Campus News Society & Culture

UGA to host education workshop on poverty in schools July 27-28

Athens, Ga. – A two-day workshop for Georgia K-8 teachers, administrators, counselors and teacher educators focusing on more effective teaching practices to reach children from poor and working-class families will be held at the University of Georgia July 27-28.

Discussion during the workshop, entitled “The Other Side of Poverty,” will focus on research-based teaching practices sensitive to working-class and poor children and families; explore children’s literature and adult literature about social class and poverty; and provide classroom ideas for incorporating social-class related content.

Keynote lecturers will include two award-winning UGA faculty members, Stephanie Jones, an associate professor and Mark Vagle, an assistant professor in the College of Education’s department of elementary and social studies education.

Jones, a professional developer, educational consultant, and former elementary school teacher is the author of 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. Her research focuses on helping teachers and administrators better meet the needs of poor and working-class students and families.

Vagle, a former elementary and middle school teacher and middle school administrator is co-editor of Developmentalism in Early Childhood and Middle Grades Education: Critical Conversations on Readiness and Responsiveness. His research focuses on the powerful ways moment-to-moment classroom interactions influence student learning-and seeks to provide teachers and administrators with ways to identify and reflect on the implications of such interactions.

The workshop, hosted by The CLASSroom project @ UGA, will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day in the Lamar Dodd School of Art, Room S151.

The deadline to register for the workshop is July 1 and is limited to the first 100 participants who sign-up. The registration fee is $200 per participant or $150 per participant for schools sending 10 or more people. Each participant will receive 1 PLU. For registration information, see www.coe.uga.edu/adoutreach/PD/OSP/index.html.

The Georgia Center for Continuing Education Conference Center and Hotel is currently holding room blocks for out-of-town participants. For more information, contact Linda Taylor at 706/542-3002 or ltaylo@uga.edu.