COE teacher workshops on reaching students from poor families to be held in Macon Feb. 26-27

Stephanie Jones, an award-winning researcher and professor from the College of Education, will offer two workshops for Macon-area educators—one on effective teaching methods to reach students from poor and working-class families and the other on high-quality reading instruction for all children—on Feb. 26-27 at the Macon Centreplex.

More than 1,500 Georgia educators have participated in "The Other Side of Poverty in Schools," an intensive, one-day workshop over the past few years. The workshop, to be held again on Feb. 26, is designed to help teachers, administrators, counselors and teacher educators to:

• Explore the ways in which social class and poverty impact everyone's lives;
• Learn about the five principles for change to better meet the needs of working-class and poor students;
• Develop research-based teaching practices and curriculum sensitive to working-class and poor children and families;
• Take away powerful classroom ideas for incorporating social class-related content;
• Get ideas for establishing positive relationships with working-class and poor families.

The Reading Turn-Around Program," a one-day workshop on Thursday Feb. 27, is designed for teachers in elementary grades, instructional and literacy coaches, administrators, after-school specialists, and tutors who want to provide the highest-quality reading instruction for all children. Workshop participants will:

• Receive and review a copy of the book, The Reading Turn-Around: A Five-Part Framework for Differentiated Instruction;
• Learn about the social class-sensitive, five-part framework for differentiated instruction in reading;
• Examine how social class and poverty play a role in reading and language in the classroom;
• Analyze social class and poverty in popular culture, media and literature through critical reading practices;
• Design learning opportunities around working-class children's literature;
• Create a concrete plan for individualizing reading instruction for "struggling" readers and enhancing literacy for all students.

The workshops are part of the CLASSroom Project @ UGA initiative developed by Jones, an associate professor in the Department of Educational Theory and Practice, and Mark Vagle, associate professor in elementary education at the University of Minnesota.

Jones, a former elementary school teacher, is author of the book, Girls, Social Class and Literacy: What Teachers Can Do to Make a Difference and co-author of The Reading Turn-Around: A Five-Part Framework for Differentiated Instruction.

Each workshop will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The cost for The Other Side of Poverty in Schools is $125 which includes workshop materials. The cost for The Reading Turn-Around is $150 which includes instructional materials and a copy of the book, The Reading Turn-Around: A Five-Part Framework for Differentiated Instruction. Registration deadline for both events is Feb. 19.