use so students have the opportunity to master key sentence building phrases.
Personalize the lessons, let the lessons be about the students and therefore engage students.
Use a variety of strategies, TPRS, games, reading, and music to keep lessons varied.

In the first session we will discuss these issues and design lessons to use in your class the next day. With each subsequent session, we will examine each topic farther and address classroom management, student rapport, assessment, and growing the classroom language. The sessions are structured to provide adequate time for participants to to try out techniques in their own classes and share and receive feedback during the following session.

Location: Lynch Middle School, Amsterdam
Dates: Mar 3, 17, 31 (Wed)
Times: 4:00-7:00 PM; Code: 3383

New York State Association for Bilingual Education (NYSABE)

The New York State Association for Bilingual Education (NYSABE) invites you to attend its annual conference on March 11-14, 2010, at the Huntington Hilton Hotel, Melville, New York.

This year’s conference, centered on the academic achievement of ELLs, will focus on current research, best pedagogical practices, and policies. Major Sessions will be conducted by educational leaders and nationally recognized researchers in the field of ELL Education, among them: Aida Walqui, Yvonne and David Freeman, Miriam Eisenstein Ebsworth, and Laura Rodriguez.

I addition to the major sessions, a variety of institutes, forums, and workshops will be offered; these include:

Parent Institute
Teacher’s Institute
Dual Language Institute
RTI Strand
Educational Leadership and Policy Forum for school superintendents and NYS education officials
Administrators Forum for school and district office administrators and supervisors

To register or obtain additional information, visit NYSABE’s website: www.nysabe.org.

NYSABE flyer

New York State Certified Teacher Participation Opportunities - Standard Setting

Standard Setting for ELL students for Math state tests

NYSED is seeking high school teachers to participate in standard setting.

In June 2010, the Department will need high school teachers who are certified in mathematics, special education, or English as a second language, to participate in the Standard Setting that will be held in Albany, New York, for the Regents Examination in Algebra 2/Trigonometry. If you are interested, please complete the application and fax it to Mary Bell at 518-486-5765.

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