Middle-Secondary:
Peggy Albers: critical literacy, content literacy
Beverly Ann Chin: collaborative learning, reading and writing workshops
Thomas McCann: classroom talk, encouraging authentic discussion for learning
Jeffrey Golub: classroom environment, developing students speaking and listening skills
Michael W. Smith: classroom discussion and discourse; inquiry curriculum
Jeffrey Wilhelm: questioning and classroom talk; developing an inquiry curriculum
Workshop Descriptions
The Discussion-Based Classroom as a Key to High Achievement
Presenter: Thomas McCann
Audience: 6–12 Teachers
The workshop will reveal strategies for inviting and facilitating authentic discussion in the English classroom. The workshop activities will illustrate how engagement in authentic discussion helps students develop the knowledge and skills necessary to work with challenging texts and complex writing assignments
Making Learning Happen—Activities for an Interactive Classroom
Presenter: Jeffrey Golub
Audience: 6-12 Teachers
This workshop is designed for those who want to change the way they (and their students) use English.
- IMPROVE students' performance with language by focusing on the constructing, negotiating, and communicating of meanings.
- BECOME a designer and director of classroom instruction.
- CREATE situations that allow students to engage in authentic communication for real audiences and real purposes.
- DISCOVER ways to use students' own talk as a vehicle for learning.
- FIND how to make critical thinking, cooperative learning, authentic assessment, and interpretive discussions of literature work for your and your students.
In short, learn how to help students make sense of English in ways that make sense.