Despite what the weather may be doing, Spring is upon us with Summer closely following. Looking forward, there are some important reminders and new opportunities to share. Apologies for the length of this message, please read to the bottom as there are several important opportunities!
Virtual SIOP Mini-Grants
First, there continues to be opportunities to participate in the Virtual SIOP Mini-Grants. Please see this previous post for more information. We encourage all educators to participate who wish to develop skills to better serve English Learners (not just ESL endorsed teachers).Our Kids
“Speaking for All Learners” will be held on June 12-13, 2018 from 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. at North Polk High School. PK-12 educators will have the opportunity to network with other educational professionals, discover new strategies for working with English language learners in Iowa and meet national and local experts to enrich practices for increasing EL achievement.
Keynoters
Ayanna Cooper, Ed.D
Dr. Ayanna Cooper is an ELL specialist who has extensive and diverse experience teaching educators how to enhance instruction for culturally and linguistically diverse learners. Dr. Cooper is nationally recognized in the EL field and has done much research and is published in this arena.
David Edward Garcia
Growing up on the Mexican border in Texas, David Edward Garcia shares his inspiring story of living in two worlds-linguistically and culturally. Growing up as an EL, he did not experience academic success but has become a successful speaker of five languages, teacher, entrepreneur, comedian and an inspiration to both students and educators. Garcia will offer a keynote as well as breakout sessions for teachers and instructional leaders/administrators about strategies for meeting the academic needs of English Learners.
Conference topics include:
- Strategies for addressing barriers to academic and language learning for English Learners in the classroom
- Best practices for supporting early childhood language acquisition for preschool English Learners
- Instructional leadership strategies for English language learning programs
- Connecting and collaborating with other educators responsible for the success of English Learners
- And many more learning opportunities and topics from experts in educating English Learners!
As in the past, GHAEA will provide for district staff registration and hotel accommodations. Please register here before going to the Heartland AEA registration so that you can use a Green Hills PO #.
Summer School for English Learners
As a pilot, Green Hills AEA will be offering support for ESL endorsed teachers to provide summer school LIEP instruction to their English Learners. This support will entail reimbursing school districts for the hourly cost of ESL endorsed teachers providing this direct instruction in June 2018. More information and an application form will be shared soon.
Please direct questions to Joe Woracek (jworacek@ghaea.org)
