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In addition to DSF Consulting providing services to clients including the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, TESOL International Association, and the American Federation of Teachers, we will highlight three special projects that took place in November 2012.
American Museum of Natural History Professional Development
Diane provided two days of professional development at the American Museum of Natural History. She collaborated with pre-service Earth Science teachers who are earning their MAT in Earth Science through the country’s only museum-based teacher education program. She provided hands-on EL strategies and examples to effectively teach ELs as part of the candidates’ Literacy in the Content area course and worked with the candidates on second language acquisition difference vs. potential learning disabilities issues in their Developmental Variations course.
American Federation of Teachers Keynote
Diane was a keynote panelist at the American Federation of Teachers’ conference organized around the connection between teacher evaluation and the CCSS. The conference was called Connecting the Dots: Collaboratively Moving from a Sorting System to a Learning System. School districts representing nine states attended the conference held in Providence, RI. Presenters included Charlotte Danielson, who is releasing a new set of frameworks in December that align her work with CCSS. AFT President Randi Weingarten’s presentation was called Moving Forward with Common Core Standards and Teacher Development and Evaluation. Diane presented with Dr. Peter Kozik and Susan Lafond, NBCT, highlighting her work with AFT on creating teacher evaluation systems that are inclusive of ELs and students with disabilities.
Colorín Colorado Blog
Diane’s blogs from November 2012 on the CCSS for ELs for Colorín Colorado can be found here. Since the blog’s launch in October, more than 4000 unique visitors have read the blog. Diane’s topics in November were:
- Voting and Chatting about the CCSS for ELs
- Takeaways from the AFT Roundtable on the CCSS and ELs
- Becoming an Academic Language Mentor for ELs