Course Syllabus

Course Syllabus

Professional Development Online Blog

Title

Educating Latino Immigrants in the Mainstream Classroom

Target Audience

This course is intended for pre-service and in-service teachers of grades K-8.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this course.

Course Description

This course is designed to give educators a historical overview of Latino immigrants living in Dalton, Georgia since the early 1990s, as well as the economic, social, and educational changes that have taken place as a result of their sudden migration to this rural Georgia town.  The goal is to contribute to the research in this area and to inform employers, community leaders, educators, and local residents who have experienced similar demographic shifts to become better aware and sensitive to the challenges experienced by this immigrant population and, thus, better equipped to provide a rigorous yet pedagogically appropriate education for Latino students.  The aim is to better understand practices for educating Latino children in the United States.

Goals

The goals for this online course include:

1)      The demographic changes in the South since the influx of Latino immigrants.

2)       The reactions to the influx of Latinos living in Dalton which prompted community initiatives, such as the Georgia Project, that have the laid the foundation for present and future programs for educating Latino students. 

3)      An explanation of the policy changes in Georgia regarding the accommodations for non-English speaking students.

To meet these goals, participants will post the findings of their research, experiences, and teaching strategies for the promotion of a language learning environment.

Learner Outcomes (performance based)

Learners completing this course will be able to:

1)      Discuss and explain the role of research in making decisions about best practices for educating ELLs in Grades K-8.

2)      Identify historical trends of Latino immigration in the United States and cite research findings.

3)      Create online activities that support English language acquisition.

4)      Submit a report to Blackboard based on the blog’s discussion board, interpretations and experiences, and recommendations based on findings that articulate transformations in your teaching practices by creating a two-week ESOL implementation plan.

Blackboard Submission Project: Planning Future ESOL Instruction—Transforming Your Practice

Learners will follow these instructions to complete their final projects:

1)      Decide on one instructional change that you would like to implement in your classroom to better meet the needs of your ELLs, such as lessons geared toward language acquisition, phonemic awareness, comprehension strategies, or altering your classroom culture to foster students’ motivation to read and write.

2)      Devise a plan for implementing the new practices and ways to integrate the plan with your existing/future curriculum. Describe the specific needs of the ELLs and how the instructional changes will benefit them.

3)      Write a final report and design a two-week ESOL implementation plan utilizing what was learned through the postings and research findings using APA format to cite references. Your final report should be about 700-750 words in length.

4)      Post your plan on the discussion board for feedback.  Also review and provide feedback for two other participants.

Schedule

This course is scheduled to take approximately 45 hours to complete readings, activities, reflections and a final project.

Evaluation

This course is evaluated on a project completion basis.  Students will receive 5 Staff Development Units (SDUs) upon the completion of the final project and required postings to the discussion board.