TELL WORKSHOPS DELIVERY

Participants who successfully complete the Training the Trainer course will be responsible for the Mentor/Resource program. As such, they will conduct introductory workshops and establish open and on-going communication with their colleagues concerning their work with ELL students. In addition, they must inform KSU personnel of the time and place of the workshops in order to assure that evaluation via observation does indeed occur. They also will seek input from their colleagues concerning the value of the Mentoring/Resource program and will collect activities used and evaluated by mainstream teachers as successful for working with ELL students. They then will be responsible for delivery of the activities to the KSU professors. Trainers must report all activities regarding their Mentoring/Resource program to the KSU professors for a minimum of two years following their completion of the Training the Trainer course.

Selected KSU student assistants will be in charge of posting collected activities on the ESOL link. This link, the on-going dialogue between trainers and colleagues they are mentoring at their schools, and continued communication between KSU professors and trainers, assure that mainstream teachers will have significant access to material essential for effectively educating ELL students.

To introduce the Mentoring/Resource program, each trainer will offer two four-hour workshops at their home school, providing training for ten participants at each workshop for a total of 20. These two workshops must take place the semester following completion of the Training the Trainer course. For example, a participant finishing the course in December 2003 will offer two workshops at their home school during the spring semester. Details regarding recruitment, criteria for selection, specific materials to be included in the workshop, and time and place of the workshop will be determined collaboratively by the workshop leader, principal of the school, Kennesaw State personnel teaching the initial training course, and Cobb County Board of Education administrators in ESOL.

Materials to be included in the manuals developed for the Mentoring/Resource program and the workshops will be selected during the Training the Trainer course. Each participant of the training course will help select readings and prepare activities that best serve the needs of the mainstream teachers at their home school. Analyzing materials and selecting and preparing activities appropriate for the workshops offered at the home school will be on-going during the Training the Trainer course.

Activities of the trainer serving as a resource/mentor for their home school include providing additional specific guidance for mainstream teachers in need of help with their ELL students. For example, if a mainstream teacher has questions or problems not addressed in the workshop, or needs suggestions for more activities for ELL students, he/she may seek the help of the trainer. In turn, if the trainer needs additional help, he/she may seek additional help from the professors in charge of the Training the Trainer course. These professors will establish and maintain on-line communication with all trainers via a web-based program accessed through KSU and ESOL. This will facilitate on-going communication between KSU professors, trainers, and workshop participants, communication vital for the success of the project.

Additionally, the trainer will collect activities and strategies that mainstream teachers have used and evaluated as successful for enhancing the academic success of ELL students. Special attention will be given to those activities and strategies related to increasing the reading ability of ELL students. These materials will be given to and categorized by KSU personnel teaching the training course. Materials will be placed on an ESOL link that has already been established on the KSU Foreign Language and Center for Hispanic Studies website so that all Cobb teachers can access them easily. Dr. Evelyne Barker, Coordinator of ESOL for Cobb County will be in charge of informing all Cobb teachers of the ESOL link. KSU personnel have agreed to maintain this link as part of their on-going work on the web for both the Foreign Language Department and the Center for Hispanic Studies. This link will expand the benefits of the proposed program to all Cobb County teachers. This particular activity and this site will be continued and maintained long after the funded time of the grant is completed.

Back to Top