9:00-10:15 Workshop Session 1


1. Literacy for Low Levels: Beginners Can Love to Read, Too! This workshop will give tutors ideas on how to get their low-level ESL students excited about reading, and offer some practical suggestions on different approaches and materials to use. It will include suggestions for reading with high beginning and low intermediate students as well.
   • Nancy Novak began teaching ESL in 1986 in Turkey. Since then she has taught in various US cities and abroad. She has been teaching all levels of ESL at Clark College in Vancouver, WA since 2000. Graduating with a BA in Russian Area Studies from Dartmouth College and a Masters in Adult Education from OSU, she has also written a Russian textbook and managed refugee/immigrant programs for several organizations.


2. Starting Right with Pronunciation Improvement: This workshop is designed for tutors of beginning and lower-level learners. Attendees will learn to understand what is happening in their mouths when they pronounce English, especially the sounds that are problems for English learners, like the TH and ER sounds. The particular sounds emphasized will depend on the languages of the students. Attendees are encouraged to email the presenter specific questions before the workshop at ballen@pcc.edu. In addition to sounds, the basics of English stress accent and intonation will be practiced.
   • Bob Allen has taught all levels of pronunciation improvement to community college students from many different countries.


3. Learner Web: Help Students Reach Their Goals: Explore this new online program for supported independent learning and tutoring. The Learner Web software is being used throughout the country to help students reach their individual goals. In this session, you will get a brief overview of the content available on the Learner Web, including GED and ESL materials, as well as a look at the tutoring interface, and an overview of how you might use the Learner Web.
   • Katie Mitchell has been working on the Learner Web project for two years. She uses technology frequently in her ESOL classroom and trains others on using the Learner Web.


4. English Grammar: Breaking Through the Barriers of Language Structure: Do you feel inadequate when teaching grammar structure? This workshop will focus on fundamentals in an easy, straightforward way and will provide resources to locate help and guide your students in their journey to use English correctly. Intermediate and advanced level.
   • Mary Owen began teaching ESL in 1999 and has taught both intermediate and advanced level classes in a community program. After eight years of classroom teaching with a strong focus on grammar usage, she is currently doing private tutoring.


5. More Beginning Level ESL Activities: This workshop shares hands-on, fun activities for Beginning Level ESL students.
   • Les Rivera is a full-time ESL instructor at Clark College in Vancouver, WA and a part-time ESL instructor at PCC, Cascade, specializing in teaching Beginning Level ESL adult students, and also teaching advanced levels. He has been teaching ESL for the past 20 years in the Portland/Vancouver area. He received an M.A. in Teaching English as a Second Language from San Francisco State University in 1986, and a B.A. in Education from the University of Portland, Oregon in 1974 and after graduation taught in the Peace Corps in Palau.
10:30-11:45 Workshop Session 2


6. Expanding Vocabulary-Ways to Put Words in Their Mouths: This workshop will explore techniques for building student vocabulary along with activities, websites, and classroom games that help students remember their new words. There will also be some teacher created handouts on prefixes/suffixes and parts of speech that can be copied for students.
   • Ann Kopel MA (TESOL) has been teaching ESL at Portland Community College since 2003. She especially enjoys teaching the lower levels.


7. Pronunciation Problems and Solutions: If your students are tongue-tied by consonant clusters and “stressed” by syllable stress, please join us to discuss and explore some common pronunciation problems and possible solutions. These tips and tricks are aimed toward those of you who work with intermediate and/or advanced students.
   • Catherine Johnston is a full-time ESL instructor at Clark College in Vancouver, WA. She has also worked in Illinois, California, Mexico, and Hong Kong as an ESL/EFL teacher, materials writer, and teacher trainer. She started her career as a volunteer tutor.


8. Culture Exchange: Students from around the world share some of their cultural heritage and practices. Join us for a discussion of the wondrous variety of ways that people express themselves in culture and language. Moderated by Kay Talbot.
   • Kay Talbot coordinates the Volunteer Literacy Tutor Program at Sylvania PCC. She has a B.A. in Management of Human Resources and an M.S. in Education. She had a private consulting business with a focus on Human Resources for 10 years.


9. Grammar for Lower Level Students: Teaching grammar basics (simple present, present progressive, simple past) to low-level students can be done within a communicative framework, where students get the analytic knowledge they need, but plenty of practice time, too. Learn techniques for teaching that will keep the students engaged and learning.
   • Jennifer Rueda has an MA in TESOL and a BA in Spanish from Portland State. She started tutoring in 1999 while studying for her Spanish degree. She has volunteered for Clark College and PCC for 8 years, and has been teaching Lifeskills (Basic ESL) at Clackamas Community College for the past three years.


10. A Reading Lesson Revealed: Through experiential activities, participants will identify the strategies a good reader uses to make sense of a reading text. Techniques will be demonstrated and discussed to address reading challenges for upper level ESOL and ABE students.
    • Kathleen Holloway is the Volunteer Literacy Tutoring Program Coordinator at SE Center, Portland Community College. She has taught ESOL for more than 25 years and has worked as a trainer in Washington and Oregon. She holds an M.A. in Teaching ESL, 1990, from The School for International Training, Brattleboro, VT.
1:30-2:45 Workshop Session 3


11. Tutor Discussion Session: Join experienced tutors to talk about the joys and frustrations of tutoring. Bring your questions and ideas to share with others. Moderated by Kay Talbot.
    • Kay Talbot coordinates the Volunteer Literacy Tutor Program at Sylvania PCC. She has a B.A. in Management of Human Resources and an M.S. in Adult Education. She had a private consulting business with a focus on Human Resources for 10 years.


12. How to Detect Undercurrents of Stress in Your Students: Learn the signs of student stress, and techniques for dealing with these issues. Indicators of stress are issues of depression, discipline and body language. Tutors can counteract these issues by watching their assumptions, becoming knowledgeable about culture, creating a caring community, setting clear expectations, and promoting language groupings. For ESL, tutors can learn from successful adjustment patterns, provide opportunities for awareness and management of differences, use art, and appeal to cultural values.
    • Karen Swallow and Diane Tehrani are both adjunct instructors of ESL at Clark College. Karen is also an adjunct ESL instructor at PCC Cascade campus. Diane leads an ESL conversation group at PCC Sylvania campus.


13. Using the Web to Your Advantage: Tips on Evaluating Online Resources for ESOL Tutors: There are so many websites to choose from. How do you decide what will be useful for your student? How can you be sure the activities are at your student’s level? In this workshop we will discuss some tips on how to evaluate websites for usefulness and validity. We will identify some best practices, so you can use online resources more effectively with your students.
    • Emilia Gilroy-Sander is a board member for the Portland Literacy Council. She has been involved in adult literacy for the past four years and has taught ESOL.


14. Grammar for Lower Level Students: Teaching grammar basics (simple present, present progressive, simple past) to low-level students can be done within a communicative framework, where students get the analytic knowledge they need, but plenty of practice time, too. Learn techniques for teaching that will keep the students engaged and learning.
    • Jennifer Rueda has an MA in TESOL and a BA in Spanish from Portland State. She started tutoring in 1999 while studying for her Spanish degree. She has volunteered for Clark College and PCC for 8 years, and has been teaching Lifeskills (Basic ESL) at Clackamas Community College for the past three years.


15. Working with the Multi-Level Class:
    We are sorry - but this workshop is FULL. Please make another selection.
    Teachers in community-based ESOL classes try to duplicate a grammar-focused, linear approach to language teaching and acquisition. However, neither language learning nor the lives of adult non-native speakers are linear. Consequently this leaves teachers frustrated with declining attendance, students who come one time halfway through the term, and multiple literacy levels. However, if we move toward a skills-focused, movement-based group learning approach, letting each class stand on its own while repeating practice over time, our classes are more fun for students and teachers, they are less resource intensive, and they tend to grow – and that means more people learning more English.
    • Patrik McDade (Kilpatrick) received a Certificate in TESOL from PSU in 1996. Since then he has taught ESOL overseas and in the Portland area. For the past year he has been working on the "Bridge of Language" to increase the effectiveness of Community Based ESOL by providing training, guidance, and curriculum to resources strapped community programs.

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