Enrollment for the January 31st Phonological Awareness and Literacy Work Stations Workshop in Richmond is currently full. Please check back on your log-in page to find spaces as they become available. Phonological awareness is the ability to attend to the sound structure of the English language. It is important in emergent and beginning reading stages. Teachers who attend this academy will create activities that can be used in K and 1 classrooms. To be eligible to enroll, you must have attended a Teacher Reading Academy prior to this workshop.

You can download a flier [pdf]

The on-line versions of our K-3 and ELL Teacher Reading Academies begin on January 26th and run through March 29th. All work is done on-line; computer access is necessary for attendance at these academies. All academies are free. Enrollment is currently full for K, 1, 3, and ELL academies. Please check back (log-in to your own page and check Events) for spaces as they become available. Site Director for these academies is Dr. Jeradi Cohen.

We are pleased to announce that the comprehension institute will be offered again, twice this fall and twice in the spring. This event, open to anyone, focuses on best practices related to differentiating instruction for the content reading areas. We offered this institute last summer as a half day conference combined with a day of workshops (small groups/hands-on activities). During the upcoming academic year, the workshop portion of the institute will be offered on Saturdays only. Please download the brochure to see dates and sites. Or check the Institutes menu button at the top of this web page for more information. You will need to register for an account on this website to enroll in one of these outstanding offerings

SPACES LEFT IN FALL SPE ED ACADEMY ~ NEW

We have 20 spaces left in the academy built for teachers of struggling readers, grades 4-12. The academy runs on four Saturdays in Richmond (October 18, November 1, 15, and December 6) and provides up-to-date information on best practices for teaching those hard-to-reach children. Please Log In to your own account to make a reservation. This professional development is free.

Click here for the informational flier.

This summer, we offered the first institutes that focus on teaching reading in the content areas using multi-level text. Our Professional Development pages now contain information that follows up on the institute. At this time, you will find teaching demonstrations, strategy tips, and resources to help you teach reading comprehension. We will be posting downloadable handouts from the Institute soon! Please log into your own account, select Professional Development from the side menu, and visit the professional development site

For those teachers who wish to take their reading academy experiences to the graduate course level, please see the attached flyer for specific information regarding registration dates and tuition costs for the Fall 2008 EDIS 589W Reading First in Virginia: Effective Literacy Instruction. This class is appropriate as follow-up for all academies.

Click here to download flyer.

If you waited to enroll a summer academy, ELL on-line academy, or comprehension institute, you will find very few open spaces in late May. While that's GREAT for our work, it's hard for you. We know that many teachers change their minds about attendance, the closer we get to opening dates. We encourage you to check back on the Event Enrollment page for late-opening spaces (usually the week before the event). And watch this page for announcements about fall 2009 offerings--we will be posting them soon.

For those teachers who wish to take their reading academy experiences to the graduate course level, please see the attached flyer for specific information regarding registration dates and tuition costs for the Fall 2008 EDIS 589W Reading First in Virginia: Effective Literacy Instruction. This class is appropriate as follow-up for all academies.

Click here to download flyer.

Dates for the Summer Comprehension Institute to be held in Richmond, VA have been announced. The institute will bring teachers together to study best practices related to teaching comprehension in the content areas. This is a free event, open to administrators, K-3 teachers, K-12 special educators, and those who work with children at those levels.
Enrollment is now open through this website; please login to your account (or create one) to reserve a seat.

The graduate level follow-up course for teachers who have attended an academy (either regular ed or Special Education Teacher Reading Academy) and who have earned a certificate in that academy, will be offered this summer. Registration opens in May, with the 8-week summer course beginning on June 9th. Please come to the TEMPO website (http://tempo.virginia.edu) or the Reading First in Virginia website for more registration information. Click here to download a flyer with more specific details.

A second section of the online English Language Learners Teacher Reading Academy has been added. Please login and select ELL Online II Teacher Reading Academy from your homepage to enroll.

Based on demand in the Richmond area (all sections of the Teacher Reading Academy in Richmond filled in three days!), an additional academy has been added. It will run concurrently with the Summer 2008 Richmond I TRA, August 5-8, and at the same site. Enrollment for this additional summer professional development opportunity, Richmond II, is now open!

Enrollment links for summer Teacher Reading Academies open on April 1 for Reading First teachers. Open enrollment for all other teachers in the state begins one week later, April 8. Summer events begin on June 16 with an academy taught through Old Dominion University, and continue through the summer until August 8th, when a K-3 academy in Richmond and a Special Education Academy in Wytheville end. Please check the list of summer offerings and plan accordingly if you have not taken advantage of these free professional development workshops provided by the state's Reading First funding.

We began the Winter/Spring Reading First academies in Williamsburg this past weekend. Enrollment was nearly full for both the regular ed and special ed academies. Here are some comments after the first Saturday:
"It was an excellent workshop. I look forward to returning on Feb 9th."
"I thought the time was well spent. It confirmed that I was doing all the right activities with my emergent readers. As a result of the class, I am going to test some of my 2nd graders on phonological awareness to make sure that is not the reason for their lack of progress."
"I was a bit nervous that the Academy would put me "over my head" with reading jargon. However, I found it to be just what I was looking for, in a setting that allows me to learn from teacher colleagues as well as the presenters. I am so very happy that I am a part of this."

The Saturday format continues through March. If you have not yet enrolled in one of our FREE professional development workshops, please take advantage of the possibility this summer and next year. Academy attendance gives you access to follow-up workshops on specific topics and a graduate course.

The Reading First in Virginia professional development office will bring the Phonological Awareness workshop to southwest Virginia on Saturday, March 1st. Meeting in Wytheville at the beautiful convention center there, 100 teachers will be able to work with grant researchers on best practices for K children who are just beginning to develop as readers. This is the first workshop of our series; please check the Events page (inside your own account) for more complete information

Please download the pdf flyer for more specific information. Announcing SUMMER 2008 Teacher Reading Academies!!

In summer 2008, five K-3 Teacher Reading Academies are scheduled in addition to two academies for special educators, grades 4-12. Please see the full list for continuing updates as plans are firmed up. Enrollment for these events will open on April 1st for RF schools and on April 15, for all others.

Newport News is hosting two academies this spring as part of their TAG grant (Targeted Assistance Grant). This grant provides extra money for professional development for teachers in the district. Enrollment is open to teachers in Newport News schools ONLY until January 3. On January 4, enrollment will open to the rest of the state. There are still seats left. Please create an account on the website and look for Newport News in the Events line-up. The Saturday academies will run January 26, February 9, 23, and March 8 at the Woodlands Hotel & Suites in Williamsburg, VA.

The Comprehension and Vocabulary Workshop will be held in the Richmond area on January 26, 2008. Workshop presenter is Dr. Kevin Flanigan, returning for his seventh visit to our state. Enrollment is open now, with seats remaining, through the website - please log-on and go to the Events Page. Please download the flyer for more specific information.

ANNOUNCEMENT

The Fluency and Phonics Workshop will be offered in Virginia Beach on Saturday, January 12th, 2008. Teachers who enroll will deepen their understanding of the relationship between phonics/ease of reading and fluency. There is no charge for the workshop but you must have attended a Reading First Teacher Reading Academy in order to be able to enroll. The workshop will be held at the Virginia Beach Resort Hotel and Conference Center. For more information, please click here to access the flyer in PDF format. Enrollment opens on November 1st for Reading First teachers and November 8 for all others.

WINTER/SPRING ACADEMIES

Enrollment for winter/spring Reading First Teacher Reading Academies will open on November 1st. Teachers in Reading First schools have the first opportunity to enroll; all other state teachers may enroll beginning November 8th. The enrollment period closes on January 19th, 2008.

Special Ed Academy: January 26 - March 8
K-3 On-line Academies: February 4 - April 16
ELL On-Line Academy: February 4 - April 16

Please create an account on the website so you are ready for the enrollment period. Thank you.

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