Dr. Virginia Rojas conducts professional training on effective programs and strategies for English learners from pre-school through grade 12 for ESL (EAL) and classroom teachers. She has worked with over 300 international schools on language education policies, programs, and professional development. Dr. Rojas specializes in developing academic English as an Additional Language (EAL) and in providing access for English learners through teacher collaboration and effective instructional practices for teaching English learners in mainstream classrooms. She provides professional development sessions, job-embedded coaching, demonstration lessons, and conducts linguistic audits of ESL/ EAL programs.

Dr. Rojas is a faculty member and author with ASCD (www.ascd.org) and partners with the Teacher's Training Center (http://www.theptc.org) to offer an EAL certification for international-school teachers. Dr. Rojas was inducted into the AAIE (Association for Advancement of International Education) in February 2016 and is semi-retired as of 2017. She will continue to work with the TTC EAL certificate on a part-time basis, provide professional development through selected professional development organizations, and has agreed to coach a few international schools with their EAL journeys this year.

October 19, 2018 Friday

8:00 AM - Noon

Intended Audience: Administrators (e.g. School Directors, Principals, Coordinators)

Leading a Response to the Changing Demography of International Schools

Half Day Workshop Outcomes

As the demography of international schools continues to change with the result that every classroom has more English learners than ever before, it is necessary to turn the often-heard mantra, ‘every teacher is a language teacher’ into classroom practice. This half-day, solution-driven session - specifically designed for school leaders – focuses on the following:

1. Distinguish between historical, deficit-based vs. current, asset-based EAL paradigms, programs, and practices as they relate specifically to international- school settings;

2. Understand the changing roles and responsibilities of EAL specialists and classroom teachers as they collaborate and share responsibility for English learners’ academic achievement and English-language proficiency.

October 19 - 20, 2018 (Fri-Sat)

October 19, Friday 1:00 - 4:00 PM

October 20, Saturday 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Intended Audience: Pre-K through grade 12 educators in international schools

Navigating the Changing Demography of International Schools: EAL and Classroom Teachers Collaborating and Sharing Responsibility

One of the most effective language-in-education programs is ‘immersion,’ a program or method of learning in a second language by being taught almost entirely in that language. Its opposite ‘submersion’ refers to a program or method whereby language learners are left to ‘sink or swim.’ With the continued demographic changes in international schools (i.e. more students from non-native English backgrounds), educators face a watershed moment as they decide which direction to take:

• strategically plan for the sustainability of EAL and classroom teacher collaboration and shared responsibility; OR

• continue to tread water in to order to keep past policies, programs, and practices intact (i.e. deficit-perspectives, disconnected pull out or ad hoc push in programs, confusing ‘inclusion’ with ‘immersion,’ etc.)

One-and-a-Half Day Workshop Outcomes

1. Participants will develop a professional knowledge base on issues related to second-language learning environments for English learners (i.e. paradigms, programs, and practices);

2. Participants will understand basic principles of second language acquisition and bilingualism (multilingualism) in order to discover asset-based instructional strategies for leveraging English learners' primary languages, cultural assets, and prior knowledge;

3. Participants will focus on using a CLIL approach (Content and Language Integrated Learning) to collaboratively plan, implement and assess instruction for content achievement and academic language proficiency simultaneously;

4. Participants will gather instructional models and tools for so that English learners ‘access, engage with, and express’ grade-level information (i.e. not resorting to past instructional approaches such as modifications, interventions, remediation, accommodations, or simplification).

Registration Notice:

Please note that the morning of Friday, October 19th is for Administrators only. We may have great ideas, but what's to them if our decision-making bodies either do not know or do not support the decisions best for our students? Therefore, the session is especially designed for administrators. Administrators, you are welcome to join the full weekend workshop alongside teachers as well! If you are a teacher, please sign up for Friday afternoon 1:00 - 4:00 into Saturday 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM.

Once you have reviewed the information of the weekend above in detail, please fill out the registration form below and contact the KIS Principal of Teaching and Learning, Liz Cho, with any questions or concerns. We look forward to hosting you at KIS!

(**KIS folks, your internal registration form is here as below is for outside attendees only. )