beyond one day wkshp (post session version): tesol 2010 (cona/moss of reep program)

Arlington Education & Employment Program - Arlington Public Schools www.apsva.us/reep

Beyond the One-Day Workshop

“He who dares to teach must never cease to learn.” ~ Richard Henry Dann

Michele Cona, ITC [email protected] Moss, PD Coordinator [email protected]


Workshop Agenda

• About the REEP program • Background• Professional development

• Project overview• Content• Management

• Session discussion• Your questions about our project• Your experience with online PD and/or reflective

practice


Arlington County, Virginia

Arlington Public Schools• Office of Career,

Technical and Adult Education

Program Background


Goals of the REEP Program

Communication and literacy skills Social and civic knowledge Critical thinking skills Independent, lifelong learners Technology


REEP Today

Intensive & Non-intensive Classes General Lifeskills Workplace Specialty Classes Outreach ESL Arlington County Detention

Center


REEP’s Adult ESL Curriculum

Integrated on-line ESL curricula:• 8 levels of lifeskills curricula (e.g.,

health, work, history and government)• 2 advanced levels: Content-based,

academic preparation• Family literacy• Multi-level technology• Intermediate levels with writing focus

Learner-centered, whole language approach


REEP Students

75+ countries (80% Spanish speaking)

50/50 male/female Majority 19-44 years 0-16+ years of education 50% ESL Literacy and ESL

Beginning 69% employed full-time 20% parents of APS

children


Reaching our Teachers


PD at REEP

Pre-service and orientation (1st year) Mentoring In-services

• Series: “Meeting All Learners Needs”

Workshops• “Foundations” (1st year)• “Explorations”• Brown Bag sessions

Online Community


Needs Assessment Outcomes

Teachers request:• Connections

• Face time to share and learn from each other• Special interest sharing

• Follow-up• Apply what they learn to instruction


A New PD Opportunity

“In reflective practice…teachers become listeners, observers, thinkers, and researchers …”

~ Yu Ren Dong


Project Tasks

1. Preparatory Workshop*

2. Teach, Reflect, Peer Review

3. Discussions – focused reflection

4. Inquiry

5. Final Reflections

6. Follow-up Meeting* * = face to face


1. Preparatory Workshop*

3 hours Face to face Get acquainted Discuss reflective practice Plan weekly tasks How to use the Wiki


2. Teach, Reflect, Peer Review

Alternating weeks Recently taught lesson Guiding reflection questions Guiding peer review questions


3. Discussions – focused reflection

Alternating weeks Addressed 2-3 prevailing questions Asynchronous


Discussion Topic Examples

Reflective Practice and Goals Differentiating with Materials & Textbooks Getting and Using Learner Feedback Conversation Practice: Planning and

Implementing


4. Inquiry

Good Practice Audit (Brookfield)1. Identify pressing problems and come to

consensus on one to discuss.

2. Analyze experiences

3. Compile suggestions for practice

Midway point of the project


5. Final Reflection

Survival Advice Memo to a New Teacher• Outline essential survival advice on meeting

all the learners’ needs and addressing individual learning preferences in your class.


6. Follow-up Meeting*

Face to face Lessons learned Ways forward


Project Management


Project Needs

1. Tasks**

2. Timeframe**

3. Budget

4. Participants

5. Web tool

** = see handout


4. Participants: Teachers

wiki


Enthusiastic and able to complete tasks Cross-site participation Multiple instructional levels Varying technological abilities Competitively selected

• We had to diversify our outreach strategy – email, personal appeal, flyers, etc.

• Explain responsibilities, timeline, payment, expected outcomes, etc, very clearly!

4. Participants: Teachers


Participants: Moderators

PD Coordinator and ITC Paid from regular hours Shared tasks

• Planning, training, moderating online discussions

Alternating duties


Moderator Tasks

Review lesson plans, reflections, and peer reviews

Create 2 discussion threads Offer discussion prompts with rationale Monitor and advance discussion Participate in discussion when not

moderating


5. Web tool: Wetpaint

On Monday’s we posted reminders and suggestions on the frontpage, or Announcements page.

GREEN area is all part of the standard Wetpaint template. The white areas are modifiable by the user.


Create all content – admin, tasks explained, netiquette, project timeline (shown here), peer review partnering for each week, etc, BEFORE building out the wiki. When all content is finalized and ready to post, THEN copy and paste to the wiki. You can create however many pages and sublevels as needed. Plan it all first so that the only thing changing from week to week is the content the participants are adding themselves, discussion areas, announcements, and resource pages. Also, plan where you can hyperlink to other relevant sections or to outside resources.


Peer review front page and subpages for each week (according to the alternating partner plan made ahead of time) were posted and linked to before the launch of the project.

During initial face to face workshop, participants completed an example peer review activity and discussion to walk through all tasks that would be expected of them each week.


Be sure to register for a free Educators account to increase file attachment limit from 40 to 250 (limit as of 2009, may be more now). Be sure to include in the initial workshop a consensus building activity on standards for lesson plans, reflections, and peer reviews. Include training on using all aspects of the wiki interface!


Be sure to use descriptive subject lines for each discussion thread for better organization. Wetpaint is searchable!


Online Community Tool (cont’d)

Why Wetpaint?• Free with extended benefits to educators• Clean design template• Password protected• Discussion area• User-friendly• Archiving


Outcomes

Participants• “One Teacher’s Progression: Karli” **

Program• Changes to fiscal year PD plan

** = see handout


Lessons Learned

Recruitment Initial technical training Plan for a cushion in budget How to keep momentum going? How to nurture participants as resource

teachers?


Beyond the One-Day Workshop

Thank you!(See handout for our contact information.)


ResourcesBrookfield, S. (1995). Becoming a critically reflective teacher. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Center for Adult English Language Acquisition (CAELA) Network. (2008). Framework for quality professional development for practitioners working with adult English language learners. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics. http://www.cal.org/caelanetwork/profdev/framework/index.html

Dong, Yu Ren, (2000). Learning to see diverse students through reflective teaching portfolios. In Teacher Education, edited by Karen E. Johnson. TESOL.

Farrell, T.S. (2008). Reflective practice in the professional development of teachers of adult English language learners. Washington DC. Center for Adult English Language Acquisition. http://www.cal.org/caelanetwork/pd_resources/reflectivepractice.html

Florez, MaryAnn C. (2001). Reflective teaching practice in adult ESL settings. Washington, DC. National Center for ESL Literacy Education. http://www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/digests/reflect.html

Richards, J.C., & Lockhart, C. (1996). Reflective teaching in the second language classroom. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Schaetzel, K., Peyton, J.K., Burt, M. (2007). Professional development for adult ESL practitioners: Building Capacity. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics. http://www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/briefs/profdev.html

beyond one day wkshp (post session version): tesol 2010 (cona/moss of reep program)

Education

face workshop

project needs tasks

peer review questions

hours face

discussion areas

peer review alternating

face lessons

initial face