Professional Learning
Presentations & Workshops
As a community of educators, we believe that ongoing and evolving professional learning enables us to support each other and share the rich experiences which makes us all better educators. ATESOL NSW schedules regular events, including open forums. We value input from our members and welcome any suggestions for professional learning that you and your colleagues may have, especially if you are in regional NSW.
Would you like to host an ATESOL workshop at your school, TAFE or Early Childhood workplace? Contact us: ATESOL NSW Professional Learning Committee: atesolnswinc@gmail.com
Be Proactive, not Reactive — How to organise a New Arrivals Box before your EAL/D students arrive
Details: This session will include ways of addressing initial needs of CALD students newly arrived in Australia. (1.3) It shows examples of being proactive in arranging New Arrival Boxes to support students during resettlement (2.2), creating a sense of safety and enhancing learning (4.1). The session will provide opportunities for teachers to share their experiences with colleagues about how they prepare for newly arrived students (6.2).
Audience: Primary
Presenters: Robyn Jonson and Dannyelle Thompson
Where: Online (Zoom)
When: Week 9, Term 1
Date and Time: Thursday 20th March, from 4 pm — 6 pm
Registration for this event will open soon!
Readers Theatre: Theatre of the imagination
Details: A creative and inclusive translanguaging space can be developed by incorporating Readers Theatre in a range of subject areas, especially English. This strategy supports reading, writing, listening and speaking and encourages the use of the first language (Dutton et al., 2018, p. 47). The starting point for Readers Theatre is a narrative or story (Ewing & Rushton, 2024) and drama strategies can be used to support story development (Ewing & Simons, 2016). The story can be fact or fiction, personal or published, and is then developed into a script using all the creative, linguistic and cultural resources which students bring to the text.
Audience: Adult, secondary, and Primary.
Presenters: Robyn Ewing and Kathy Rushton
Where: Online (Zoom)
When: Term 1 Week 9 | Wednesday 26 March 4.00 – 5.00 PM
Registration for this event will open soon!
Scaffolding English language learners’ imaginative writing
Details: This session examines a successful experimental teaching strategy, ‘Storystyles,’ which improved EAL/D learners’ ability to write engaging imaginative narrative texts using stylistic language and literary techniques of narration, perspective, descriptive setting and mood, and dialogue and voice. The scaffolded task design of the teaching experiment is examined, the quality of student responses evaluated, and their language acquisition analysed, with a view to teachers designing and implementing the strategy in their own classrooms.
Audience: Upper primary, Secondary
Presenters: Michael Michell
Where: Online (Zoom)
When: Term 1 Week 10 Wednesday 2nd April 4:00-5:30pm
Registration for this event will open soon!
More details on the Term 2 PL coming soon!
Recorded Events
As a member of ATESOL NSW, you can participate in professional learning offered by other state and territory associations across Australia associated with ACTA. The professional learning cost is the same for any association member.
Below are links to sessions that have run in the last few years and are open to all.
Teaching EAL/D Reading Skills
Details:
In this webinar, Dr Misty Adoniou presented EAL/D reading strategies which support students in the Beginning Phase of learning English as an additional language to:
- Build on their oral language – learners’ reading skills progress when they learn how to decode words in their existing vocabulary.
- Learn new vocabulary – understanding the meaning of new words helps students to comprehend and decode what they read.
- Understand English grammar – through listening, reading and responding to rich engaging texts learners develop their understanding of English grammar.
- Draw on their rich life experiences – students are motivated to read texts which reflect their life experiences and identities.
When: 1 August 2024, ATESOL NT
Where: Available via Youtube
Using the EAL/D Learning Progression for initial assessment across K-6
When: 3 November 2021
Presenter: Caitlin Park
Click here.
Revitalisation and maintenance of Aboriginal languages
When: 12 August 2021
Presenter: Aboriginal Teachers from Central Australia & NSW, with Susan Poetsch
Click here.
Multilingual Storyboxes in the EAL/D Classroom
When: 10 August 2021
Presenter: Gill Pennington
Click here.
Shared experiences in teaching and supporting refugee students
When: 17 June 2021
Presenter: Kim Cootes, Gill Pennington, Cindy Valdez-Adams, Vi Nguyen & Nathan Jeffrey
Click here.
Teaching refugees – The way forward
When: 16 June 2021
Presenter: Dorothy Hoddinott AO
Click here.
Developing language through the Arts
When: Monday, 14 June 2021
Presenter: Cindy Valdez-Adams
Click here.
Exploring, thinking, and learning about languages and literacies with young people in Australian classrooms
When: Monday, 15 March
2021
Presenter: Dr Jacqueline D’warte
Click here. The presentation notes for this session are available here.
More resources are available here.
Other Events
Other Professional Learning
Our partners offer Professional Learning that demonstrates effective pedagogies to support all learners.