Fostering a sense of community is essential for an educational environment, and adult education programs are no different. As educators, we can further strengthen a sense of community for our adult students through a variety of ways, including offering supplemental clubs, inviting students to participate in events both inside and outside the classroom, and providing opportunities for them to engage with one another in a socio-academic environment. All of these have a positive impact in the classroom through increased retention and academic performance. The benefits extend beyond the classroom as well, boosting self-esteem, improving relationships among students and educators, and cultivating lifelong learning practices.

In this session, Krawiec will explain the benefits of building strong learning communities, especially through supplemental clubs, and share methods by which other organizations could implement similar strategies.

In this session, participants will learn about:

• Importance of creating community in the classroom
• Examples of different ways to create community
• How to implement in your own classroom/program

About the Presenter:

Photo courtesy: Kara Kraweic

Kara Krawiec earned her Master of Arts degree in Literature from John Carroll University in Cleveland, OH. Upon graduation, she became an adjunct professor at several local colleges, teaching developmental reading and writing courses.

In 2017, she found Seeds of Literacy, an adult literacy non-profit in Cleveland, OH and served as the Site Coordinator for the organization’s East side location for seven years. Recently, she was promoted to Director of Student Success, helping students with college and career readiness. During her time at Seeds, she has focused not only on students’ individual needs, but the need for a strong learning community as well.

In 2018, Kara accepted the inaugural ProLiteracy Hero Award. In October 2023, she was awarded the Sharon Stubbe-Davis Outstanding Teacher Award. Kara’s dedication to creating a strong community extends beyond the classroom and has driven her to share her experience and expertise with her fellow educators by presenting at several state and national conferences. For the last two years, she has been presenting and facilitating small group coaching sessions as part of ProLiteracy’s Teacher Training Plus.

Since the removal of emergency protocols, adult education providers are reconsidering their technological needs for distance learning, hybrid classes, and face-to-face instruction. This interactive workshop for program administrators will help participants make the best use of educational technology based on their current and anticipated program needs. The overall goal is to clarify their evaluation criteria when making purchasing decisions for hardware and software licenses considering past experiences, current needs, and emerging opportunities.

To achieve this clarity, participants will:

• Define their current and prospective models of technology-mediated program delivery: distance, hybrid/blended, face-to-face with adaptive technology, and hyflex.
• Discover or share emerging funding opportunities for digital equity.
• Identify their organization’s strategic goals related to digital literacy, digital equity, and accessibility.
• Consider the training and technical support needs of staff and students.
• Share their experiences with platforms, vendors, and open educational resources.

The facilitator is also be available for individual follow-up by phone, email, or video conference.

ABOUT THE FACILITATOR

As Chief Learning Officer of Mustard Seed Training, Meagen supports adult and family education providers to create a more just and loving society. In addition to training and professional development, Mustard Seed Training builds and creates materials for Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and other interactive methods of faith formation with children.

Meagen serves as a national author and trainer in the field of adult literacy, helping educators integrate authentic workplace materials and educational technology. She has a BA in Religion from Oberlin College, Certificate in Distance Education from Penn State University, MA in Theology and Religious Studies from John Carroll University, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Educational Technology at Kent State University.

This two-hour recorded webinar shares basic information about brain development and processing to assist educators with creating meaningful learning opportunities. Trauma-informed care concepts and practices are discussed, as well as the key variables required to build resiliency. Social and emotional learning (SEL) is approached in a practical way and is guided by the engagement strategy of “Calm-Connect-Converse”.

• Brain Development
• Resilience
• Social and Emotional Learning
• Childhood Trauma
• Calm – Movement; rituals; routines
• Connect – Relationships; group cohesion
• Converse – Problem-solving; insight

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About the Presenter

Aaron Muttillo, Ph.D. has worked with children and adolescents in public, private, and non-profit settings for more than 20 years. He has extensive experience managing programs that serve students with diverse learning abilities. Aaron is a licensed school psychologist and holds a doctorate in urban education from Cleveland State University. Aaron is committed to creating educational settings that are research-based, dynamic, and joyful.

Aaron maintains a neurodevelopmental approach to his professional work with people. Simply put, his interventions are grounded in brain research and guided by a person’s developmental level. Aaron incorporates movement, art, music, and humor to ensure that services are relevant, regulating, and rewarding.

This two-part, five-hour training series is targeted to literacy professionals outside of the K-12 context; all are invited to participate. This on-demand course was originally available as a two-part webinar series from 9:30am to noon EST on Fridays September 20th and October 4th, 2024.

This session is designed for educators, literacy specialists, and anyone passionate about improving reading outcomes for learners of all ages. Participants will dive into the science of reading—a research-based approach that blends cognitive science, neuroscience, and educational psychology to understand how reading develops in the brain. This training focuses on instructional strategies recommended by research to teach reading across the life span which are applicable to a variety of settings. It does not include specifics on policy, curriculum or implementation in K-12 schools.

Key Learning Objectives:

• The Basics: Gain an understanding of the five components of reading including phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
• Assessment: Learn strategies for assessing learners on the 5 components of reading.
• Interventions: Learn strategies to help learners in each of the five components, including using data-driven decision-making to tailor instruction.

Outcomes: By the end of this training, participants will be equipped with the knowledge and tools to implement reading instruction grounded in scientific research, improve student reading outcomes, and contribute to closing the literacy gap in their schools and communities.

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ABOUT THE FACILITATOR

Carmine Stewart, PhD is the Director of the Aspire Program at the Neighborhood Centers Association in Cleveland, Ohio. Carmine has worked in adult literacy for eighteen years as a volunteer tutor, instructor, program coordinator, program director, instructional designer, professional developer, researcher, and content developer.  She is passionate about helping beginning adult readers, and educating educators about learning and instruction. She dreams of eliminating illiteracy as a social problem and recently started a company “Ending Illiteracy” to extend her work assisting beginning readers beyond the adult literacy space.  Carmine is the President and CEO of Aspire Consulting and Educational Services, conducting research, evaluation, professional development, executive coaching, and diversity training. Carmine is the President of the Ohio Association of Adult and Continuing Education (OAACE), the moderator for the United States Department of Education’s LINCS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Community, the Chair of the Association of Adult Literacy Professional Developers (AALPD), and a member of the NAACP Education Committee. Carmine earned her doctorate from Cleveland State University in August 2012 after defending her dissertation, “Teacher Preparation and Professional Development in Adult Literacy Education.”