2007 Concurrent Sessions
Concurrent Sessions I: Thursday, 10:15-11:05
Concurrent Sessions II: Thursday, 11:10-12:00
Concurrent Sessions III: Thursday, 1:00-1:50
Concurrent Sessions IV: Thursday, 3:45-4:35
Concurrent Sessions V: Friday, 10:15-11:05
Concurrent Sessions VI: Friday, 11:10-12:00
Featured Speakers:
Top-Down/Bottom Up Pronunciation—It's not all in single sounds
but in sound units too.
Glenda Reece, ESL Training Services
Do you sometimes despair at your students’ pronunciation? This presentation will include and go beyond a focus on individual sound problems (a bottom-up approach) to the set of priorities you need in genuinely improving intelligibility and clarity (a top-down approach). The presentation includes lots of fun ideas (and an accent grading chart).
Differentiated Instruction: Grouping for Success
Vicki Gibson, Longmire Learning Center
Teachers need help with managing whole class and small group instruction. This session explains what differentiating instruction is and how to make it happen successfully in classrooms. It answers teachers’ most frequently asked question: “What are the rest of the students doing while I am working with a small group?”
The Teacher-Technology Interface
Paul Heacock, Cambridge University Press
The Internet, CD-ROMs, and other interactive technologies are increasingly commonplace in the language-learning environment. But can these tools alone teach students? The presenter examines the impact of technology on English teaching and discusses the critical role of the teacher in the wired world of today.
Concurrent Sessions:
Easy Broadcast Journalism
Cindy Bowling, East Garner Middle, Garner NC
Using basic AV equipment any classroom can become a TV studio! The presenter, Cindy Bowling, shares her 25 years experience as a professional television production assistant, with tips and tools to augment any journalism lesson.
How to Survive the National Board Process
Karen Fichter, Mary Fahle, Steve West & Laura Cernik, Wake County Schools
This session will begin with the presenters, all of whom are NBCTs in English as a New Language, giving tips and information about the certification process. It will end with a question and answer session so participants can better understand what this process entails.
Integrating Social Studies into the ESL Classroom
Karen Fichter, Zebulon Middle, Zebulon NC; Val Pinkney, Wake County ESL
This presentation will give participants information about the concepts/activities/strategies that should be included in shaping social studies instruction in the ESL classroom to help ELLs become more successful in the mainstream classroom.
Hybrid Courses: The Hows and Whys, the Ups and Downs
Scott Despain, NC State University
This presentation discusses the overall role of hybrid/blended courses in language education, the principal technologies and approaches, along with examples and associated pros and cons. Attendees can expect to gain a clear idea of how hybrid courses work, the reasons for and against blended courses, and the typical tool set.
Dynamic Assessment in the Chat Room Context
Mark Anthony Darhower, NC State University
This study employs dynamic assessment to illuminate the developmental process of advanced intermediate L2 learners as they narrate in an online chat room in the past time frame. The study aims to further understanding of dynamic assessment and the use of Internet chat in L2 learning.
Effective Assistance for ESL Students: The Students' Perspective
Andrea Belletti, New Hanover Co. Schools
In original research findings, ESL students are quoted discussing fears and surprises upon starting high school. They comment on personal and professional qualities and instructional practices of good and bad teachers, effective assessment modifications, academic support, and suggestions for ESL program improvement. Linguistic, academic, and social/cultural implications are discussed.
State ESL Update
Joanne Marino & Alesha McCauley, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
This session will provide an update of important happenings in the world of North Carolina ESL for 2007. We will discuss current LEP data, LEP testing, the new high school exit standards, and our state NC SIOP initiative. There will be a short time for questions at the end of the session.
Parent Involvement--Bridging the Cultural Gap
Sashi Rayasam, Durham Public Schools, Durham NC
The purpose of the session is a) to provide background information about of culturally diverse families and include them in the mainstream programs at the school, and b) focus on a variety of ideas to create a strong parent outreach program. The goal is to be able to find effective ways to welcome our culturally diverse families into our schools- when translation is not enough.
Reinforcing and Assessing Literacy Skills with "Out-the-Door" Activities
Mary-Ryan Smith, Wake County Public Schools
As an ESL teacher with only 30-35 minutes per day to spend with each group of students, I often ask myself, "How can I get to everything in such a short amount of time?" During this session, I will share quick and easy activities that ESL teachers can use to reinforce and assess literacy skills as students line up to leave class each day.
Strategies to Help ESL Students Participate in the Mainstream Classroom
Claudia Gomez, Daniels Middle School, Raleigh, NC
Novice ESL students avoid contact with English-speaking students and teachers in the mainstream classroom for many reasons: language barrier, cultural differences, fear. This presentation shows how novice ESL students feel in the classroom and examines strategies teachers can use to help novice speakers improve their communicative skills and class participation.
Learner Corpora--Fancy Name, Simple Concept, Useful Tool
Cynthia Walker, Georgia Perimeter College
Learn what learner corpora really are and, more importantly, how to use them to understand what your students know (and don't know) so you can teach more effectively. We’ll go through an actual case study demonstrating how to build and use learner corpora. Get hands-on experience using this "fancy" tool.
Get Your Hands On SIOP
Ivanna Mann Thrower & Joan Rolston, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
Hands-on activities offer students access to content in creative ways, but the material may still not TRULY be accessible to the ELL. How do you SIOP your tried and true activities? In this interactive workshop, participants will review the SIOP Model and create SIOPed versions of favorite activities.
Collaborative Teaching--Models of Inclusion
AliceAnne Kern, Courtney Chavez, Emily White & Matthew Gamble, Durham Public Schools
“It takes a village to raise a child.” With the increase of the ELL population and the pressure of AYPs and of passing standardized tests within a year or two of the arrival of ELLs in the US, we have to find more effective ways of reaching our students. We will explore a variety of models of inclusion and collaborative teaching to empower mainstream and ESL teachers to serve ELLs effectively.
Schedules and Teachers and Credits, Oh My!!!!!
Mary Fahle, Steve West & Haley Stallworth, Wake County Public Schools
This presentation will explore proven and practical strategies that can be effectively implemented to interface ESL programs with Student Services. A designated ESL counselor, equipped with knowledge and compassion, can be a driving force for success of the total child.
Latino Parent Educational Training
Maria Rosa Rangel, Wake County Public Schools
The Latino population is the fastest growing ethnic minority in the United States. This group is rapidly changing the face of public schools and presenting a unique set of challenges to public education. As educators we often take for granted the parents of these students. We need to be able to provide them with trainings that includes how to understand the U.S. Educational System, what parental involvement is, how to have an effective parent/teacher conference, parent’s rights, and gang awareness. In this training you will be trained to become a trainer. The first 20 people will receive a copy of this curriculum guide to provide this training in Spanish.
Best Practices for Teaching Limited English Proficient Students
Claudia Gomez (Daniels Middle School, Raleigh NC), Rebecca Blomgren (Greensboro College), Jorge Zuluaga-Urrea (Deep River Elementary, Sanford NC), Walter Christian (Wake County Schools) & Amanda Wimmer (Danville City Schools VA)
This panel of special educators will discuss the big questions of why LEP students are a challenge to regular classroom teachers. Participants will share their thoughts on best practices for teaching LEP students, focusing on literacy and mathematics instruction and accommodations.
SIOP Implementation--Ideas for Program Design
Joan Rolston, Charlotte-Mecklenburg International Center
As the SIOP program continues to grow in North Carolina, the topic of implementation and program design has become an integral part of SIOP professional development. This interactive workshop will allow teachers and administrators the opportunity to explore a variety of SIOP program designs.
A Crash Course in ESL
Carrie Hill, ESL Innovations
To effectively educate ESL students, ESL teachers must equip regular classroom teachers with the knowledge and skills to reach the ESL students in their own classrooms. How do ESL teachers accomplish this? What is the essential information that regular classroom teachers need? What resources can be provided to classroom teachers to educate them about ESL and testing, modifying content teaching, and the complexities of language acquisition? Come to this session to receive resources to educate classroom teachers and learn about other opportunities for getting the word out about ESL in your schools.
Mastering the Magic and Madness of the Multilevel Classroom
Jayme Adelson-Goldstein, Los Angeles Unified School District
Successful multilevel instruction is part madness part magic. Come discover, practice, and prepare to apply instructional strategies that address the challenges of the multilevel environment: •building class community; •linking level objectives; •creating whole class presentations; and •using same- and mixed-level activities to match learners’ diverse needs.
Picturing Success in the Multilevel Classroom
Jayme Adelson-Goldstein, LA Unified School Distict
Visuals are an essential tool in ESL instruction and picture dictionaries are a wonderful source of those visuals. Come learn how the same picture dictionary we use to present vocabulary can also provide a wealth of meaningful multilevel communication tasks--helping our learners practice and use the language they’ve learned.
Eliciting Student Stories
Kathleen (Kathie) Baggott, Melissa Richer, Ana Sinclair, Elena Guy & Susan Hoffman, Wake Technical Community College
This session focuses on how to elicit ESL student stories and suggests ways to communicate these stories to the larger community. In this endeavor students engage the community in language learning and the community hears first-hand accounts of varied immigrant experiences. While this workshop builds on experiences with Adult ESL students, the information can be applied to any ESL classroom.
“The Land of Osbasdo”
Edith Cowper, Wake Technical Community College
Never lived in another country? Here’s your chance for foreign adventure in “The Land of Osbasdo.” Participants will simulate and experience entering another culture. This activity will help instructors understand some of the challenges international students face as new residents of the US. Minimum of 12 participants needed.
Conversational Ballgames—why your students converse awkwardly—and some solutions
Glenda Reece, ESL Training Services
ESL teachers are often surprised when their students do well in class but can't carry on a conversation. Perhaps their conversational style is nowhere near that of English speakers. What if you are playing tennis while your student learned only to bowl? This look at cultures, with a few solutions, should help everyone involved. Let's look at many cultures and see if they play soccer… or wrestle in a conversation.
The Oral Proficiency Rating FSI: The basics of oral testing
Glenda Reece, ESL Training Services
Just how do you rate the spoken language of your student? The FSI Oral Proficiency Rating is the grandfather of all the oral tests. Yet, this public domain material is vital to any successful ESL teacher. Learn the rating scale and the terminology and feel secure in your oral testing success. Suggestions on interviewing are included.
Literacy Research among Latino Children
Tonya Wolford, NC State University
This paper discusses methods for conducting literacy research among elementary school children with non-standard home dialects, specifically those who are exposed to Spanish in the home. I will focus on ways to use traditional educational research methods in combination with sociolinguistic methodologies to improve reading among this population.
Strategies for Identifying and Differentiating Instruction for Gifted ESL Students at the Elementary Level
Claudia Villafuerte, Casa Esperanza Montessori Charter School, Raleigh NC
After extensive research in identification of gifted ESL students, as well as how programs for gifted populations meet gifted ESL students' needs, some strategies are presented for a more proper identification of this minority group at the elementary level, as well as for differentiated instruction that could meet and nurture the particular needs of gifted ESL students.
What are the Essential Elements for Providing Services to LEP Students? - an Overview
Joy McLaughlin, Director, LEP Program Services, Asheboro City Schools
Often we try to close the achievement gap by opting for remedial programs, providing EC services or changing our models of delivery of ESL services to close the achievement gap. The mistake that we make is taking a fragmented approach that does not always include the essential elements for LEP success. This presentation addresses the considerations that must be addressed in designing the best models for student achievement.
Integrating Technology Tools into the ESL Curriculum
Nancy Swisher, NC State University
This session will address the effectiveness and ease of use of various technology tools to engage students in interactive learning both in and beyond the classroom. The presenter will demonstrate how podcasts, voice tools, blogs and wikis can be tailored to fit your students' needs and will offer practical tips on how to get started.