Taju

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & WORKSHOPS

The Science of the Bilingual Reading Brain

Duration: 2 Days | 45 Participants Maximum

In this workshop, participants will build a deep knowledge of how emergent bilingual students, even those in monolingual classrooms, learn how to read differently than monolingual, English-speaking students, and the decades of research that support it. So, what has research revealed about the science of reading for emergent bilingual students that’s been excluded from the reading wars? Participants will learn to apply an approach to literacy instruction for students navigating two languages that requires both meaning making and reading words, efficiency of practice, and focus on purpose, all while systematically leveraging the most useful aspects of each of their languages, English and their home language. This powerful combination of decoding ability with the ability to build linguistic comprehension within increasingly strategic ways is necessary in order to provide any benefit in reading.  This session also outlines the pedagogical implications across literacy components, methods, strategies, and practices that are essential to building phonics skills while developing readers/writers who are able to make meaning in order to help teachers articulate a continuum of literacy skills that build to authentic literacy development.  Participants will assess their current materials, practices, sequence of learning and skills, assessments designed for emergent bilinguals, and more.

Promoting Socio-culturally Just Practices & Pedagogy for Equity & Achievement

Duration: 2 Days | 45 Participants Maximum

As record achievement gaps are reported across the country for diverse student groups, schools must work together to explore and analyze issues of inequitable/inaccessible resources and instruction, and how issues of race, culture, language, and identity create educational doors or barriers for our students. If schools are to change this narrative, misconceptions about students assets (rather than their deficits), social norms, and academic achievement must be rooted in a deeper understanding of the role that bias (both blatant and invisible) plays in the academic success of each student.     This session will help educators understand sociocultural-linguistic biases in order to design more effective practices, materials, and engaging experiences, that build from learners’ assets and lead to student growth.

Dual Language Leadership Institute

Duration: 2 Days | 45 Participants Maximum

This institute is essential for anyone charged with leading, observing, and providing feedback to dual language teachers. Participants will learn critical aspects of leading a dual language program and how to engage in an observation and feedback cycle that creates opportunities for educational transformation.

  • Build a strong foundation and capacity in the Guiding Principles of Dual Language Education 3rd Ed.
  • Identify effective instructional practices and curricula that promote content and language learning in a non-English context.
  • Compare and contrast their current approach to the cycle of improvement for non-English classrooms.
  • Analyze features of effective practices in evaluating non-English classrooms and rank them along a continuum in order from least to most proficient.
  • Assess current implementation for strengths and areas of challenge with regard to guiding questions, best practices, and criteria for gathering objective evidenceand determine next steps for action.
  • Synthesize new learning by observing a non-English lesson, analyzing its strengths and opportunities for growth, and justifying recommendations using the practices, guiding questions, and criteria
  • Create an action plan for including new practices into the observation cycle in order to provide ongoing feedback to dual language teachers that is more accurate and aligned to.

Authentic Spanish Literacy & Language Development: Essential Components to Build Biliteracy & Bilingualism

Duration: 2-3 Days | 45 Participants Maximum

In this workshop, participants will build an awareness of Spanish in order to teach academic language and literacy in Spanish using Spanish language arts standards.  This session also addresses how to teach academic language in Spanish using the Spanish language arts standards and outlines the differences between English & Spanish at the word, sentence, and discourse levels in order to assess their current Spanish literacy instruction and plan for improvements.

Dual Language Overview (DLO)

Duration: 2-3 Days | 45 Participants Maximum

This is a functional workshop for all dual language school teams who have any role in the enrollment process, creating a welcoming environment for all learners and their families, supporting curriculum development, instructional planning and delivery, assessment, and ongoing professional development for staff who serve dual language programs.  This workshop is a fundamental part of developing effective programs with consistency and fidelity to the seven GP3 strands.  Participants will build their capacity around the latest theories, research, and best practices that are reflective of the effective one-way and two-way DL programs while evaluating the decisions, practices, and resources available to fully implement each strand.  Participants will apply those concepts as they analyze and explain effective features of curriculum, instruction, assessment & accountability, staff quality & PD, and family & community engagement.

Accelerating Biliteracy and Bilingualism with Cross-Linguistic Connections (CLC)

Duration: 1-2 Days | 35 Participants Maximum

This workshop is intended for Spanish & English dual language teacher teams to attend together.  In this workshop, participants will learn how to plan for and implement the best practices and strategies needed to effectively build students ability to make cross-linguistic connections.  Participants will also learn how to formatively assess students’ use of new vocabulary and language structures so they can better differentiate and form strategic pairs.  We will also address some common phonemic and phonological challenges between Spanish and English and the strategies used to overcome those challenges.

Standards-Based Unit Planning for Dual Language and Bilingual Programs

Duration: 1-3 Days | 35 Participants Maximum

Participants will utilize the Common Core State Standards and the ELD Standards to plan highly rigorous and differentiated standards-based units of instruction which integrate content and language standards. Participants will engage in identifying the level of mastery, identifying the necessary academic language embedded in state standards, and designing a targeted unit of instruction that meets the needs of the students they serve. Participants will further develop ways to support and differentiate for struggling students and the language development of ELLs. Participants will also design authentic methods of formative assessment that provides opportunities for teachers to analyze the evidence of student learning. Teams will have opportunities to develop materials and are encouraged to bring curriculum materials and a range of student data.

Objectives:

  • Identify rigor and mastery of the state standards.
  • Identify the academic language demands of content standards (e.g. CCSS, NGSS)Integrate content standards and the WIDA ELD Standards when planning instruction and assessment
  • Apply all components of content and language standards in order to create student-centered standards-based units that meets the needs of the students.
  • Design a plan for instruction which includes rigorous and targeted objectives for both content and language
  • Formulate a plan for assessment for content learning and language

Data-Driven Instruction: Integrating Language and Content

Duration: 1 Day | 35 Participants Maximum

Student work is a powerful tool in the data analysis process. In this workshop, participants will learn how to analyze student work, student writing, and other authentic performance tasks in order to drive student learning and instructional next steps. Participants should bring a unit plan or lesson plan and related materials, student work samples, authentic performance tasks, and student results.

Objective: Participants will be able to…

  • Describe the connection between the WIDA Standards Framework and classroom data
  • Identify patterns from various data sets (i.e., student work, texts, classroom-based assessments, and other materials from a unit or lesson)
  • Synthesize key findings from data to plan action within the scope of classroom practices

Guided Reading & Authentic Spanish Literacy: Getting the Most from Small Group Instruction

Duration: 1-2 Days | 35 Participants Maximum

In this workshop, participants will explore the stages of reading development and how to support it through effective strategy-based guided reading lessons. Participants will learn the framework for a strategy-based guided reading lesson, and learn the pathways to supporting comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary acquisition through each component of the lesson. Participants will have an opportunity to plan a guided reading instruction based on the framework and actual student data.

Objective: Participants will be able to…

  • Gain an overview of the components the of a balanced literacy approach
  • Learn the basic framework of a strategy-based guided reading lesson
  • Explore how to support and increase readers’ ability to master strategies that allow students to access more difficult texts independently
  • Reflect on guided reading lesson framework through observation and debrief
  • Analyze texts to match leveled books to readers’ strategy development
  • Analyze assessment data to inform the targeted and intentional selection of strategies for guided reading

Differentiating Language & Content Instruction

Duration: 1-2 Days | 45 Participants Maximum

Students need instruction that is differentiated to meet the needs of learners who come with a range of skill gaps, language proficiency levels, and foundational skills required to engage with grade level expectations. Participants will learn strategies for differentiating content in order to ensure mastery of the content standards for all learners including ELLs. Participants will collaborate to customize instruction for the range of learners they serve while leveraging a variety of resources to do so. While planning, participants will reflect on how to balance scaffolded instruction with a healthy amount of struggle to encourage maximum academic growth in learners. This workshop is appropriate for classroom teachers, English Language specialists, administrators, and curriculum development specialists.

Objectives: Participants will be able to:

  • Define what differentiation means in the instruction
  • Define what assessments data is needed to make targeted decisions about differentiation moves
  • Describe how content, product, process and affect play a role for differentiation
  • Describe the strategies and process for differentiation of language and content
  • Describe how scaffolds and supports engage diverse learners including ELLs in rigorous content
  • Create a differentiation plan for use in future planning and instructional delivery

Formative Assessment of Language Development

Duration: 1-2 Days | 35 Participants Maximum

Objective: Participants will be able to…

  • Understand research-based formative assessment practices designed to provide evidence of student learning in English language development and content mastery in the mainstream setting
  • Explore the conditions that increase student engagement and academic gains by using academic language in the content areas
  • Investigating authentic paths to collect evidence of content and language learning
  • Planning feedback opportunities for students on their learning

Integrated Vocabulary Instruction for DLLs, emergent bilinguals, & ELLs

Duration: 1-3 Days | 35 Participants Maximum

n this workshop, participants will learn how what an integrated vocabulary approach.  In this highly interactive session, participants will evaluate their beliefs on vocabulary instruction, explore ways to integrate vocabulary instruction across all content areas, and develop a model for evaluating which words and word learning strategies to teach.  We will also address easy ways to build word consciousness for every student.

Objective: Participants will be able to…

  • Understand the research behind effective vocabulary instruction and how that impacts an integrated approach
  • Define the components of an integrated vocabulary approach that meets the needs of the students you serve.
  • Develop a model for evaluating which words and word learning strategies to teach across the content areas.
  • Assess current practice and learn new strategies for identifying high leverage words, teaching specific words, developing word learning strategies, and acquiring the academic language needed to be successful in school

Effectively Engaging Families of Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Students

Duration: 1-2 Days | 35 Participants Maximum

In this workshop, participants will learn the flexible approach needed to engage parents and other adult caregivers actively in their children’s education.  Since not all strategies work in every community, participants will identify the barriers within their particular communities that prevent parents from being more active in their children’s education.  Some of these barriers could be transportation, language, other commitments, work schedule, time, etc.  Participants will also explore limiting attitudes within the school and community that may impede engagement efforts.

Objective: Participants will be able to…

  • Learn how to involve all parents (regardless of income, education level, or cultural background) in their children’s education
  • Develop a plan for how to link family and community engagement efforts to student learning
  • Create initiatives that will support families to guide their children’s learning
  • Develop the capacity of school staff to work with the diverse families served by the school
  • Focus efforts on actions that develop trusting and respectful relationships