Serving Refugees, New Americans, and Immigrants in Adult Education PLC

This PLC will connect adult education practitioners (regional specialists, ESOL coordinators, instructors, tutors, etc.) who are serving or expect to serve the refugee, new American, and/or immigrant populations to discuss strategies and resources for working with these learners.

PLC Dates & Topics: 

• Thursday, Jan. 26: Cultural competence for working with diverse adult learners 

• Thursday, Feb. 23: Instruction: Literacy at all levels and balancing learner goals

• Thursday, March 23: Culturally responsive practices and an asset-based approach to support diverse learners

• Thursday, April 27: Trauma-informed care and social-emotional learning

This PLC will meet monthly from January - April 2023. Each session will take place on a Thursday from 3:00 - 4:30 PM via Zoom and will include 2-3 hours of asynchronous work per month, such as watching recorded webinars, reading articles, reviewing instructional toolkits, responding to reflection questions, applying content to the classroom, etc.

Please contact Hali Massey at VALRC with any questions!

VALRC IET & IELCE PLC

Integrated Education and Training (IET) & Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education (IELCE) Professional Learning Community

Session 3 is Tuesday, November 15; 12:30p - 2p

Register here.

Session 3 will focus on key takeaways from the Career Pathways Summit, including research on what works in workforce development AND considerations for working with adults with disabilities. 

Final session 12:30p - 2p on December 6

Teaching the Skills That Matter: EdTech Maker Space

Many of you already know about and use the Teaching the Skills That Matter in Adult Education (TSTM) Toolkit, a free online resource to help teachers integrate the skills that matter to adult learners using approaches that work across critical topic areas. 

Now, American Institutes for Research (AIR) joins with the EdTech Center @ World Education in the TSTM-Skillblox project that will supplement the TSTM Toolkit with expanded digital resources, tools, and instructional supports.

Adult educators can be part of this project by joining a TSTM EdTech Maker Space: learning about TSTM while collaborating to curate and contribute resources. Previous participation in TSTM training is not required. The first TSTM EdTech Maker Space begins in June!

VALRC IET & IELCE PLC

Join VALRC for the IET & IELCE PLC February–May, 2022 - First Meeting is Tuesday, February 8, 12:30 - 2pm

This PLC will meet monthly from February–May, 2022 from 12:30 - 2 p.m. 

• Tues. February 8: IET From Start to Finish: Step-by-Step Process for Planning & Implementation - Resources, Examples, and Checklists

• Wed. March 2: IET Planning Tool & Articulating our Role in Career Pathways with Heidi Silver-Pacuilla

• Tues. March 29: Contextualizing Instruction & Locating Occupational Training Content

• Wed. April 20: Recruitment Strategies to Expand your IETs

• May TBD: IELCE

The PLC will support practitioners by 

• bringing in expert guest speakers to provide new perspectives,

• building networks across regions,

• providing a collaborative space to share and build IET resources, and

• supporting a forum for peer-to-peer brainstorming and technical assistance.

We’ll be utilizing and building upon the new IET Blueprint tool and working together to build up a database of resources and planning tools to support continuing and future IETs across Virginia.

Please contact Kate Rolander at VALRC with any questions!

Teacher Leader 101 PLC

Join VALRC for the Teacher Leader PLC February - May 2022 Register by Tuesday, Feb. 15; Registration will cap at 25 participants.

By the end of the teacher leader PLC, participants will be ready to apply a toolbox of culturally responsive education strategies and tools to strengthen teacher-teacher and teacher-student interactions through 

• Recognizing how growth mindset impacts learning,

• Questioning to achieve more directed goal-setting,

• Applying culturally responsive frameworks for learning and teaching, and

• Using feedback models to foster constructive changes in learning and teaching.

Teachers will leave with resources and frameworks to apply to their unique situations and roles as teacher leaders, peers, and instructors.

 VALRC is hosting the PLC, joined by previous Teacher Leader PLC members who will facilitate or share at this spring's sessions. 

This PLC will meet monthly from February - May 2022 Each session will take place on a Tuesday from 12:00 - 1:30 PM via Zoom. 

• Session dates: Feb. 22, March 22, April 19, and May 17

Please contact Elizabeth Severson-Irby at VALRC with any questions!

Teaching the Skills That Matter: Workforce Preparation Professional Learning Community

The Teaching the Skills That Matter in Adult Education project (TSTM) trains teachers to integrate the skills that matter to adult students using approaches that work across critical topics. Using the project's tools and training, adult education teachers can teach the transferable skills students need in these critical contexts.

TSTM: Workforce Preparation PLC begins Wednesday, January 26, 2022!

Do you want to learn more about the classroom-ready lessons and other resources in the TSTM Toolkit?
Do you want to work with experienced facilitators and colleagues around the state to adapt TSTM lessons to support your adult learners?

Do you want to gain ideas for incorporating workforce preparation skills and activities into your teaching?

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If you answered "yes," then join us for the Winter 2022 TSTM: Workforce Preparation PLC. This three-week, nine-hour PLC is streamlined for instructors and designed to help teachers harness the power of the TSTM Toolkit in their current classroom or learning environment.

 This PLC includes:

• 3, 90-minute "live" PLC sessions, held Wednesdays from 3:30 to 5 p.m. on January 26, February 2, and February 9.

• An online community for sharing and communicating with PLC colleagues and facilitators, and

• A 90-minute follow-up session on Wednesday, March 9, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. focused on sustaining TSTM.

Serving Refugees PLC

Registration is NOW OPEN

This PLC will connect adult education practitioners (regional specialists, ESOL coordinators, instructors, tutors, etc.) who are or expect to serve the refugee population to discuss strategies and resources for working with this specific population. 

 PLC Topics: 

• Connecting with the refugee resettlement agencies and community liaisons

• Instructing emerging English language learners

• Training ESOL or ABE teachers in low-literacy virtual and in-person instruction

• Utilizing culturally responsive practices to support instructing refugees

While VALRC is hosting the PLC, there will be additional guest speakers to speak to specific topics related to serving the refugee population.

This PLC will meet monthly from January - April 2022. The day/time of meetings will be established based on the availability of participants, but our first meeting will take place the week of Jan. 24th. 

 Please contact Hali Massey at VALRC with any questions!

Course Schedule:

• January - April 2022

Register by Monday, January 17, 2022. Click the button below to register.

Professional Learning Community (PLC) on Improving Reading Instruction in Print Skills

New Cohort Enrolling Now

The first step in helping learners improve their reading is to help them strengthen their print skills, which consists of alphabetics and fluency. Did you know that many adult learners, even those who can read and comprehend at higher levels, struggle with these skills?  No matter what level learner you work with, this PLC will provide you with information about and strategies to help you incorporate alphabetic skills and fluency into your lessons. This PLC will be a blend of online learning and virtual meetings.

Throughout the PLC, participants will:

• collaborate with others to improve lessons,

• gather useful resources,

• gain a deeper understanding of how alphabetic skills and fluency affect comprehension, and

• learn how to contextualize these skills in their lessons.

Course Runs for six-weeks:

• January 20 - March 2

Click the button below to register.

ELPS and Adult Educators

New Cohort Enrolling Now

ELPS and Adult Educators is a six-week online course designed to give participants a deep dive into the English Language Proficiency Standards for Adult Education or ELPS. The course is geared toward teachers who are new to the standards and who currently teach English language learners (ELLs)at any level, including ESOL, ABE, and ASE.

This six-week course will provide participants with an overview of the ELPS report that was released to the field of adult education in 2016. Participants will explore the five sections of the ELPS, develop a basic understanding of social and academic varieties of language learning, and utilize the ELPS to design instructional activities that support academic language learning and transitioning ELLs to postsecondary education and employment.

Course Runs for six-weeks:

• January 20 - March 2

Click the button below to register.

Sector Strategies and Career Pathways Academy

New Cohort Enrolling Now

New cohorts of the SSCPA Foundations course are starting in October and December: 

Upcoming SSCPA Cohort Dates:

• Wednesday, October 27 and Friday, October 29

• Wednesday, December 8 and Friday, December 10

Sign up and expand our growing career development network! See above flyer for more details.

Improving Reading Instruction in Meaning Skills PLC

How can you help your learners build vocabulary, without rote memorization, and improve reading comprehension through contextualized lessons? No matter what level learner you work with, this PLC will help you learn how to weave vocabulary and comprehension skills into any lesson. This PLC complements Print Skills; however, Print Skills is not a prerequisite for this course. This PLC will be a blend of online learning and virtual meetings. Throughout the PLC, participants will:

• collaborate with others to improve lessons

• gather useful resources

• gain a deeper understanding of the importance of vocabulary and comprehension

• learn how to contextualize these skills in their lessons

The requirements for this PLC are slightly different than other online courses offered through the VALRC. Because this is a PLC, participants will be required to attend a virtual meeting each week where the group will discuss the weekly content and assignments. It is expected that participants will complete the weekly coursework prior to the PLC meeting in order to maximize the time together and have rich discussions about the content.

The virtual meetings will be held on Wednesdays from 2:00-3:30 p.m.

IET PLC Workgroup Fall 2021

Who

This PLC Workgroup is geared toward practitioners who are currently implementing or planning to implement IET programs, including IELCE and PluggedInVA. 

All instructors, program managers, regional specialists, support staff, and others involved in (or considering involvement in) the planning, implementation, or evaluation of an IET/IELCE are encouraged to participate. The more experiences represented in the group, the better! 

Why

The PLC Workgroup will support practitioners by 

• building networks across regions, 

• providing a virtual collaborative space to share and build IET resources, and 

• supporting a forum for peer-to-peer brainstorming and technical assistance.

What

The overarching goals of this PLC are 

1. to build a peer-to-peer network of IET and IELCE practitioners where we can share expertise, ideas, and resources to build up our IET programs; and 

2. to collaborate to build a library of IET tools (through the newly developed IET Blueprint) for use in programs across the state, across skill levels, and across a range of industry clusters. 

Facilitators: Kate Rolander and Hali Massey from VALRC will serve as the primary facilitators with invited guests to provide additional guidance and resources as needs arise. 

When 

In addition to asynchronous resource-sharing and discussion, as well as access to a virtual IET network, we will hold 4 virtual PLC sessions from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the following Tuesdays: 

1. September 14

2. October 12 

3. November 2

4. November 30 

While we strongly encourage and prefer participation in ALL synchronous sessions, we recognize the full schedules all of you have this fall. 
We welcome participation at any level that is convenient and valuable for you!

More about content

Content will be largely be responsive to the needs and interests of the group; however, we will cover the following topics, providing tools and resources for the PLC: 

• IET/IELCE planning, implementation, and evaluation tools and checklists

• Marketing and recruiting for IETs (sample materials, strategies for reaching new audiences, leveraging partner resources)

• Designing IETs for adults at lower literacy skill levels 

• Data collection for IET evaluations and continuous improvement

• Models for developing unified competency lists with all three IET components

• Building Capstone projects (i.e., example projects and how to develop projects with partners and learners) 

• Leveraging partnerships (building student supports and engaging employers) 

For more information or with any questions, reach out to Kate Rolander at kedaly@vcu.edu. 

Let us know your thoughts: If you are unsure of your schedule and still interested in participating, please fill out this brief form to give us a better idea of how we can best support you with the PLC and workgroup.