Society & Culture

UGA to host second education workshop on poverty in schools November 12-13

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 Nov. 12-13.

The program 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. This is the second presentation of the workshop, which drew great interest this past summer.

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 aims at 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 1-6 p.m. on Nov. 12 and from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Nov. 13 in Room G62 of the River’s Crossing Building, 850 College Station Road, Athens.

The deadline to register for the workshop is Nov. 11. The registration fee is $200 per participant or $150 per participant for schools sending 10 or more people. Each participant will receive 1 professional learning unit. For registration information, visit: www.coe.uga.edu/outreach/PD.