Patty MacKinnon, U.S. State Department - English Language Fellow
Abstract: Sustained Discussions in Student-led Reading Circles
Wouldn’t you delight in hearing your students independently engage in in-depth conversations about their readings? This presentation focuses on the use and pedagogy of student-directed reading circles so you can replace those rote round-robin question and answer sessions with opportunities for students to engage in lively cooperative learning.
Scaffolds including student-assigned discussion roles, sentence starters, participation protocols, and assessments will be presented for use in fiction and nonfiction reading circles. These tools encourage academic discourse, higher level thinking, equity in participation, and accountability. The workshop will include time for participants to share best practices and challenges in using reading circles, as well as provide ideas for adaptations of topics presented.
Biography About the speaker:
Patty MacKinnon is currently an English Language Fellow with the U.S. Department of State. She works in Korea with North Korean Defector students and schools, and provides workshops for EFL professionals. With 20+ years of experience in the ESL/EFL field in the United States, Guatemala, and Korea, Patty has worked with students and staff of diverse social and cultural backgrounds in: curriculum design, program development, teacher coaching, textbook publishing, community outreach, and teaching. She received her MA in TESOL from San Francisco State University in California and her Bachelor’s of Science at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. Her special interests include working with refugees, teacher coaching, content-based instruction, and celebrating diversity in the classroom and beyond. In the summer, she is often in Guatemala working on her Safe Water Project that she and her daughter formed several years ago to help bring clean water to indigenous Guatemalan villagers. She is also an active Rotary International member.
She can be contacted at pmackinnon2004@yahoo.com.
PRACTICAL WORKSHOP SERIES, SESSION #1
Title: From Hardcopy Books to Digital PDF Files.
From hardcopy books to digital PDF files will help you organize resources and plan efficiently. A demonstration of how scanned images can be converted to PDF files (both image and readable) will be offered. This will be done using computer applications. Participants will see how these files can be used to create Power Point Presentations or Word documents. Copies of the computer application will be available, if you bring a USB drive (at least 8 GB of free space).
Profile of the Speaker: Dr. David Kim is a professor in the Division of Global Studies at Kangnam University. His research interest is varied, conducting studies in non-verbal communication, curriculum development, and language assessment. He is also the Yongin Chapter Treasurer.
