WATESOL is pleased to announce our inaugural Webinar Series!

Please join us for the following sessions.  Registration will open approximately 10 days prior to the event.  Session links will be e-mailed to registered participants 24 hours before each event. 

Saturday, February 20, 2020, 11:00 AM - 12 PM EST: Free Tools for Interactive Online Learning

Presenter: Nancy A. Overman, Georgetown University

Session Type: Practice Oriented Session

Focus: Adult education, Higher education, Intensive English Programs, Teacher training

Targeted Skills: Speaking, Reading, Grammar, Vocabulary

Session Summary: Interactive elements enhance online classes by engaging students in the learning process. This presentation reviews ten free online tools and demonstrates ways to use them to complement your lessons, e.g., to color-code a reading with comments and questions, survey students, manipulate data, play games, and give audio feedback on writing.

Registration Link: https://watesol.org/event-4176713

Tuesday, March 2, 2021, 3:00-4:00 PM EST: Win – Win!: Student-Generated Materials Increase Engagement and Adaptability

Presenters: Nonie Bell & Phil Rice, University of Delaware

Session Type: Research Oriented Session

Focus: Adult education, Higher education, Intensive English Programs, Curriculum/Materials Development

Targeted Skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing

Session Summary: Using peer-produced materials and authentic audiences ups the learning ante creating a classroom of engaged students. Two IEP instructors will present successful models for varied skill areas and levels; workshop participants will analyze their own teaching practices, identifying and developing opportunities to use student-generated materials for assessment, extension, and reflection.

Link to Recording: https://youtu.be/6Foovzb_7U8

Thursday, March 11, 2021, 4:30-6:00 PM EST: Online Pedagogy: It's not just tech tools!

Presenter: Helaine W. Marshall, Long Island University-Hudson Campus

Session Type: Practice Oriented Session

Focus: Technology

Targeted Skills: Technology

Session Summary: Learn how to ‘create fertile spaces’ for teaching and learning online following the framework of the four E’s: Equity, Enrichment, Engagement and Empowerment. Through implementing the 4E's teachers can increase student access, motivation, participation, and ownership of their online learning experiences. Sample activities for each of the E’s is provided.

Registration Link: https://watesol.org/event-4201082 

Saturday, March 20, 2020, 10:00-11:00 AM EST: Pronunciation for Adult ELLs

Presenter: Gracie Freeman, Intercambio Uniting Communities

Session Type: Workshop

Focus: Adult education

Targeted Skills: Speaking, Pronunciation

Session Summary: Being understood is key to adult English language learners. This training teaches best practices for leading pronunciation and using tools for production. Teachers will build confidence, rapport, and student retention and participation in classrooms when they use these practical methods for helping students be understood. 

Registration Link: Coming soon

Wednesday, April 14, 3:00-4:30 PM EST: Creating Classes that Foster Cross-Cultural Conversation, Mutual Learning and Inclusion

Presenter: Lee Shainis, Intercambio Uniting Communities

Session Type: Workshop

Focus: Adult Education

Targeted Skills: Listening, Speaking, Intercultural Communication

Session Summary: This engaging session shares concrete tools for adult English teachers of any level to increase a sense of belonging and foster meaningful cross-cultural conversation in virtual or in-person classrooms. Participants will foster multi-directional learning that deepens connections, shifts biases, increases retention, gets students talking more, and accelerates language acquisition!

Registration Link: Coming soon

Monday, May 3, 2021, 3:00-4:00 PM EST: Improving the quality of education through Open Educational Resources

Presenters: Chris Soholt & Yu Bai, Northern Virginia Community College

Session Type: Practice Oriented Presentation

Focus: Higher Education

Targeted Skills: Writing, Grammar

Session Summary: Open Educational Resources (OER) offer an opportunity to reduce students' costs and to improve the quality of education. This presentation showcases an intermediate level ESL composition handbook that the presenters have developed and discusses strategies faculty members can use as they embrace, adapt and create OER materials.

Registration Link: Coming soon

Saturday, May 15, 10-11:15 AM EST: Explicit Instruction in Pragmatics to Improve Speaking Performances 

Presenters: Melissa Hauke, Fairfax County Public Schools

Session Type: Workshop

Focus: Adult education

Targeted Skills: Speaking

Session Summary: Frequently English language teachers focus on grammar, reading and writing but give minimal time to speaking. Knowledge of pragmatics is critical for effective communications by language learners (Hilliard, 2017). In this workshop, review and improve teacher-made virtual lessons on conventional expressions and brainstorm opportunities for additional speaking practice.

Registration Link: Coming soon

Saturday, June 12, 11 AM-12PM EST: Supported Phonology in Written and Spoken Representation - An Original Applied Linguistics Tool 

Presenters: Leslie Shah, LLADR

Session Type: Practice-Oriented Session

Focus: K-12 education, Adult education, Bilingual education, Intensive English Programs

Targeted Skills: Listening, Speaking, Pronunciation, Reading

Session Summary: Using Phonological Paths, we can track the intonation of spoken syllables and sounds in ways that allow for the proper spacing of letters - and as teachers of struggling readers, we can track the reader's understanding of what has been heard and map letters and syllables to their sounded path. 

Registration Link: Coming soon

More sessions coming soon!

Contact WATESOL’s Professional Development Co-Chairs at pd@watesol.org with any questions.