Author Archives: efftips
Registration Open: Preparing for Work Curriculum Training June 11-12, 2013 – Knoxville, TN
Announcement:
Equipped for the Future is hosting an open-registration training for the Preparing for Work curriculum June 11-12, 2013 at the University of Tennessee Conference Center in Knoxville, TN. This 2-day training is designed for instructors interested in implementing the curriculum in adult education or workforce development settings. Training Agenda
This skills-based curriculum is designed to model authentic, work related experiences and activities. Activities are designed to provide opportunities for learners to apply the skills that are being presented. About the Curriculum
Register online today at: http://www.cvent.com/d/fcq53s/1Q
Training Topic: Preparing for Work: The EFF Work Readiness Course
Audience: Instructors in Adult Education and Workforce Development
Date: June 11-12, 2013
Location: University of Tennessee Conference Center, Knoxville, TN Directions & Maps
Training fee: $750 per person with lunch and a light breakfast included both days Accommodations, travel and all other meals are the responsibility of the participant. Hotel & Travel info
Materials: Each participant will receive a copy of the newly REVISED teacher’s guide and student manual and a master copy of student materials on CD. Preview PfW manual contents
Space is limited and registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
Please contact Aaron Kohring with any questions at akohring@utk.edu
How DO They Learn Best? Using Learning Preferences in the Classroom and Beyond
How do you prefer to learn?
When attending professional development, taking a class or gaining a new skill, do you prefer to read? Listen? Watch someone do it? Learn by doing?
Based on just our own personal experiences, we can pretty easily figure out that different people use different styles of learning (or learning modalities) for different purposes. The concept of “learning styles” has gotten a lot of attention in the adult education community over the past few years, especially among teachers who are trying to meet the differing needs of individual students while providing instruction in a group setting. It various forms, is also a commonly addressed in workplace professional development.
How have others’ learning preferences’ affected you in the workplace? Have you participated in ‘learning styles’ type training activities as an employee?
Learning Style theories propose that different people learn in different ways and that it is good to know what your own preferred learning style is. Often we hear learning styles defined as “visual, auditory, and kinesthetic” – referring to how we use the senses to learn or demonstrate knowledge. Another popular model was developed by John Gardner in the 1980s – Multiple Intelligences Theory. 1 While he didn’t provide any direct empirical support for his theory, Gardner presented evidence from many areas of study including biology, anthropology, and the creative arts. 2 In the early 90’s he looked at how his theory might apply to the learning that goes on among children in school.3 His basic points were these:
- Individuals should be encouraged to use their preferred intelligences in learning.
- Instructional activities should appeal to different forms of intelligence.
- Assessment of learning should measure multiple forms of intelligence.
While Gardner did not include adult learners in his research, teachers working with our highly diverse groups of adult learners have found success in using this approach, as well as other learning style theories. These days it is possible to find numerous tests, inventories and checklists that can be used by adults to help them identify their own preferred intelligences, or learning styles.
Have you used any of these ‘learning style/intelligences’ inventories/tools to determine your own preferences? Do you feel they were accurate? Helpful?
As an Instructor, how have you used (or might you use) information on your students’ preferred learning modalities? Do you feel it was (or is likely to be) important to your instruction?
Below is a story about one teacher’s ‘ah ha’ moment with her students – does her story sound at all familiar to you? Have you tried anything similar to the strategies she mentions?
Elizabeth Gardner is a Workforce Preparation Instructor at Suits for Success in Jersey City, NJ. For thepast 2 years she has been using EFF’s Preparing for Work curriculum to help prepare groups of clients for workplace success. In the Orientation Module at the beginning of the curriculum, an activity called “How Do I Learn Best?” guides students through the process of reflecting on and learning about their own preferred learning styles and strategies (including the use of an inventory). Elizabeth has facilitated this activity with several different groups of students, but note that one time it seemed to “work” above and beyond her expectations.
In this group, like others, some of the students had never done a learning style inventory, and several who had done one before noted that their preferred learning style had changed since the last time they did it. Because of the interest and enthusiasm they showed for the topic, I decided to take the activity beyond individuals just looking at their own preferences, and see if I could move them towards concepts in the Cooperating With Others Standard.
I asked my students to describe what they had learned about themselves to the whole class, and then to talk about how the class could play to their learning styles. As a result, in addition to talking about their own learning styles, they listened to each other, and some students started spontaneously brainstorming ideas for each other. Without being asked, they started thinking about how each of their peers might learn best! Then the class ended up talking not only about how knowing your own learning style(s) can be used in the workplace, but also about how identifying other people’s learning styles can allow you to help out coworkers, i.e: 
How might you show consideration for someone else’s learning style at work? This conversation seemed to have a longer-lasting impact than I expected. I observed learning from students based on that discussion weeks later – such as a student ‘recorder’ for one activity drawing a picture next to the text “for visual learners” or one student asking another what was said because “I know you’re a listener.”
I think my experience of this one activity really affected how I plan other learning activities. It really helped me to understand that each group I work with will be made up of individuals with various learning styles, so each group dynamic will be different. This will cause students to respond differently to activities in the curriculum I follow; something that doesn’t work with one group could be a favorite with the next group of students. One group, for instance, might enjoy and learn from a role-playing type activity, but are much less likely to respond or stay engaged in more static “think and talk” activities – while the next class might be just the opposite! I think it is really important to figure out up front how students learn best, and then choose or change learning activities [from ANY curriculum] to match up with the learning styles/preferences/goals of each group of students.
Please share with us your experiences in using information about students’ preferred learning styles in your instruction – how that information helps you meet your students’ needs, how you address the differences you find, any ‘ah-has’ you’ve had, etc. Any of the questions posed in this post can help you get started.
We look forward to an exciting conversation!
Click to learn more about EFF Preparing for Work curriculum or contact us via eff@utk.edu.
For more information on Learning Styles, you can start by visiting this page.
Note that the links ‘For Further Study’ listed on the right hand side lead to some sample inventories.
Post Contributors:
Peggy McGuire, EFF Trainer & Content Expert, Center for Literacy, Education and Employment
Duren Thompson, Program Coordinator and EFFTIPS Technical Editor, Center for Literacy, Education and Employment
Elizabeth Gardner, Workforce Preparation Instructor at Suits for Success in Jersey City, NJ
References:
1 Gardner, H. (1982). Art, Mind and Brain. New York : Basic Books.
2 Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of Mind. New York: Basic Books.
3 Gardner, H. (1993a). Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice. New York: Basic Books.
Announcing: The Center for Literacy, Education and Employment
The Center that hosts the EFF Project and EFFTIPS has a new name!
Please help us celebrate and spread the word!
The former Center for Literacy Studies at the University of Tennessee is now the Center for Literacy, Education and Employment (CLEE). This new name better reflects the breadth of the Center’s scope of work and interests as an organization, and more closely aligns with our recently revised mission:
…to support continuous improvement in the fields of education and workforce development through training, resources, advocacy and research.
Our Center also has a new web site – we invite you to take a look: New CLEE website.
And this means our address has changed as well – efftips.clee.utk.edu.
The official announcement appears below – please feel free to pass it on!
Helping Writers Develop Their Own Ideas: Revising the Content of Writing
Peggy McGuire
EFF Writing Content Expert
As mentioned in a previous post, I presented ‘Writing the Book’ on Writing for Postsecondary Transition at COABE in April this past year. One thing that stood out for me was a lively conversation by the participants around the ‘revision’ component of the Convery Ideas in Writing process.*
When you think of “revising” a draft piece of writing, what activity comes to mind?
When you ask students to “revise” their first draft of a written text, what are you actually asking them to do?
For many of us, revision of writing immediately brings to mind the act of “correcting” – correcting mistakes in spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc. – that might also be called proofreading. There is no doubt that it is important to learn how to correct mistakes like these in writings. Otherwise, errors could get in the way of a reader’s ability to understand what we are trying to say in our writing. Further, if our students can fix mistakes of these kinds, they are providing evidence that they know about, and can correctly use, common writing conventions.
There is, however, another meaning for revision. This meaning, while sometimes overlooked, is important for our students to be aware of and understand: revision of the actual content of their writing. If our goal is to Convey Ideas in Writing, then content revision is the strategy for making sure that we are conveying our intended ideas to our targeted audience via our written text. And of course, content revision is a process that we can teach our students to employ for all types of writing tasks at ANY functional level (not just for those transitioning into postsecondary settings).
Do you currently ask your students to engage in content revision of their writing drafts? If so, what activities or strategies do you use to support them in the content revision process?
Here are a couple of ideas for helping your students learn how to revise the content of their writing:
Idea #1: Compare Your Draft to Planned Ideas
So much of successful, effective writing comes back to what we do (or don’t do!) during the planning stages – affecting all other components of the writing process, even content revision. Once your students have produced a first draft, encourage them to compare it to the information and ideas they generated during their planning, and then to decide if they have said everything that they planned to say about the topic. To come up with ideas for ‘what to write about,’ did the student:
Brainstorm a list of terms/key points on the topic?- Make a mind map?
- Freewrite on the topic?
- Develop an outline?
- Keep a writing journal?
- Highlight important information in a text they were reading?
Whatever kind of planning was done to generate and organize ideas to use in writing, at the content revision stage, encourage your students to:
- Look at the results of their planning,
- Reread their drafts,
- Reflect, and decide:
- Did I incorporate all the ideas I wanted to into my draft?
- Did I miss anything important?
- Did I include anything that doesn’t really seem to belong there now?
- Did I come up with new ideas that I hadn’t thought about when I was planning?
- And in the end, is my point clear and am I saying what I want to say about my topic?
Idea #2: Seek Feedback on Your Writing
Revising writing content becomes much easier when a writer can get direct and constructive feedback from an external audience. This can give writers an immediate sense of whether or not they are in fact conveying the ideas they want to convey. So – encourage your students to find an audience!
Your student-authors can ask someone they trust to read what they have written (or listen to them read it aloud – remember, the focus is on content, not writing mechanics at this point). Authors can then prompt the readers/listeners to:
- Tell the authors what they ‘heard’ in the piece of writing – basically “reflecting the piece back” to the writers.
- Ask questions and/or clear up any confusion about specific points, asking the authors what they meant to convey.
- Describe to the author specifically what they liked about the piece. This gives authors information about what’s working well in their writing.
- Describe the words or images that stood out for them as they read/listened to the piece of writing.
- (If needed) Ask the authors, “What’s hard/easy about writing this piece?” This gives the writers a chance to talk about what’s blocking them, and to find their own ways ‘through’ the block.
As you may have noticed, this idea can also assist students to be effective peer reviewers/editors as well!
The above activites are designed to provide feedback focused on helping writers develop their own ideas. Note, however, that your student-authors may need a bit of practice before they feel comfortable performing these tasks. It may be a good idea to model these strategies with your students, and provide supported practice opportunities before asking them to use them on their own. They will find, however, that the payoff can be considerable. Such strategies for content revision empower students to really think about the substance of their writing and to revise their drafts (as needed) to meet their own communication goals.
What is your experience with teaching content revision to adult literacy (or ESL) learners? Please post a comment to share your ideas, thoughts, and insights. Here are a couple of questions to get you started:
- Have you ever taught your students strategies like these? How did it go?
- Have you used other effective strategies for helping your students revise the content of their writing? If so, please share!
We look forward to hearing from you!
*Note that effective revision of writing is also a Writing Anchor Standard of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and as such appears at every grade level of these Standards.
For more ideas, take a look at how these two writing lesson examples from the EFF Teaching Learning Toolkit address content revision:
Heritage Books: Family Literacy Preparing for Release: Corrections
Post Contributor:
Peggy McGuire, EFF Trainer & Content Expert, Center for Literacy Studies
EFF Preparing for Work Curriculum Training Successes – Knoxville TN & St. Louis MO
Update/Announcement:
This summer, Equipped for the Future (EFF) hosted two highly successful trainings on the Preparing for Work (PfW) curriculum for instructors in adult education and workforce development settings. This skills-based curriculum is designed to model authentic, work-related experiences and activities that provide opportunities for learners to understand and apply key EFF skills. About the Curriculum
In May, an open registration PfW training was held in Knoxville, TN with Aaron Kohring facilitating. Twelve individuals representing programs/organizations in seven different states participated in the event. During the training, participants created implementation plans using the curriculum not only for development of work readiness skills prior to employment, but also for skill improvement with incumbent workers. Several participants stated that they particularly appreciated the opportunity to try out curriculum materials ‘hands-on’ during training activities.
In August, Peggy McGuire was invited to facilitate a PfW training in St. Louis, MO for the staff of two programs of the St. Louis Public Schools: the Career Technical Education program for high school students, and the Fresh Start program for high-school dropouts seeking diplomas and employment. Training participants were charged with going back to their programs and sharing their learning with colleagues who did not attend, and to begin a planning process for curriculum implementation this fall.
Katie Lamb, a Professional Development Consultant with the Parsons Blewett Fund who organized and attended the event in St. Louis, says “All went so well with the training! We hope to support further needs for help with implementation…”
Additional Participant comments:
This was well worth the time, effort and money we invested to participate. I appreciate how well organized and efficient the training is. Knoxville
The facilitator did a fantastic job of engaging the audience…excellent organization and well planned, extremely relevant…this was one of the best training sessions! St. Louis
Interested in the Preparing for Work Curriculum? Let us know!
EFF is now in the planning stages for another open-registration training on the Preparing for Work curriculum in Knoxville, TN on October 2 & 3rd, 2012.
Please contact Aaron Kohring – akohring@utk.edu – if you are interested in attending and/or sending instructors from your program/agency to this upcoming October 2012 training.
EFFTIPS 