2018 ACAL Conference

ACAL Conference hosted by VALBEC

September 12, 13 and 14, 2018 • Melbourne

The ACAL Conference is shaping up to be wonderfully insightful and very informative and VALBEC is very pleased to be hosting in this its 40th year.  It has been so exciting to read and discuss the wonderful submissions from your peers. Delegates are shaping up from all over the world including, Canada, Laos, NZ and then the far stretches of our country from Tasmania to the north west and back again.

The program is developing to be a great mix of incredible Keynotes, peer-reviewed presentations to practical application, things to use in the classroom and lessons to be learned. We invite you to consider the opportunity to meet and listen to academics and practitioners in our field and take time to reflect on your own practice. The ACAL Conference lets you take a step away from all the white noise and offer space to think, feel and act.

Our program fees will be out shortly.  In the meantime take the time to review our keynotes on the webpage.  We welcome you warmly to ACAL 2018. Find us on twitter, facebook and the website.

2018 VALBEC Conference May 18, 2018

Literacy 4.0: preparing for new workplaces and literacy education practices

William Angliss Centre, 9:30am – 3:30pm

The Conference is full subscribed - yes, that's right - no more spaces or places.

We have had a great response to the conference and unfortunately have had to cap numbers.

For those who have registered please note there's a new workshop ...

Getting blended
Kathrin Colgan and Ruth Ryan will take participants through some new ways to design blended learning activities for LLN and CALD students. This workshop will be hands on, as well as offering effective tips for instructional design and dealing with copyright. 

This will be a BYOD workshop so please download Nearpod, Kahoot and Edpuzzle before the session.

Best you get ready for the ACAL Conference which VALBEC is hosting in September.

Fine Print in your letterbox now

"Adult literacy teachers have incredible under-utilised expertise. In search of the next activity or resource to use in the adult language classroom, they often resort to developing their own material from scratch to ensure that it is relevant, current and engaging for their students." 

Does this sound like you? It is the opening paragraph of Natalie Nawrocki and Marcella O'Connor's article in the latest edition of Fine Print in which they report on a project that tapped into that under-utilised expertise to develop a resource that is now freely available to all adult literacy educators.

See Fine Print Vol.41 #1 for the full story and visit the VALBEC website more about the 'Welcome to the Library' resource.

Fine Print is free to VALBEC members.

Resources

40 Stories of Adult Literacy Learners

Adult Literacy Stories transforming lives - 6 Stories

Stories from Tasmania, ‘The Heart of Literacy’- Chatter Matters

And 4 video stories from Ireland. Hear from Judith, Chris, Susan, and Frank.

Provided by Meg Cotter, Co-President

iSL Collective

The iSL Collective is community of language teachers from around the globe who share home-made worksheets on a free-to-use platform, Currently, they host Word doc/docx and ppt/pptx (powerpoint) files. It's for all language teachers, whether teaching in schools or doing one-on-one private tutoring. The site has 6 platforms for the teaching of English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian.

You can download all ESL teaching materials free of charge. They have a special, so-called Supporting Membership option. This website is run and developed and the staff is paid from the proceeds of these memberships. 

The iSLCollective also has a video quiz maker and library.  They are steadily developing more.

Though it is primarily for EAL clients, all worksheets can be downloaded and edited. The worksheets contain content related to popular culture so can suit younger literacy learners too. The iSL Collective is handy if you need something extra or different. Our advice is to pre read the worksheet before using it to check errors or appropriate content.

Australian Training Awards, Excellence in Language, Literacy and Numeracy

The Australian Training Awards, Excellence in Language, Literacy and Numeracy Practice Award recognises achievements by LLN teachers throughout Australia.

The applications close at the end of May. The award is direct entry and you can nominate yourself or by peers.

Employment

AMEP / SEE Program staff

LWA is looking for qualified EAL/LLN teaching professionals who will add value to our team. Experience teaching, assessing and application of the ACSF in the AMEP / SEE Program is essential. Positions are yearly casual contracts based in Melbourne, with frequent travel required.

LWA offers competitive remuneration, ongoing professional development and innovative employment opportunities while working within a dedicated team of committed professionals. To express an interest in joining the LWA team, please send your resume to: info@lwa.net.au

VicTESOL Professional Learning Coordinator Job in Melbourne

VicTESOL are looking for a highly motivated person to support and enhance the work of their active professional association for teachers of English as an additional language.

The role of the Professional Learning Coordinator is to develop and coordinate the Professional Learning activities of VicTESOL

VALBEC membership renewal now OVERDUE

Members receive

• Fine Print three times a year – a high quality journal for discussion and debate about good practice, theory and policy issues. Feedback and contributions are actively sought from members about content and issues.

• eVALBEC – our email communication keeping members informed of professional development activities, general committee activities and more up to date policy changes.

• Discounts for the Annual Conference and other VALBEC statewide professional development.

• Issues-based forums.

• Focus on significant policy issues impacting on the field.

• Free numeracy resources

VALBEC Facebook page

'Follow, Like, and Share' VALBEC on Facebook@valbec.org.au