Symposium Session Details
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DAY 1: THURSDAY, JANUARY 25
CHECK-IN, BREAKFAST, WELCOME 7:30 AM – 8:00 AM
THURSDAY SESSION 1: 8:15 AM – 9:35 AM (80 MIN)
Career Navigation: Resources for Instructors
Hear directly from the Far West Consortium Career Navigators: What resources do career navigators have, and how can we use those resources to assist our adult student populations?
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): OTHER
Presenters: Marie Anaya, Wendy Arellano, Norma Montes
Far West Adult Education Consortium
Bio pending
Instructional Strategies for Teaching Content, Language, and Literacy – Part 1 of 2
Session repeated on Day 2
This session introduces a model ELA/Literacy lesson designed for English Learners, focusing on teaching content, language, and literacy skills. The lesson is divided into three parts that emphasize building knowledge, interacting with the text, and extending understanding through various instructional activities.
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): OTHER
Presenters: Julio Medina, Mike Saenz, Sebastian Ramos
Career Pathways Professional Development Center (CPPDC)
Bios pending
Introducing: The El Paso Center for Children
The El Paso Center For Children provides an array of services for the community. Learn about the services they provide, including early childhood, outreach and housing, counseling, foster care, and their Family Resource Center.
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): OTHER
Presenter: Patricia Orduno
El Paso Center for Children
Bio pending
THURSDAY SESSION 2: 9:45 AM – 11:05 AM (80 MIN)
A Teacher’s Dozen: Activities to Engage Your Learners
In-person, virtual, hy-flex… donut worry! No matter what your English language classroom looks like, dip into our session to learn how to spice up your teaching and make any lesson more engaging.
From warm-up activities and vocabulary lessons to grammar topics and pronunciation practice, we’ll have a variety pack of ideas and activities to energize your classroom. Participants will leave full of new strategies to support their English language learners.
Join our symposium classroom and sweeten your day!!!!.
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): LIT
Presenter: Martin Loa
BurlingtonEnglish
Martin Loa is Senior Customer Manager for Burlington English. He has served in that capacity for the past 6 years. He utilizes his 20 plus years of adult education experience to assist programs with implementation of ESL curriculum to better meet the needs of their specific populations. His formal education in curriculum instruction enables him to develop and implement targeted trainings to address best practices.
Martin has served as a consultant delivering evidence-based and research-based training for the state professional development grantee for the last 7 years. His expertise includes ESL, Digital Literacy, Financial Literacy, ABE, IETs, and Literacy Organization-specific topics. Martin has over 15 years of experience presenting at local, state, and national conferences.
Instructional Strategies for Teaching Content, Language, and Literacy – Part 2 of 2
Session repeated on Day 2
Learn how to embed various instructional strategies in language and literacy in an ABE, IET, or ELL classroom.
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): OTHER
Presenters: Julio Medina, Mike Saenz, Sebastian Ramos
Career Pathways Professional Development Center (CPPDC)
Bios pending
Introducing: Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood is one of the nation’s leading providers of high-quality, affordable health care, and the nation’s largest provider of sex education.
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): OTHER
Presenters: Lanette Marquez, Clementina Canava
Planned Parenthood
Bios pending
WORKING LUNCH & KEYNOTE 11:10 AM – 12:40 PM (90 MIN) – ANNEX
Rescue Mission of El Paso & Hallelujah! BBQ – Blake Barrow
Hear how an El Paso initiative is helping unhoused people gain catering skills – lunch presented by Hallelujah! BBQ
THURSDAY SESSION 3: 1:00 PM – 2:20 PM (80 MIN)
Integrating Employability Skills in Adult Education
Technology! An important aspect of adult education. The Texas Workforce Commission and El Paso’s Workforce Solutions Borderplex identify technological barriers that may impede our local population from getting ahead.
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): OTHER
Presenter: Odette Flores Ruiz
Workforce Solutions Borderplex
Bio pending
Science, Social Studies, and Math: Cross-Curricular Strategies
High school equivalency tests cover several content areas and instructors rarely have time to teach all areas in a meaningful way. Using cross-content strategies, we will use science as the main content area focusing on graphic literacy, measures of central tendency and statistics, and discuss ways to use these concepts in math and social studies.
We will do some activities that you can take back to your classroom, including creating and analyzing graphs.
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): LIT
Presenter: Krista Mosher
TCALL (Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy & Learning)
Krista Mosher has been an ABE/ASE teacher for 24 years, and is currently working as a Manager of PD Field Services with TRAIN PD @ TCALL with Texas A&M University. She was involved with the Texas ABE Math Initiative from 2006 to 2014, and the Master Teacher Academy in Math in 2015-2016, and is a nationally trained GED® trainer for all subject areas.
She loves teaching and working with teachers to increase their skills and knowledge, especially in Mathematics.
ELL Conversations for Intermediate Literacy – Part 1 of 2
Session repeated on Day 2
Participants will learn tools and resources to promote effective learning environments for English learner (EL) students that enhance conversations.
A variety of activities and strategies that instructors can use with ESL students to build high leverage academic vocabulary and linguistics to help with articulation will be part of the session. Websites with free resources will be shared along with interactive activities.
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): LIT
Presenter: Terry Sands
TCALL (Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy & Learning)
Bio pending
THURSDAY SESSION 4: 2:30 PM – 3:50 PM (80 MIN)
Math and the GED
What math skills are students having problems with? GED Testing Service offers an array of resources and services; come along and find out more!
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): OTHER
Presenter: Jonna McDonough Forsyth
GED Testing Service
Jonna Forsyth is currently the State Relationship Manager for GED Testing Service in Texas.
She has lived and worked in South Texas for the past 18 years, and has always been committed to student success through professional development training and support.
Citizenship Resources
Learn about services provided by the Office of New Americans, along with other immigration-related issues. In this session, we will also discuss Community Services Department resources for community education on the services and eligibility requirements within the department. We will focus on services such as: General Assistance, Nutrition Services, Office of New Americans, Ilumina Digital Library, and Community Development.
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): OTHER
Presenter: Jorge Chavez
Office of New Americans
Bio pending
ELL Conversations for Intermediate Literacy – Part 2 of 2
Session repeated on Day 2
Participants will learn tools and resources to promote effective learning environments for English learner (EL) students that enhance conversations.
A variety of activities and strategies that instructors can use with ESL students to build high leverage academic vocabulary and linguistics to help with articulation will be part of the session. Websites with free resources will be shared along with interactive activities.
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): LIT
Presenter: Terry Sands
TCALL (Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy & Learning)
Bio pending
FAREWELL DAY 1
DAY 2: FRIDAY, JANUARY 26
CHECK-IN, BREAKFAST, WELCOME 7:30 AM – 8:00 AM
FRIDAY INTRO SESSION: 8:00 AM – 8:30 AM (30 MIN)
Introduction to breakout sessions and keynote
We define social and emotional learning (SEL) as an integral part of education and human development. SEL is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.
Start learning about SEL in this introductory session, and learn more throughout the day. Keeth will lead three breakouts over the course of Day 2 – all on the same topic, so everyone will get the chance to attend. Choose from Session 1, Session 3, or Session 4 – the topic is the same each time.
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): TBD
Presenter: Keeth Matheny
SEL Launchpad
R. Keeth Matheny, AKA “Coach Rudy,” is a national award-winning teacher, author, and speaker. He is the 2021 Mary Utne O’Brien Award Winner for excellence in expanding the evidence-based practice of social and emotional learning. He also was the 2015 winner of the Crystal Star Award for Excellence in supporting student success from the National Dropout Prevention Center.
Keeth is the author of ExSELent Teaching, a new book with many positive reviews and book studies in schools across the country. He is also the founder of SEL Launchpad, an organization that provides engaging, inspiring, and actionable professional development to help launch and support SEL programs.
Keeth is a passionate and dedicated former classroom teacher with over 25 years of experience. He created and taught an innovative freshman SEL seminar which was featured in an article in The Atlantic, and has now spread to many more schools and districts. Keeth is a co-author of School-Connect, a research and evidence-based social and emotional learning curriculum which is used in over two thousand secondary schools. He is a frequent keynote speaker on SEL, emotional intelligence, and multi-tiered systems of student supports.
Since 2014, he has helped launch over four hundred SEL programs in secondary schools, led over three hundred teacher trainings, keynoted for eighteen conferences, and presented at two congressional briefings on Social and Emotional Learning in Washington DC.
Website: www.SELlaunchpad.com
Social Media: Twitter @coach_rudy | LinkedIn R. Keeth Matheny
FRIDAY SESSION 1: 8:35 AM – 9:55 AM (80 MIN)
El Paso Public Library Presents: The Literacy Center
The Literacy Center at El Paso Public Library is a dynamic and engaging space designed to promote and enhance various aspects of literacy. This specialized area within the library is dedicated to fostering reading, writing, listening, educational, digital and speaking skills in patrons.
The Literacy Center is not only a resource for educational support but also a community hub that encourages a love for all educational programs that are free of charge to adults.
Learn more about specialized programs currently offered at The Literacy Center.
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): OTHER
Presenter: Armando Salais
El Paso Public Library
Bio pending
ELL Conversations for Intermediate Literacy – Part 1 of 2
Session repeated from Day 1
Participants will learn tools and resources to promote effective learning environments for English learner (EL) students that enhance conversations.
A variety of activities and strategies that instructors can use with ESL students to build high leverage academic vocabulary and linguistics to help with articulation will be part of the session. Websites with free resources will be shared along with interactive activities.
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): LIT
Presenter: Terry Sands
TCALL (Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy & Learning)
Bio pending
ExSELent Teaching: The Four R’s of Integrating Social, Emotional, and Academic Supports into Every Classroom – Part 1 of 2
Session repeated 3 times on Day 2
This is a moving, interactive, and highly engaging workshop that gives everyone an inspiring vision for actionable strategies to integrate SEL supports into every classroom. The focus is on making your classroom more of a de-escalator and less of an escalator.
Integrated supports for this session are grouped in four categories – relationship, routines, redirection, and regulation skills.
This workshop is full of examples, student testimonials, and SEL activities. We will spend time on SEL strategies that support class climate, classroom management, student engagement, and SEL skill growth. Most of all, this workshop is an experience that models many of the strategies covered so participants learn by doing.
This workshop also comes with a copy of the inspiring and actionable book ExSELent Teaching, which will allow participants to dig deeper into the strategies covered and help sustain the work well beyond the conference.
Objectives:
1) You will explore what is social and emotional learning and why it is important.
2) You will be able to give example strategies from each of the four R’s of integration.
3) You will participate in collaborative activities to model some of the strategies.
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): TBD
Presenter: Keeth Matheny
SEL Launchpad
R. Keeth Matheny, AKA “Coach Rudy,” is a national award-winning teacher, author, and speaker. He is the 2021 Mary Utne O’Brien Award Winner for excellence in expanding the evidence-based practice of social and emotional learning. He also was the 2015 winner of the Crystal Star Award for Excellence in supporting student success from the National Dropout Prevention Center.
Keeth is the author of ExSELent Teaching, a new book with many positive reviews and book studies in schools across the country. He is also the founder of SEL Launchpad, an organization that provides engaging, inspiring, and actionable professional development to help launch and support SEL programs.
Keeth is a passionate and dedicated former classroom teacher with over 25 years of experience. He created and taught an innovative freshman SEL seminar which was featured in an article in The Atlantic, and has now spread to many more schools and districts. Keeth is a co-author of School-Connect, a research and evidence-based social and emotional learning curriculum which is used in over two thousand secondary schools. He is a frequent keynote speaker on SEL, emotional intelligence, and multi-tiered systems of student supports.
Since 2014, he has helped launch over four hundred SEL programs in secondary schools, led over three hundred teacher trainings, keynoted for eighteen conferences, and presented at two congressional briefings on Social and Emotional Learning in Washington DC.
Website: www.SELlaunchpad.com
Social Media: Twitter @coach_rudy | LinkedIn R. Keeth Matheny
ITP Instructional Strategies
This multifaceted session is part demo lesson, part workshop, and part linguistics deep-dive.
With research-based methods and authentic materials, learn how to implement engaging strategies with students to tackle the often sluggish literacy growth we see in intermediate classrooms in order to maximize outcomes for our internationally trained professionals, and beyond, through dynamic activities, scaffolding instruction, calculated grouping, and the use of AI for differentiated instruction.
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): LIT
Presenter: Khristafer Sheffield
North Texas Adult Education & Literacy
Bio pending
FRIDAY SESSION 2: 10:00 AM – 11:20 AM (80 MIN)
Mental Health in Schools
Emergence Health Network (EHN) provides trauma-informed care centered around the needs of people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, behavioral health and/or substance use treatment needs.
Designated the Local Mental Health Authority (LMHA) and Local Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities Authority (LIDDA) in El Paso County, EHN offers a wide array of programs at multiple locations throughout the area.
EHN is Joint Commission Accredited recognized as Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics.
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): OTHER
Presenters: Rocio Bickeyi, Bianca Saucedo
Emergence Health Network (EHN)
Bios pending
Contextualization in Action: Designing and Delivering Effective Instruction for Texas Career Pathways
This session will focus on the applicable educational technique of contextualization, aiming to boost student learning and motivation by connecting academic content with real-world scenarios. Tailored for educators in Texas, participants will delve into designing and delivering effective instruction that incorporates contextualization in career pathways.
Participants will learn to align high-wage, in-demand career clusters with academic standards, apply contextualization principles, and utilize resources for support.
Whether you consider yourself a rookie or veteran, you will gain valuable insight to transform your teaching and students’ learning for success in Texas career pathways.
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): LIT
Presenter: Julio Medina
CPPDC (Career Pathways Professional Development Center)
Bio pending
ELL Conversations for Intermediate Literacy – Part 2 of 2
Session repeated from Day 1
Participants will learn tools and resources to promote effective learning environments for English learner (EL) students that enhance conversations.
A variety of activities and strategies that instructors can use with ESL students to build high leverage academic vocabulary and linguistics to help with articulation will be part of the session. Websites with free resources will be shared along with interactive activities.
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): LIT
Presenter: Terry Sands
TCALL (Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy & Learning)
Bio pending
Introducing: USCIS
Do you have questions about becoming a United States citizen? How can you help your students? Come to this session to learn what the USCIS office can do for our population.
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): OTHER
Presenters: Jezebel Mathie, Edgar Moreno
USCIS
WORKING LUNCH 11:25 AM – 12:45 PM (80 MIN) – ANNEX
Keynote Speaker: Keeth Matheny
SEL Launchpad
R. Keeth Matheny, AKA “Coach Rudy,” is a national award-winning teacher, author, and speaker. He is the 2021 Mary Utne O’Brien Award Winner for excellence in expanding the evidence-based practice of social and emotional learning. He also was the 2015 winner of the Crystal Star Award for Excellence in supporting student success from the National Dropout Prevention Center.
Keeth is the author of ExSELent Teaching, a new book with many positive reviews and book studies in schools across the country. He is also the founder of SEL Launchpad, an organization that provides engaging, inspiring, and actionable professional development to help launch and support SEL programs.
Keeth is a passionate and dedicated former classroom teacher with over 25 years of experience. He created and taught an innovative freshman SEL seminar which was featured in an article in The Atlantic, and has now spread to many more schools and districts. Keeth is a co-author of School-Connect, a research and evidence-based social and emotional learning curriculum which is used in over two thousand secondary schools. He is a frequent keynote speaker on SEL, emotional intelligence, and multi-tiered systems of student supports.
Since 2014, he has helped launch over four hundred SEL programs in secondary schools, led over three hundred teacher trainings, keynoted for eighteen conferences, and presented at two congressional briefings on Social and Emotional Learning in Washington DC.
Website: www.SELlaunchpad.com
Social Media: Twitter @coach_rudy | LinkedIn R. Keeth Matheny
FRIDAY SESSION 3: 12:50 PM – 2:10 PM (80 MIN)
Resources for Immigrants
The Mexican Consulate provides consular protection and assistance with immigration, human rights, emergencies, educational opportunities, health guidance, criminal, administrative, work and family matters.
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): OTHER
Presenter: Pending
Mexican Consulate
Bio pending
GED Reading Strategies
An overview of a few highly missed questions on the GED RLA test. Participants will review questions, strategies and literacy development. Activities and a free resource will be shared during the presentation.
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): LIT
Presenter: Terry Sands
TCALL (Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy & Learning)
Bio pending
Instructional Strategies for Teaching Content, Language, and Literacy – Part 1 of 2
Session repeated from Day 1
Learn how to embed various instructional strategies in language and literacy in an ABE, IET, or ELL classroom.
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): LIT
Presenters: Julio Medina, Mike Saenz
Career Pathways Professional Development Center (CPPDC)
Bios pending
ExSELent Teaching: The Four R’s of Integrating Social, Emotional, and Academic Supports into Every Classroom – Part 2 of 2
Session repeated 3 times on Day 2
This is a moving, interactive, and highly engaging workshop that gives everyone an inspiring vision for actionable strategies to integrate SEL supports into every classroom. The focus is on making your classroom more of a de-escalator and less of an escalator.
Integrated supports for this session are grouped in four categories – relationship, routines, redirection, and regulation skills.
This workshop is full of examples, student testimonials, and SEL activities. We will spend time on SEL strategies that support class climate, classroom management, student engagement, and SEL skill growth. Most of all, this workshop is an experience that models many of the strategies covered so participants learn by doing.
This workshop also comes with a copy of the inspiring and actionable book ExSELent Teaching, which will allow participants to dig deeper into the strategies covered and help sustain the work well beyond the conference.
Objectives:
1) You will explore what is social and emotional learning and why it is important.
2) You will be able to give example strategies from each of the four R’s of integration.
3) You will participate in collaborative activities to model some of the strategies.
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): TBD
Presenter: Keeth Matheny
SEL Launchpad
R. Keeth Matheny, AKA “Coach Rudy,” is a national award-winning teacher, author, and speaker. He is the 2021 Mary Utne O’Brien Award Winner for excellence in expanding the evidence-based practice of social and emotional learning. He also was the 2015 winner of the Crystal Star Award for Excellence in supporting student success from the National Dropout Prevention Center.
Keeth is the author of ExSELent Teaching, a new book with many positive reviews and book studies in schools across the country. He is also the founder of SEL Launchpad, an organization that provides engaging, inspiring, and actionable professional development to help launch and support SEL programs.
Keeth is a passionate and dedicated former classroom teacher with over 25 years of experience. He created and taught an innovative freshman SEL seminar which was featured in an article in The Atlantic, and has now spread to many more schools and districts. Keeth is a co-author of School-Connect, a research and evidence-based social and emotional learning curriculum which is used in over two thousand secondary schools. He is a frequent keynote speaker on SEL, emotional intelligence, and multi-tiered systems of student supports.
Since 2014, he has helped launch over four hundred SEL programs in secondary schools, led over three hundred teacher trainings, keynoted for eighteen conferences, and presented at two congressional briefings on Social and Emotional Learning in Washington DC.
Website: www.SELlaunchpad.com
Social Media: Twitter @coach_rudy | LinkedIn R. Keeth Matheny
The Distance Education Professional Development Center (DEPDC) Roadshow – Part 1 of 2
The Distance Education Professional Development Center (DEPDC) is a new professional development center for Texas AEL, dedicated to increasing the capacity of AEL practitioners in Distance Learning, Tech Integration, Digital Literacy, and Remote Instruction. Learn all about it in this session!
Resource for the session: Distance Education Call Center Wakelet
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): OTHER
Presenter: Amanda Flores
TCALL (Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy & Learning)
Bio pending
FRIDAY SESSION 4: 2:15 PM – 3:35 PM (80 MIN)
The Change Agent
What is The Change Agent?
See how Ysleta Community Learning Center’s ELL instructors incorporate The Change Agent into their instruction. More than 15 students from the Learning Center have published work on The Change Agent.
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): OTHER
Presenter: Mary Lou Boisselier, Angelica Salazar, Heidi Nava
Ysleta Community Learning Center
Bios pending
Instructional Strategies for Teaching Content, Language, and Literacy – Part 2 of 2
Session repeated from Day 1
Learn how to embed various instructional strategies in language and literacy in an ABE, IET, or ELL classroom.
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): LIT
Presenters: Julio Medina, Mike Saenz, Sebastian Ramos
Career Pathways Professional Development Center (CPPDC)
Bios pending
ExSELent Teaching: The Four R’s of Integrating Social, Emotional, and Academic Supports into Every Classroom – Part 2 of 2
Session repeated 3 times on Day 2
This is a moving, interactive, and highly engaging workshop that gives everyone an inspiring vision for actionable strategies to integrate SEL supports into every classroom. The focus is on making your classroom more of a de-escalator and less of an escalator.
Integrated supports for this session are grouped in four categories – relationship, routines, redirection, and regulation skills.
This workshop is full of examples, student testimonials, and SEL activities. We will spend time on SEL strategies that support class climate, classroom management, student engagement, and SEL skill growth. Most of all, this workshop is an experience that models many of the strategies covered so participants learn by doing.
This workshop also comes with a copy of the inspiring and actionable book ExSELent Teaching, which will allow participants to dig deeper into the strategies covered and help sustain the work well beyond the conference.
Objectives:
1) You will explore what is social and emotional learning and why it is important.
2) You will be able to give example strategies from each of the four R’s of integration.
3) You will participate in collaborative activities to model some of the strategies.
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): TBD
Presenter: Keeth Matheny
SEL Launchpad
R. Keeth Matheny, AKA “Coach Rudy,” is a national award-winning teacher, author, and speaker. He is the 2021 Mary Utne O’Brien Award Winner for excellence in expanding the evidence-based practice of social and emotional learning. He also was the 2015 winner of the Crystal Star Award for Excellence in supporting student success from the National Dropout Prevention Center.
Keeth is the author of ExSELent Teaching, a new book with many positive reviews and book studies in schools across the country. He is also the founder of SEL Launchpad, an organization that provides engaging, inspiring, and actionable professional development to help launch and support SEL programs.
Keeth is a passionate and dedicated former classroom teacher with over 25 years of experience. He created and taught an innovative freshman SEL seminar which was featured in an article in The Atlantic, and has now spread to many more schools and districts. Keeth is a co-author of School-Connect, a research and evidence-based social and emotional learning curriculum which is used in over two thousand secondary schools. He is a frequent keynote speaker on SEL, emotional intelligence, and multi-tiered systems of student supports.
Since 2014, he has helped launch over four hundred SEL programs in secondary schools, led over three hundred teacher trainings, keynoted for eighteen conferences, and presented at two congressional briefings on Social and Emotional Learning in Washington DC.
Website: www.SELlaunchpad.com
Social Media: Twitter @coach_rudy | LinkedIn R. Keeth Matheny
The Distance Education Professional Development Center (DEPDC) Roadshow – Part 2 of 2
The Distance Education Professional Development Center (DEPDC) is a new professional development center for Texas AEL, dedicated to increasing the capacity of AEL practitioners in Distance Learning, Tech Integration, Digital Literacy, and Remote Instruction. Learn all about it in this session!
Resource for the session: Distance Education Call Center Wakelet
PD Category (assigned by TCALL): OTHER
Presenter: Amanda Flores
TCALL (Texas Center for the Advancement of Literacy & Learning)
Bio pending
FAREWELL DAY 2
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