Texts as Tools for Inquiry: What Does it Mean to Meet Adolescent Readers Where They Are?

This webinar is designed to support middle and high school teachers who are struggling to meet the needs of students in their classrooms who are disengaged and/or unable to access grade-level context through reading. The session will begin with an exploration of mis-conceptions about students who are reading below grade level and a discussion of some of the well-intended, yet problematic approaches to reading instruction (i.e. “popcorn reading”) that exacerbate an already frustrating situation for both teachers and students. This interactive session will focus on a concrete approach to scaffolding students’ reading abilities by ensuring that reading situations are connected to personally meaningful issues and leverage adolescents’ unique perspectives. 

Your host, Dr. Trevor Stewart, is an Associate Professor in the Virginia Tech School of Education and is the Program Leader of the English and Language Arts Education Program

Date: Tuesday, September 27, 2022, from 5:00 to 6:15 p.m. EST

Continuing and Professional Education
School of Education Webinars Fall 2022
Cost: $25 / webinar

Contact:  Heidi Anne Mesmer, School of Education (hamesmer@vt.edu)

Virginia Educators Applying Reading Science (VEARS) Webinar Series

In response to the urgent need to translate reading science for K-12 educators, Virginia Tech is hosting four webinars on timely, educational topics. The goal of the series, entitled Virginia Educators Applying Reading Science (VEARS), is to clearly and succinctly  interpret research based strategies and techniques in ways that are directly applicable to the classroom. Each webinar targets a specific strategy or series of techniques, and brings pragmatic translations of research to teachers. The webinars will minimize broad “ideas,” and  “theories,” and emphasize pragmatic “How-tos” taken directly from applied studies. 

For example, shared reading, a technique that models the alphabetic principle for pre literate learners, is grounded in a body of applied work that specifies particular steps and teacher actions. VEARS webinars will connect teachers to research-proven strategies that they can use in their classrooms immediately.

The Fall of 2022 VEARS program offers 6 webinars, adding one session in cooperation with VT’s Center for Rural Education and adding 2 sessions to address the needs of secondary teachers. VEARS' online seminars are 75 minutes and run on Tuesdays in Sept-Nov from 5-6:15. Participants receive access to the presentation notes and resources.

Registration closes at 5:00 pm the Monday before the webinar. 

Note:  Each webinar is a stand alone offering. There is no need to take all 6 of the offered webinars.