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The University of Georgia College of Education will host two workshops for Atlanta area educators—one focusing on effective teaching methods to reach students from poor and working-class families and the other on high-quality reading instruction and literacy contexts for all children—on October 18-19 at the UGA Gwinnett Campus in Lawrenceville.

“The Other Side of Poverty in Schools,” an intensive, one-day workshop, will focus on developing research-based teaching practices, reflecting on formative assessment across the curriculum, incorporating social class-related content and formulating ideas for establishing positive relationships with working-class and poor families. Workshop participants will:

• Learn about the five principles for change to better meet the needs of working-class and poor students
• Develop research-based teaching practices sensitive to working-class and poor children and families
• Reflect on formative assessment of working-class and poor students across the curriculum
• Take away powerful classroom ideas for incorporating social class-related content
• Get ideas for establishing positive relationships with working-class and poor families

“The Reading Turn-Around Program,” is a one-day workshop designed for teachers in elementary grades, instructional coaches, literacy coaches, administrators, after-school specialists, tutors and administrators who want to provide the highest-quality reading instruction and literacy contexts for all children. Workshop participants will:

• Learn about the social class-sensitive, five-part framework for differentiated instruction in reading;
• Examine how social class and poverty play a role in reading and language in the classroom;
• Analyze social class and poverty in popular culture, media, and literature through critical reading practices;
• Design learning opportunities around working-class children’s literature;
• Create a concrete plan for individualizing reading instruction for “struggling” readers and enhancing literacy for all students

The workshops are part of the Classroom Project @ UGA initiative developed by Stephanie Jones, an associate professor in the college’s department of elementary and social studies education and Mark Vagle, formerly of UGA, and now an associate professor at the University of Minnesota

Jones is a researcher, professional developer, education consultant and former elementary school teacher. She is the author of the book, Girls, Social Class and Literacy: What Teachers Can Do to Make a Difference and co-author of The Reading Turn-Around: A Five-Part Framework for Differentiated Instruction.

Vagle is principal author and editor of Not a Stage! A Critical Re-Conception of Young Adolescent Education. This book and his numerous articles focus on the powerful ways moment-to-moment classroom interactions influence student learning. His most current research, with Jones, examines the profound influence social class has on the ways in which teachers and students perceive (and engage with) one another and how particular social class-sensitive pedagogies can be enacted in classrooms.
Each workshop will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and the cost for The Other Side of Poverty in Schools Workshop is $125, which includes instructional materials and refreshment breaks. Cost for The Reading Turn-Around Workshop is $150 which includes instructional materials and a copy of the book, The Reading Turn-Around, A Five Part Framework for Differentiated Instruction.

Visit our website for more information and to register online:
www.coe.uga.edu/events