March Volunteer Training Series

This training series prepares participants to teach or assist in English classes provided by the English Skills Learning Center. Each session is facilitated by ESLC staff members who come to training with years of experience teaching adult English language learners. Training activities are focused on how adults learn language, how the ESLC approaches teaching, and considerations for working with adults. Each activity in training also is an opportunity for modeling the types of learning activities the ESLC values in a hands-on, engaging, and discussion-oriented classroom.

Session 1: Adults and Language Learning

Session 1 is an introduction to how adults learn. Participants will be introduced to important considerations for working with adult learners as well as how trauma affects language learning. Additionally, participants get to experience language learning in an immersive Total Physical Response activity in order to draw attention to the importance of repetition in language learning. Participants will also learn about the four language skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking), and the importance of providing opportunities for practice in each of those areas in each lesson.

Session 2: Teaching Adult Language Learners

The second session shifts the focus from how adults learn to how the ESLC approaches teaching adult language learners. Participants take a close look at lesson planning and learning objectives. The main activity in this session gives participants time to identify the important components of a lesson plan and how to approach teaching reading skills.

Session 3: Culture and Classroom Management

The final session of volunteer training introduces some strategies for reducing teacher talk time, working with a multi-level class, and a walkthrough of the importance of respecting boundaries. Volunteers are presented with some classroom scenarios to discuss in groups. The purpose of this is to help prepare volunteers for some of the issues that may arise during class and equip them with strategies to manage those situations while still maintaining important personal and professional boundaries.

By the end of 3 sessions of training, participants will be able to:

• Describe the process of resettlement for refugees into the United States
• Explain the mission and vision of the English Skills Learning Center to the greater community
• Describe the concept of two-way mutual integration, and how the ESLC works to facilitate it
• Advocate for refugees and immigrants in the community
• Read a lesson plan and recognize components of an effective lesson
• Describe the characteristics of adult language learners and how adult learning differs from children’s learning
• Recognize some signs of trauma and triggers in a classroom setting and identify resources to help in such situations
• Explain classroom activities that support language development in reading, writing, speaking, and listening
• Explain the process of onboarding for volunteers from application to match and the expectations of participating volunteers