November 2012
News from the Department of Education:
A series of Vermont Title III sponsored professional development workshops for educators of English Language Learners will be held throughout the 2012-2013 school year. The theme for all four workshops will be formative language assessment. The series will include:
- Formative Assessment and the Development of Language Targets for ELLs on November 1,
- Differentiation and Assessment of Language across Proficiency Levels for ELLs on January 16,
- Collaboration and Formative Assessment of Language for ELLs on March 21,
- Formative Assessment of Language and the WIDA ELD Standard-based Curriculum for ELLs on May 9.
The online registration form, workshop times, and directions to the first workshop site can be found at: http://creator.zoho.com/doe_user/2012-2013-wida- professional-development-workshops. This information will also be posted to the Vermont DOE ELL web site and calendar. Participation will be limited to a maximum of 50 people.
The descriptions and materials for these workshops is available at the same online registration link, but specific workshop locations have not been determined at this time. This information will be updated as plans are finalized. The info will also be posted on the VT DOE web site and calendar as soon as details are available.
Contact: For questions about workshop content, Jim McCobb at (802) 828-0185, james.mccobb@state.vt.us. For questions about registration, Lucille Chicoine at (802) 828-5922 or lucille.chicoine@state.vt.us.
News from the University of Vermont
- As of last spring of 2012, there are two new course offerings through the Middle Level Education program at the University of Vermont. The first is a foundations course for working with ELL students, EDTE 55 The Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners. It will be offered once again in the spring of 2013. The second course is a methods course, EDML 270 Methods & Curriculum for working with English Language Learners.
- Cynthia Reyes is currently chairing an ELL committee in the College of Education and Social Services that is doing a curriculum map of the Education Department at our institution to review which education courses currently include or integrate ELL knowledge and skills. The committee is also charged with looking at specific recommendations for developing more ELL initiatives (eventual coursework that may lead to an endorsement in the future).
- The College of Education and Social Services (CESS) Committee on Diversity Initiatives (CDI), will be hosting its 4th annual diversity event in partnership with other community organizations at the Davis Center at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 13. More details to follow. This event mostly focuses on bringing more awareness to our New American communities. The theme for this year is, “The First Generation Experience: Supporting Higher Education Experience.”
News from Saint Michael’s College
Project CREATE will be sponsoring two major events this spring/summer. First, a conference on SFL and ELL instruction will be held on Thursday and Friday May 30-31, 2013 at SMC. Speakers will be teacher educators who work with teachers on using SFL strategies in Elementary, Middle and High Schools. A detailed brochure will be forthcoming. Also, Project CREATE will sponsor a SFL course at the Middle Grades Institute at Castleton State College, June 24-28.
Colleagueship
Come join other ELL colleagues at Dobra Tea for a discussion of all things ELL. We hope to become an article reading group. We are currently taking a survey to determine the best date for our next meeting. If interested, please email Heidi Western at hwestern@sbsd.org or Anne Wright Shank at awrightshank@cssu.org
September 2012
TESOL TALKS-Building on what we learned
In April, six attendees of the the Philadelphia convention presented overviews of lessons learned. The free event drew about 20 ELL community members and educators to the Burlington Free Library on a Saturday morning. There was a lot of enthusiasm for the event and support for the possibility of continuing to share knowledge from national conventions and conferences with the local community.
Building on the conversation
On October 24 at 4pm at Dobra Tea in Burlington, the ELL Teacher Discussion Group will reconvene for the first meeting of the 2012-2013 school year. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to bring an article for discussion to share with the group. The Discussion group hope to meeting on a bi-monthly basis to discuss articles, books, and information of interest to ELL educators. For more information please email hwestern@sbschools.net or awrightshank@cssu.org .
1 comment
Jean Fahey
September 15, 2011 at 11:41 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
I think the ELL reading group is a great idea!