Literacy Assistance Center: Creating an ESOL Curriculum for Remote Teaching (Multiple Dates)
Dates: 8.14, 8.21, 8.28, 9.11.20
Description: This is a four session series that is appropriate for those who already have a face-to-face curriculum in place and want to revise it for remote learning, and those who need to know where to start; i.e. want to learn how to develop a curriculum. By the end of the series, participants will have drafted a remote curriculum for use with their program. Facilitators will be available for coaching and guidance between sessions.
Prior to the first session, participants will receive a survey to allow the facilitators to know their level of experience (if any) with curriculum development, curricular materials they currently have, and particular issues they would like to address. This will enable us to target the series to the attendees.
The first session will begin with an overview of the process of creating a curriculum for ESOL classes and examine how a remote curriculum differs from a face-to-face curriculum. Discussion will address such questions as: Where do you start? What are the components of a curriculum? What is the relationship between a coursebook and a curriculum? What is the difference between remote and classroom-based curricula? What curricula are available on the web? Participants will also be able to share their existing curricula and identify what aspects they would like to work on. As a strategy for developing or revising a curriculum, they will be provided with guiding questions to answer prior to the next session. They will also decide whether they want to work alone or in teams to draft their curriculum.
In the two next sessions, participants will have the opportunity to work alone or in teams to draft or expand on their remote learning curriculum. The two facilitators will provide links to existing curricula resources and circulate to assist each curriculum team as they work. By the end of the third session, each team will upload their curriculum draft outline. Between the third and final session, participants will develop one of their curriculum units in detail.
In the final session, participants will share their drafts and receive feedback from the facilitators and fellow participants.
About LAC: Since 1983, the LAC has been working to build the capacity and improve the quality of the Adult Basic Education (ABE), English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), and High School Equivalency (HSE) programs that serve New York and the surrounding region’s most educationally disadvantaged and economically marginalized communities. Our staff has spent years in the field witnessing the power of literacy education to transform lives.