Although not strictly for adult learners, the book Creating Classrooms for
Authors and Inquirers by Kathy Short, Jerome Harste & Carolyn Burke
(published by Heinemann) is a good resource for cooperative learning
techniques. It uses the authoring cycle as a curricular framework.  
Barbara Jacala 

-----Original Message-----
From: professionaldevelopment-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:professionaldevelopment-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of
professionaldevelopment-request at nifl.gov
Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2007 3:00 AM
To: professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov
Subject: ProfessionalDevelopment Digest, Vol 27, Issue 5

Send ProfessionalDevelopment mailing list submissions to
	professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov

To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
	http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/professionaldevelopment
or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
	professionaldevelopment-request at nifl.gov

You can reach the person managing the list at
	professionaldevelopment-owner at nifl.gov

When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than
"Re: Contents of ProfessionalDevelopment digest..."


Today's Topics:

   1. [ProfessionalDevelopment 1771] Searching for cooperative
      learning	PD opportunities (karisa tashjian)
   2. [ProfessionalDevelopment 1772] Re: Universal design,
      evidence-based teaching practices (Michael Tate)
   3. [ProfessionalDevelopment 1773] Re: Searching for	cooperative
      learning	PD opportunities (Emma Bourassa)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2007 10:49:26 -0800 (PST)
From: karisa tashjian <ktashjian at yahoo.com>
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1771] Searching for cooperative
	learning	PD opportunities
To: professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov
Message-ID: <663186.45988.qm at web52709.mail.re2.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Hi all,

Do you suggestions of where I can direct a teacher interested in learning
more about using cooperative learning techniques in an adult ESL classroom?
Books, online courses, etc?

Thank you so much,
Karisa Tashjian
Literacy Program Coordinator
The Rhode Island Family Literacy Initiative Providence, RI


       
---------------------------------
Get easy, one-click access to your favorites.  Make Yahoo! your homepage.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL:
http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/professionaldevelopment/attachments/20071203/2
b94f321/attachment-0001.html 

------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2007 11:45:39 -0800
From: "Michael Tate" <mtate at sbctc.edu>
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1772] Re: Universal design,
	evidence-based teaching practices
To: "The Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List"
	<professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov>
Message-ID:
	<0CA6C79FCB4AC642A77B76C17A4316EE0231353C at exch-1.sbctc2.local>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi David, and others,

 

Universal design would also include 1) making a class syllabus available
prior to the start of the class, so slow readers and those who know they
will have other claims on their reading time during the quarter can start
early, 2) designing tests without time limits, so that those who have slow
processing speed or who find the best answers by reflecting on the question
and the answer over a longer time frame are not disadvantaged,  3) designing
tests that allow students to demonstrate their knowledge orally, in short
answers, or through projects, 4) designing calculators into math classes and
tests, so that those who have short term memory deficits or who understand
the principles but get tangled up in the calculations can demonstrate their
knowledge.  

 

For evidence based instruction, 1)  build strategy instruction into lessons
so that teachers teach how to use a  reading strategy  so students can
practice it on the coming essay assignment, 6) build your class around
graphic organizers, so that students can understand how the classes connect
to their goals, and how today's lesson connects to the class goals.
Strategy instruction and graphic organizers are essential for students with
LD, and are very beneficial to the rest of the students in class.  Another
evidence-based practice, feedback, again is crucial for students with LD,
but again is beneficial to all students.
Have teachers build activities and classes that have frequent feedback
points, so students can gauge how well they are mastering a learning point.
Ideally, the feedback would be multimodal as the instruction has been.  

 

As a field we underuse haptic and kinesthetic approaches, so building
hands-on activities into classes will be beneficial for all learners while
being critical for students with disabilities that interfere with listening
or reading. 

 

Michael Tate

 

From: professionaldevelopment-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:professionaldevelopment-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J.
Rosen
Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2007 6:59 AM
To: The Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1767] Universal design,evidence-based
teaching practices

 

Hello Kate, and others, 

 

On Nov 30, 2007, at 10:57 AM, Kate.Brandt at mail.cuny.edu wrote:

 

	I also  have some questions about the standards.  What is "universal
design?"  And exactly which evidence-based teaching practices
will we, as staff developers, be expected to pass on to teachers?     

 

In the proposed AALPD Professional Development Standards there is a
reference, in two of the indicators under standard 2, to "universal
design":

 

-----------

Standard 2. Prepares practitioners to appreciate and respond to the needs of
all students, create supportive environments, and hold high expectations for
all learners. 

 

Indicator (a)  PD planning takes into account the principles of universal
design

Indicator (b)  PD providers are trained in the principles of universal
design

-----------

 

Universal Design

 

This is evironmental design that helps everyone, not just people with
disabilities. A curb cut in a sidewalk, for example, makes crossing a street
easier for those pushing strollers and those on roller skates, bicycles and
skateboards, (the great majority of the people who use curb
cuts) as well as those in wheelchairs.  

 

In a classroom or computer lab universal design refers to the idea that it
is not sufficient to have separate, sometimes stigmatizing assists for
learners with disabilities; instead, the entire learning environment
-- including technology -- should accommodate the widest range of learners,
including those with physical and learning disabilities. 

 

Universal Design and Technology

 

An example of universal design in technology is a software feature, found
now in nearly all  personal computers, that allows users to increase the
size of the text.  This helps people who have difficulty seeing small text,
including those who are more severely sight-impaired.
Another technology example is the text-to-speech software found in many
computers, and that could easily be installed in all computers, that enables
people who are legally blind to have text, including web pages, read out
loud. This software may also be useful to those who have specific reading
disabilities.  

 

For more information on universal design you might look at:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_design

 

For a definition of universal design in a learning environment, you could
look at:

http://www.cast.org/research/udl/index.html

 

or

 

http://telr.osu.edu/dpg/fastfact/undesign.html

 

or

 

http://www.nectac.org/topics/atech/udl.asp

 

 

As for which evidence-based practices should be "passed on", the AALPD
standards are not intended to be prescriptive in this area, but they do
embrace both research (not necessarily "gold standard") and professional
wisdom (which in my opinion has not yet been adequately defined in our
field). Standard 5 focuses on practitioners' abilities to evaluate and apply
research (including professional wisdom) and theory. I believe that the idea
of Standard 5 is not to push any particular evidence-based practice but
rather to help practitioners become skilled in evaluating and applying (and
then judging the results of using) evidence-based practices.

 

David J. Rosen

djrosen at comcast.net

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL:
http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/professionaldevelopment/attachments/20071203/a
c83667d/attachment-0001.html 

------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Mon, 03 Dec 2007 12:09:20 -0800
From: "Emma Bourassa" <ebourassa at tru.ca>
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1773] Re: Searching for	cooperative
	learning	PD opportunities
To: <professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov>
Message-ID: <47540E19.8103.007D.0 at tru.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

Hi there,
There is a nice overview at this address:
http://www.utc.edu/Administration/WalkerTeachingResourceCenter/FacultyDevelo
pment/CooperativeLearning/index.html 

as well as some ready to try structures and techniques emma

Emma Bourassa
English as a Second or Additional Language/ Teaching English as a Second
Language Instructor ESAL Department Thompson Rivers University 900 McGill
Road. P.O. Box 3010 Kamloops, B.C. V2C 5N3
(250) 371-5895
fax 371-5514
ebourassa at tru.ca



------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------
National Institute for Literacy
Adult Literacy Professional Development mailing list
professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov
 
To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to
http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/professionaldevelopment
 
Professional Development section of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki
http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Adult_Literacy_Professional_Developme
nt

End of ProfessionalDevelopment Digest, Vol 27, Issue 5
******************************************************