Calendar of Professional Learning Opportunities
A curated collection of events, recordings, and other resources for adult educators and family literacy instructors at the English Empowerment Center and beyond. Updated regularly. Events are free except where noted.
Instructor Resources
Remote Instruction Look-Fors
What should we look for in our teaching practices in the virtual learning environment? Consider this new tool by the EdTech Center at World Education – the Remote Instruction Observation Tool. This tool identifies clear criteria in four domains and uses specific statements to describe what teachers and learners might be doing. Try it out and assess your own teaching or tutoring!
The four domains in the tool are:
- Lesson Planning and Delivery | How does the teacher communicate the lesson goals? How do the instructional strategies encourage rigorous and engaging learning opportunities?
- Assessing Understanding and Adjusting Instruction Accordingly | How does the teacher use multiple measures to assess learning? How do they adjust instruction based on learner understanding?
- Communication | How does the teacher communicate with learners to build a positive learning environment?
- Use of Technology and Support to Learners | How is technology used to support learning? How does the teacher support learners with their technology use?
Classrooms in action: Training videos for in-person instruction
Make an impact in the classroom by (re)learning effective strategies for teaching, assisting, or tutoring in person. Whether you are new to teaching adult learners or are switching back to in person after 18 months of remote instruction, here are two go-to training video collections:
- Teaching ESL to Adults: Classroom Approaches in Action by New American Horizons - Twelve 30-min videos on a variety of topics, such as building literacy with adult emergent readers, working with a multi-level class, effective grouping strategies, tasks to promote oral skills, and more.
- Classroom Videos by Literacy Minnesota – Twenty-plus videos ranging from 5 to 60 minutes in length. The videos are grouped into one of four categories – CCRS in the ABE Classroom, Pronunciation Classes (e.g., final consonant articulation), Featured Activities (e.g., picture stories), and Low-Literacy Instruction (e.g., Phonics and Rhyme Activities).
Library Resources
Library Borrowing Procedures
Library Classification System
Library Online Catalog – temporarily unavailable
Learner Resources
Resource Centers for Afghans and Ukrainians
The Afghan Resource Center offers practical information and resources for newly arriving Afghans to the USA. Find information in English, Dari, or Pashto on services and benefits, immigration, jobs, daily life, American culture, U.S. laws, money, health, and education. Visitors to the site can access the free FindHello app to connect to 4000+ local resources and service providers across the country. Find help for every status including Special Immigrant Visa (SIV), refugees, and people with humanitarian parole.
The USA Information Center for Ukrainians offers practical information and resources for people coming to the United States from Ukraine. Find information in English, Ukrainian, and Russian on U.S. immigration, jobs, daily life, American culture, laws, money, health, and education.
The Afghan Resource Center and the Information Center for Ukrainians were created as part of USAHello's partnership with Welcome.us
For Afghans: https://usahello.org/afghan-resource-center/
For Ukrainians: https://usahello.org/information-center-for-ukrainians/
Video Series: Digital Literacy for Life and Work
https://switchboardta.org/resource/digital-literacy-for-life-and-work/
This series for newcomer families includes 16 short videos, covering topics such as digital safety and scams, preventing viruses and malware, work readiness and job applications, and financial capabilities and online banking. Created by refugee and immigrant assistance organizations HIAS and HIAS Pennsylvania, the video series is available in 6 languages – Arabic, Dari, English, Spanish, Swahili, and Ukranian. The 16 videos:
- Digital Literacy and Managing Data
- Secure WiFi Networks
- Digital Safety and Scams
- Monitoring Children’s Online Activity
- Managing Your Digital Footprint
- Preventing Malware and Viruses
- Identifying Misinformation
- Staying Informed and Local Media
- Digital English Language Learning
- Online Translation and Interpretation
- Work Readiness and Job Applications
- Using Online Workspace to Apply for Jobs
- Professional Networking
- Financial Capabilities and Online Banking
- Online Learning Opportunities
- Digital Resiliency and Agency