Faculty Conferences and Learning Opportunities
Contextualizing Basic Skills
and Faculty Inquiry
Interested CTE faculty are asked to consider participating in a daylong event in Northern California this spring to discuss what has been successful and challenging about contextualizing basic skills into CTE curriculum.
This activity will be a working session to inform faculty about statewide activities and to give faculty an opportunity to learn about Faculty Inquiry as a way to study and improve contextualized lessons and programs. The session will be completely underwritten by a grant, so there is no cost to participants. Only 40 faculty members will be invited to participate statewide.
If you are interested in participating, e-mail Alicia Jourdain at ajourdain@santarosa.edu for more information.
Teacher Academy & Basic Skills Committee Host Contextualized Training Symposium
by Jill Frank
The Teacher Academy and the Basic Skills Committee combined forces to offer a Contextualized Training Symposium for interested faculty from all SRJC disciplines. The event was held on November 20, 2009, and was facilitated by Barbara Illowsky, De Anza College Mathematics Instructor and Project Director of the Statewide Basic Skills Initiative for the past two years. Instructors were given foundational information about integrating basic skills into core academic and career education courses, as well as numerous related resources. The hands-on components allowed faculty from different disciplines to work together and explore concepts about applied learning. Each participant attained new information, ideas, and valuable activities that can be incorporated into existing curriculum. During the symposium a support system was established to match each participant with a “friend” from another discipline to consult with and exchange ideas. The symposium's success was clearly reflected in the overwhelmingly positive feedback from participants. Be sure to look for another opportunity to participant in similar trainings next fall.