VALRC

VALRC: Using Interactive Data Maps
2023-01-30 13:00 - 14:30 (America/New_York) | Virtual
Come learn how to use the PIAAC and Barbara Bush Foundation interactive data maps to help identify the scope of need in your area. You will also learn how the information in these maps can help when writing grant applications, talking to business and workforce partners, or when planning outreach. Both maps use results from the PIAAC Survey of Adult Skills.
Register Here

VALRC: IET/IELCE Instructors Professional Learning Community
2023-01-31 15:30 - 17:00 | Virtual
This PLC is an opportunity for integrated training and education (IET) and Integrated English Literacy and Civics (IELCE) instructors to network and collaborate in order to develop IET/IELCE lesson plans, curriculum, learner activities, assessments, etc. The purpose of this PLC is to be responsive to and relevant for IET/IELCE instructors as our first ever IET/IELCE offering geared towards instructors. See this Google Doc to learn more about this PLC!
The focus of this first session is for instructors to network with colleagues from around the state who are working in the same or similar industry clusters and instructing similar learners. The focus of the following sessions will be based on the goals and needs expressed by instructors in this first session.
Register Here

LINCS: Building Career and Technical Education Programs In Rural Areas
2023-02-01 15:00 - 16:00 | Virtual
How can we build robust career and technical education programs in rural America? Join this interactive event to discuss and share ideas, learn from colleagues, and then continue the discussion in the LINCS Community.
Register Here

Disabilities and the Adult Learner Online Course
2023-02-02 - 2023-03-15
This 6-week course will help you discover the keys to strengthening your work with adults who have disabilities.
Registration

ESOL Basics Online Course
2023-02-02 - 2023-03-29
This course is designed for adult educators who are new to teaching English to speakers of other languages (ESOL).
Registration

LINCS: Math Language Routines
2023-02-06 14:00 - 15:00 | Virtual
Join LINCS to learn about how supporting English learners with math language routines enhances their understanding of mathematics and simultaneously builds their English skills. Maribel Ojeda of the Pennsylvania Department of Education will share practical strategies for integrating math language routines into instruction for adult education instructors who teach English learners in ESOL, ABE and HSE classes.
Register Here

EdTech Strategy Sessions: Non-linear Learning & Using Glide to Create an App with On-Demand PD Resources
2023-02-10 13:00 - 14:00 | Virtual
In the first lightning talk, Joey Lehrman of the International Society for Technology in Education SkillRise will discuss how interactive Google Slides can support digital resilience and independent learning for adult educators and students. Then, learn how Jose Adorno from the Digital Adult Training & Development Network at EdAdvance has curated PD resources for teachers that are available on their mobile phones.
Register Here

ACT® WorkKeys®: Turning Digital Badges into Career Currency
2023-02-15 14:00 - 15:15 | Virtual
This webinar that will highlight:

the true value of stackable, quality credentials;
digital badges and why they are important to students;
the importance of building partnerships with your community and local employers; and
the value of digital badges beyond the workplace.

Visit this website to learn more!
Register Here

LINCS: The Color of Education
2023-02-16 15:00 - 16:00 | Virtual
The Color of Education will explore the issue of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the correctional and reentry classrooms across our country. This engaging and interactive event will bring the issues of diversity front and center as we celebrate Black History Month. Our nationally recognized guest, Tina Moore Gilbert, will guide us through the discussion as we consider ways that educators and administrators in the correctional and reentry settings can move the ball to creating a more inclusive and equitable educational system.
Register Here

VALRC: Cultural Competence in Adult Education Webinar
2023-02-16 15:30 - 17:00 | Virtual
This webinar will be an introduction to and overview of cultural competence in the adult education classroom. The goals of the webinar are to provide a framework for cultural competence that can impact the adult education classroom, discuss strategies for developing and self-assessing cultural competence, and present strategies for incorporating cultural competence into adult education classrooms and instruction.
At VALRC we acknowledge that this work is continuous and on-going. Our goal is to start this conversation with the field at this webinar and to continue it through other types of professional development and support. Adult educators who join this webinar will receive information and resources on cultural competence development. Additionally, participants will have the opportunity to discuss strategies and practices for developing and integrating cultural competence into the classroom.
Register Here

VALRC: Key Shifts Series - Teaching with Complex Texts
2023-02-21 13:00 - 14:30 | Virtual
Teaching with the CCRS Key Shifts is a series of workshops designed to provide evidence-based strategies for working with complexity, evidence, and knowledge. Each workshop focuses on a different English language arts/literacy key shift and encourages an interactive learning experience. Participants will engage in several activities they can take back to the classroom to help their learners interact with texts in a more meaningful way. The workshops are appropriate for anyone teaching reading, writing, or language skills, and last 90 minutes.
Dates:

Teaching with Complex Texts: A Workshop – Tuesday, February 21, 2023, 1-2:30pm
Teaching Learners to Use Evidence: A Workshop – Tuesday, March 7, 2023, 1-2:30pm
Teaching to Build Knowledge: A Workshop – Tuesday, March 21, 2023, 1-2:30pm

Register here. In the registration form you will indicate which workshop(s) you would like to attend. The same zoom link will be used for each workshop.

LINCS: What is Dyscalculia?
2023-02-22 15:30 - 16:30 | Virtual
Join LINCS to discuss dyscalculia, a math disability. In this session, participants will learn more about potential signs of dyscalculia and strategies for supporting identified learners. Bring your stories and resources for supporting these learners in your classroom!
Register Here

VALRC: Serving Refugees, New Americans, & Immigrants PLC
2023-02-23 15:00 - 16:30 | Virtual
This professional learning community (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.
This session will focus on instruction, incorporating literacy at all levels and balancing learner goals. Visit this Google Doc to learn more about the PLC!
Register Here

LINCS: Digital Portfolios: Grow, Create, Reflect
2023-02-23 16:00 - 17:00 | Virtual
Learn about the benefits of digital portfolios in the classroom, to showcase student growth, creativity, and reflection through 21st Century Learning Skills. In this hands-on session, participants will be walking away with lesson ideas for their classroom and making their own sample portfolio using Google Sites. Visit this website to learn more!
Register Here

LINCS: Teacher-Centered Coaching for Improved Literacy Outcomes
2023-02-27 12:00 - 13:00 | Virtual
Join this session to learn more about teacher-centered coaching for improved literacy outcomes! Coaching expert Susan Roberts, moderator of the LINCS Reading and Writing group, will share her thoughts on how to support instructors so they can help their students achieve improved reading and writing outcomes.
Register Here

VALRC: IET/IELCE Instructors Professional Learning Community
2023-02-28 15:30 - 17:00 | Virtual
This PLC is an opportunity for integrated training and education (IET) and Integrated English Literacy and Civics (IELCE) instructors to network and collaborate in order to develop IET/IELCE lesson plans, curriculum, learner activities, assessments, etc. The purpose of this PLC is to be responsive to and relevant for IET/IELCE instructors as our first ever IET/IELCE offering geared towards instructors. See this Google Doc to learn more about this PLC!

VALRC: The Change Agent for ABE & HSE Instruction
2023-03-01 13:00 - 14:00 | Online
The Change Agent is a magazine for adult educators and learners that features relevant, engaging articles — most of them written by adult learners. In this webinar, Cynthia Peters, longtime educator and editor of The Change Agent, will introduce Virginia instructors to this standards-aligned resource and how it can be used to teach reading, writing, and even math. She will demonstrate how Virginia teachers can make use of their free access to The Change Agent and include practical, time-saving teaching ideas and tips.
The Change Agent features writings by adult learners and aims to inspire adult educators and learners to make civic participation and social justice part of their teaching and learning. Each issue explores a different topic through student writing, news articles, opinion pieces, classroom activities, poems, graphics, and cartoons. The Change Agent website includes many additional resources, including audio versions of articles, leveled texts, links between specific Change Agent articles and the College and Career Readiness Standards, and extra resources for each issue.
This webinar focuses on adult basic education (ABE) and adult secondary education (ASE)/high school equivalency (HSE) instruction, but all Virginia adult educators are welcome to attend. A session focused on using The Change Agent with English language learners will be offered on March 2, 2023. If you have questions about accessing The Change Agent (for free) as a Virginia adult educator, please contact Hillary Major, hmajor@vcu.edu, at VALRC.

VALRC: The Change Agent for English Language Instruction
2023-03-02 15:30 - 16:30 | Online
The Change Agent is a magazine for adult educators and learners that features relevant, engaging articles — most of them written by adult learners. In this webinar, Cynthia Peters, longtime educator and editor of The Change Agent, will introduce Virginia instructors to this standards-aligned resource and how it can be used to teach English language learners. She will demonstrate how Virginia teachers can make use of their free access to The Change Agent and include practical, time-saving teaching ideas and tips.
The Change Agent features writings by adult learners and aims to inspire adult educators and learners to make civic participation and social justice part of their teaching and learning. Each issue explores a different topic through student writing, news articles, opinion pieces, classroom activities, poems, graphics, and cartoons. The Change Agent website includes many additional resources, including audio versions of articles, leveled texts, links between specific Change Agent articles and the College and Career Readiness Standards, and extra resources for each issue.
This webinar focuses on English language acquisition and civics instruction, but all Virginia adult educators are welcome to attend. A session focused on using The Change Agent with ABE and HSE learners will be offered on March 1, 2023. If you have questions about accessing The Change Agent (for free) as a Virginia adult educator, please contact Hillary Major, hmajor@vcu.edu, at VALRC.

VALRC: Key Shifts Series - Teaching Learners to Use Evidence
2023-03-07 13:00 - 14:30 | Virtual
Teaching with the CCRS Key Shifts is a series of workshops designed to provide evidence-based strategies for working with complexity, evidence, and knowledge. Each workshop focuses on a different English language arts/literacy key shift and encourages an interactive learning experience. Participants will engage in several activities they can take back to the classroom to help their learners interact with texts in a more meaningful way. The workshops are appropriate for anyone teaching reading, writing, or language skills, and last 90 minutes.
Dates:

Teaching with Complex Texts: A Workshop – Tuesday, February 21, 2023, 1-2:30pm
Teaching Learners to Use Evidence: A Workshop – Tuesday, March 7, 2023, 1-2:30pm
Teaching to Build Knowledge: A Workshop – Tuesday, March 21, 2023, 1-2:30pm

VALRC: Key Shifts Series - Teaching to Build Knowledge
2023-03-21 13:00 - 14:30 | Virtual

VALRC: Serving Refugees, New Americans, and Immigrants PLC
2023-03-23 15:00 - 16:30 | Virtual
This professional learning community (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.
This session will focus on culturally responsive education and asset-based approach strategies. Visit this Google Doc to learn more about the PLC!

VALRC: IET/IELCE Instructor PLC
2023-03-28 15:30 - 17:00 | Virtual

GEDTS Tuesday for Teachers: Have You Talked about “Zero” Lately?
2023-03-28 15:30 - 17:00 | Virtual
GED Testing Services offers the Tuesdays for Teachers series as a free professional development offering. Here’s their description of the upcoming March session: We often “talk about nothing, or zero” in day-to-day conversations. A conversation about the “zero” in RLA is certainly “nothing” and has become a serious concern for many educators and their students. We hear the concerns and need to address “the elephant in the room:” the zero in the scoring rubric. In this session, we will answer your questions about “why a zero?” and provide a deeper understanding of the zero. Join us to help students improve their writing skills on the Extended Response and real-world writing. Register today!

VALRC: Contextualized Phonics Instruction
2023-03-29 15:00 - 16:30 | Virtual
This webinar will present strategies for contextualizing phonics instruction in the ESOL beginning literacy or multilevel classroom as well as during one-on-one tutoring sessions. We will discuss strategies for contextualizing phonics instruction and walk through the steps of implementing this strategy in different ESOL instructional settings. Participants will leave the webinar with an understanding of this approach, how it benefits ESOL beginning literacy instruction, and strategies for implementing this approach in the adult ESOL classroom.
Register Here

Beyond Basics: Multilevel ESOL Classes (Online Course)
2023-04-06 - 2023-05-17
This course is designed for teachers who want to tackle the challenges of teaching multilevel classes. It is for teachers who want to address the varied learning needs of individual students without planning individual lessons and burning out. It is for teachers who want to become highly effective multi-level classroom teachers by using strategies that work.

VALRC Spring Math Webinar Series - Session 1
2023-04-11 12:00 - 13:00 | Virtual
The first session will cover the math interest survey responses, including a discussion of the strategies and topics and math instructors want to learn about most.
We will also explore how The Change Agent, an adult learner publication, can be used for contextualized math instruction.
The content focus for webinars 2 and 3 will be determined through discussions and feedback from the first webinar.
Register here.

VALRC - TSTM: Digital Literacy PLC
2023-04-13 15:30 - 17:00, 2023-04-20 15:30 - 17:00
Do you want to learn more about the classroom-ready lessons and other resources in the Teaching the Skills that Matter (TSTM) Toolkit?
Do you want to gain ideas for incorporating digital literacy and workforce preparation skills and activities into your teaching?
Do you want to work with an experienced facilitator and colleagues from around the state to adapt TSTM lessons to support your adult learners?
If you answered “yes,” then join us for the Spring 2023 TSTM: Digital Literacy PLC. This three-week, ten-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 Thursdays from 3:30 to 5 p.m. on April 13, April 20, and April 27.
Online collaboration and sharing with your PLC colleagues and facilitator, and
A 90-minute follow-up session on Thursday, May 25, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. focused on sustaining TSTM.

Registration is closed for this event; registered participants can access the session here.
If you have questions about TSTM, contact Hillary Major at VALRC.

EdTech Webinar: The Change Agent
2023-04-20 14:00 - 15:00
Come learn about The Change Agent‘s most recent series of issues on immigrants and immigration.

VALRC: IET/IELCE Instructor PLC
2023-04-25 15:30 - 17:00 | Virtual
This PLC is an opportunity for integrated training and education (IET) and Integrated English Literacy and Civics (IELCE) instructors to network and collaborate in order to develop IET/IELCE lesson plans, curriculum, learner activities, assessments, etc.
The purpose of this PLC is to be responsive to and relevant for IET/IELCE instructors as our first ever IET/IELCE offering geared towards instructors. See this Google Doc to learn more about this PLC!
Register Here
