TIIP Funded Professional Development for Teachers of Long Term English LearnersOur team sought out professional development around the four instructional approaches written into our school plan as a Public School Choice school. The four key instructional approaches: a Dual-Language Program, a Project and Inquiry Based Learning Approach to Instruction, a Technology-Infused Standards-Based Curriculum and a Problem Solving Process. Dual Language ProgramTo meet the diverse language needs of our English Learners and English dominant students in our Dual Language, Spanish Program, we sought out Professional Development in literacy with Project GLAD, Guided Language Acquisition Design. Project GLAD
UCLA Educator Days @ UCLA Lab School: Readers and Writers WorkshopWhen our team wrote the proposal for our grant, we were in the final era of using The Open Court Reading Program, a core Language arts/English series us adopted for use in California schools when textbooks were last chosen in 2002. The Wikipedia article indicates, "There is both praise and criticism of the program among educators. Proponents of Open Court Reading believe that its focus on phonics and reading comprehension strategy use, both taught with very explicit instruction, benefit children. Some critics dislike the explicit nature of instruction, suggesting that it leaves little room for child exploration or teacher creativity, as constructivist models of reading instruction..." Our team was hungry to learn about different modes of instruction, appropriate for English Learners and opted to visit the UCLA Lab School's Educator Days. These one-day, guided visits to UCLA Lab School classrooms provide snapshots of teaching and learning in different subject areas. These visits were an introduction to the Readers and Writers Workshop model which veers from the traditional district approach of “one size fits all" with Open Court.
Project and Inquiry Based Learning Approach to Instruction
Eager to learn more about Project Based Learning, our team members attended The Critical Thinking Institute at the UCLA Lab School. The Critical Thinking Institute is designed to introduce teachers to the pedagogy utilized @ UCLA Lab School. Focusing on the content areas of science and social studies, the goals of the institute are to help teachers:
Technology-Infused Standards-Based CurriculumOur team contacted Computer-Using Educators (CUE) for Professional Development on infusing technology into instruction. CUE provides leadership and support to advance student achievement in the educational technology community. We contracted with CUEtoYOU, a Google Workshop for Educators (GWE) which introduces participants to innovative ways Google tools can be used in education.
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