West Metro Fall Regional Inservice

Friday, November 14, 2008
Eisenhower Community Center
1001 Highway 7, Hopkins, MN 55305

This ABE training opportunity is being offered in conjunction with the MN Department of Education and the ATLAS program at Hamline University.  CEUs indicating attendance will be provided.

Agenda

8:30-9:00        Registration, continental breakfast
9:00-9:20        Welcome
9:20-11:45      Concurrent Sessions (each session will be offered twice)

• Informal Conversation Activities for Multi-level Classrooms—Brenda Can and Nora White, Osseo ABE
  Looking for ways to get your students to practice “practicing English?” Do you feel like a broken record telling your students to practice outside of class, but they don’t?  This presentation will provide you with activities and ideas to get students talking on their own. The presenters have used these activities weekly in their program for the past four years. Time will be given to evaluate, provide feedback and brainstorm ways to adapt/change/expand the activity for your own use.
• Writing Grab Bag—Rob Podlasek, Minnesota Literacy Council
  Looking for writing activities that fall somewhere between “spell your name” and “let’s compose a GED essay?”  Come learn and try a variety of fun ideas aimed at intermediate-level writers.
• Bring Your Students to the Assessment: Testing Obstacles and Creating Instruction to Overcome Them—Garrett LePage, Minnesota Literacy Council, and Kara Schommer, Neighborhood House
  This session will explore common issues that students face when taking exams and the basic skill sets needed to perform well on exams. It will include test-prep strategies and classroom activities to incorporate testing structure into curriculum instruction.
• Online Resources for Post-Secondary Transition—Paula Freiermuth, Osseo ABE
  Investigate some online resources for post-secondary curriculum and instruction.
• New ABE Teacher Orientation—Astrid Liden and Patricia Pawlak, Literacy Minnesota Professional Issues Committee
  This session will provide an overview of Minnesota ABE.  A variety of topics will be covered, such as instructional practices, curriculum, policy, accountability, funding, and assessments.

11:45-12:40    Collective Intelligence

Collective intelligence sessions are a structured but informal way to harness the “collective intelligence” that already exists within ABE programs and providers. The following collective intelligence groups are planned. If you are interested in facilitating a group, please indicate on your registration form.

• Pre-literacy/beginning ESL
• Intermediate ESL
• Advanced ESL
• Beginning ABE
• Intermediate ABE/Pre-GED
• GED/Post-secondary transition
• Multi-level independent study
• Online classrooms (Mindquest, GED-i)
• STAR (STudent Achievement in Reading)

12:40-1:00      Closure, evaluations, CEU’s

Workshop Information

• Workshop cost: $10 (including breakfast and materials)
• Please address any event questions to Paula Freiermuth, West Metro Regional Professional Development Coordinator 
• For questions concerning registration, please contact: Marisa Squadrito Geisler, ATLAS Program Assistant

NOTE: Registrations must be received by THU. NOV. 6, 2008

 Registration Form:  Word / PDF     Register Online     Print Map