Thursday, October 1, 2020 10am to 11:30am
About this Event
Registration closes at 10:00 a.m. EDT on September 30.
Presenters: Jeannie Ducher, Foreign Language/ESOL, and Jessica Downey, American Culture & English
Participants will engage in a series of activities to identify aspects of participation that are most essential to student learning in their courses. Informed by theories from the field of second language studies, participants will modify existing tasks or created new ones that are designed to reduce anxiety and increase participation and engagement for all students. Instructors are asked to bring the participation sections of their syllabi and some classroom activities in which students struggle to engage. They will have the opportunity to gain feedback from invited international students during the workshop and to discuss potential methods of adapting activities for virtual learning environments.
Jeannie Ducher is Senior Clinical Faculty of Foreign Language/ESOL education in the College of Education, Health & Society. Jeannie teaches ESOL methodologies in the Teaching English Language Learners (TELLs) certificate/TESOL endorsement, and she is involved in the acculturation of international students into the Miami culture and courses. She has also taught communication strategies and reading/writing development to international students in the ACE program. Jeannie's passion is to help all agents in the teaching/learning process to better understand one another across linguistic and cultural communication styles.
Jessica Downey has taught English overseas, has worked as a medical interpreter and business translator, and holds degrees in German Studies and Spanish Literature. In addition to teaching in the American Culture & English (ACE) program, she coordinates and develops ongoing exchanges with the Psychology Department to cultivate intercultural competence among international and domestic students. She is currently studying intercultural English language teaching in Miami's interdisciplinary Educational Leadership program. Ms. Downey earned her Master's in Literacy and Second Language Studies in the area of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.