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Volume 6, Issue 2

Sommer 2006

The Arkansas Adult

Learning Resource

Center provides equal

access to all programs

and activities.

Professional Development 2006-2007

The Arkansas Adult Resource Center (AALRC) is excited to kick off

another year of Professional Development (PD) opportunities. The first

opportunity will be our third annual Summer Professional Development,

which will take place at the AALRC July 18-20. There will be three

training sessions every day. In the large training room, Dr. Charlotte

Robertson will be discussing best practices for TABE administration.

She will also discuss how to use TABE information to improve student

performance. In the computer lab, Rob Pollan will have workshops on

Beginning and Intermediate Excel and one day of Computer Basics. In

the small conference room, Nancy Loftis will be presenting "A Peacock

in the Land of Penguins" as a diversity workshop two days and as a

creativity workshop on Thursday. Attending Summer PD is a good way

to get off to a good start on the 60 required hours of professional devel-

opment. By attending all three days, a participant can receive 18 hours

of PD.

The following week, July 24-27, will be the English as a Second Lan-

guage (ESL) Institute with Dr. Natalie Hess. She has many years of

experience teaching ESL and presenting workshops. She has

collaborated on several books written with Laurel Pollard who was last

year's presenter. Participants will receive one of her books, Stories

With a Twist. This year the Institute expanded back to four days after

having been three days the past two years. Participants will receive 24

hours of PD.

This year the AALRC has started using online registration through the

EscWorks, a program that many Coops and school districts throughout

the state are already using. Through this program, all workshops that

participants attend at the AALRC will become part of an official record

that can be used to keep track of professional development for licensure

renewal. These workshops will NOT require a certificate. The informa-

tion in the official record is sufficient. There is also a place to keep per-

sonal records of PD activities that you have attended. These can in-

clude local activities, state or national conferences, such as AACAE and

COABE. These records will require backup documentation, such as a

certificate or program. The website to set up your Shoebox, which is a

fully functional record tracking system that enables teachers and admin-

istrators to track their professional growth online:

http://www.escweb.net/ar_esc

. The Shoebox component is free to users

of the escWorks

®

system.

The Professional Development Catalog for 2006-07 will be available

online by August 1. It will be a useful tool to help choose PD activities

for individuals and staff for the upcoming year. A paper copy of the

Arkansas Adult Learning

Resource Center

3905 Cooperative Way,

Suite D

Little Rock, AR 72209

Phone: 800-832-6242

(501) 907-2490

FAX: (501) 907-2492

http://www.aalrc.org

Continued on page 3

Provided by Nancy Loftis

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Adult Learning Network

Tuition Reimbursement

Program

Contact your Program Advisor at the

Adult Education Section or Marsha Taylor

at the AALRC for more information on this

program. Reimbursement is applicable to

courses taken for Adult Education Licen-

sure ONLY! This form is available on the

AALRC website (www.aalrc.org).

Remember: (1) The application form must

be submitted to the AALRC 10 working

days before class begins.

(2) Your class grade and receipt of pay-

ment must be received within 30 days of

class ending.

There is a new requirement: Applicants

must provide documentation that the

class will count for adult education li-

censure.

AALRC Staff

Director

Marsha Taylor

___________________

Secretary

Toccara Pearson

Administrative

Assistant

Wanda Johnson

Professional

Development

Coordinator

Nancy Loftis

Media

Coordinator

Klaus Neu

Information

Technology

Specialist

Rob Pollan

Disabilities

Project

Manager

Patti White

Professional Development News

For a list of courses available in adult education, please contact:

NOTICE:

If you are unable to attend a work-

shop you have registered for, please

contact the AALRC as soon as possi-

ble. Participants are often placed on

waiting lists because workshops fill

up. If you find that you cannot attend

a workshop and you call ahead, this

gives us time to notify wait-listed

participants that they can attend.

When a workshop has a waiting list,

participants may not send substitutes

from their center to attend in their

place. Registrations are held for par-

ticipants and not for centers.

Arkansas State University

Jonesboro

Dr. David Agnew

(870) 972-3943

University of Arkansas

at Fayetteville

Dr. Barbara Hinton

(479) 575-5119 or

(479) 575-4578

University of Arkansas

at Little Rock

Dr. Charlotte Robertson

(501) 569-8933

University of Central Arkansas

Conway

Dr. Sherry Roberts

(501) 450-5431

TRAVEL Reimbursement

It is important to remember the guidelines when making travel plans to attend

meetings/workshops at the AALRC. Programs must follow state travel guidelines

and the policy written below. We have had to disallow many travel requests be-

cause the guidelines are not being followed. The AALRC would appreciate your

cooperation in this matter.

Local programs funded with state or federal adult education funds must adhere to Arkansas Department of

Finance and Administration guidelines when requesting travel reimbursement.

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Adult Learning Network

Professional Development 2006-2007

catalog will be sent to each adult education and literacy council statewide. We are planning

several new workshops that should be of interest to many. For example, Janie Carter will

present a Learner Persistence Workshop. Dr. Philip Less and Nancy Loftis are preparing a

workshop on Teaching Reading to ESL students.

The Arkansas Adult Learning Resource Center is striving to meet the professional development

needs of adult educators and literacy providers throughout the state of Arkansas. We look for-

ward to serving you this year

From left to right: Carol Van Duzer (CAL), Danny

Sheffield (NWACC), Nancy Loftis, Marsha Taylor

(both AALRC), and Dr. Philip Less (DWE/AES)

Center for Adult English Acquisition (CAELA) ESL Initiative

Photo and article provided by Danny Sheffield

Continued from page 1

On March 27-28, an Arkansas team met in

Houston to report on the work on the state's

ESL Initiative for the Center for Adult Eng-

lish Language Acquisition (CAELA), a sec-

tion of the Center for Applied Linguistics

in Washington D.C. The team members

present were Marsha Taylor (AALRC),

Nancy Loftis (AALRC), Danny Sheffield

(ESL educator from NWACC), and Dr.

Philip Less (DWE/AES). Twyla Ferguson

(Arkansas State ESL Trainer) is also on the

team, but was unable to make it to the

meeting.

The purpose of this initiative is to develop

capacity (increase services) of professional

development for ESL teachers at the state

level. In Houston, I reported on the pro-

gress of the initiative in Arkansas to date

and where we are headed for the rest

of the program year. The team worked on a review of the work from Year 1 of the ESL Initia-

tive and planned activities for Year 2. There will be three years of planned meetings with the

national CAELA staff.

The team members all received two notebooks full of excellent ideas for professional develop-

ment for ESL teachers, including information on workshops, study circles, trainer tips, and re-

sources, among others. Part of the Year 2 plan includes incorporating study circles into profes-

sional development for CAELA participants.

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Adult Learning Network

News from the Disabilities Project Manager

Instructional Songs for Auditory Learners

For auditory learners, the Science Song Association (SSA) creates songs to teach sci-

ence. Check out

http://www.sciencesongstore.com/

You will be amazed. The cds run

about $15/each.

There are history songs at

http://www.allstarreview.com/histsong.html

I couldn’t make the link

work on that site for purchasing the cd, but you can get it at

www.amazon.com

for $12.95 –

and they have used ones for about $5.00.

My guess is that if you Google and/or search amazon.com enough, you can find songs for

teaching just about anything.

"Having a learning disability is like swimming

with your clothes on. It makes the task harder,

but not impossible.

Sometimes you feel like you might drown, but when you learn how to do it, you are stronger and more

proud. I am a stronger person because I have learned how to succeed in spite of my learning

disabilities."

-- Jonathan M., Indianapolis, IN, NCLD listserv,

ncld@ncld.org

, 06/22/06

Miscellaneous, Helpful Websites

Say it’s one of those days. It’s rainy, it’s blah, it’s uninspiring

for whatever reason. You just can’t seem to summon up your

usual exhilarated self. If you’re having one of those days, you

might want to turn your students loose on any of the websites

below, depending on what you thing may interest and/or help

them the most. I do think this kind of access is great for stu-

dents with disabilities, but I also think many students without

disabilities would benefit from these sites.

www.onestoptoolkit.org

for ADA, advocacy, and employment information.

http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

is an open-source encyclopedia that is a good

resource for some adult learners working at the lower reading levels.

www.windows.ucar.edu

has science & astronomy tiered-learning materials (beginning, in-

termediate, advanced) and a hard-coded translation to Spanish. The site includes science

games, teacher resources, journal creation, and the latest in science news. It’s a pretty

fun site.

www.babelfish.altavista.com

enables you to translate short passages of text or entire Web

sites among 19 pairs of languages. Translation is word-by-word, so the syntax is a little

goofy sometimes. Still, you can usually get the gist of what’s written.

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Adult Learning Network

AALRC

Advisory

Committee

Dubs Byers,

Chair,

Pine Bluff

Emily Barrier,

Little Rock

Harriet Branch,

Monticello

Sharon Ellis,

Secretary,

Fort Smith

Jennifer Hurst,

Pine Bluff

Lloyd Huskey,

Little Rock

Steven Lilly,

Lonoke

Charlotte

Robertson,

Little Rock

Trece Shepherd

Williams,

Helena

Billy Upson,

Texarkana

Nancy

Whitmire,

Vice-Chair,

Batesville

www.sparknotes.com

is a free online study guide and is also available

as podcasts (for $) and as mobile text messages delivered to your

cell phone. Free online study tools include (1) General Reference:

Dictionary, Thesaurus, “How to Cite SparkNotes,” Maps, and Transla-

tor; (2) Math & Science: Calculator, Unit Conversions, Physical

Constants, and Periodic Table. The site includes a “Quote of the Day”

that could be used to spark critical thinking skills discussions in the

classroom, like “The definition of ‘is’ shall be my downfall.”

Assistive Technology for Students with Learning Disabilities, Part 2

In the last newsletter, we ran the first of a series of articles

about assistive technology available for check-out at the

AALRC library. In it, we discussed the FM Loop Hearing

Aid System and the AALRC’s contract with RFB&D for

books on tape/cd. For Part 2, here are two more items we

would like to publicize.

The first item is the Orion TI-34 Talking Scientific Calculator. We have three of

them, which we purchased as soon as we learned that GEDTS had approved

this calculator for people with disabilities who request and receive a talking cal-

culator accommodation on the GED tests. As with any accommodation, of

course, the need is determined by the disability documentation and recommen-

dations from the diagnostician.

If you have a student who may benefit from

the talking calculator accommodation, espe-

cially if the request has already been ap-

proved, please contact Klaus Neu at the

AALRC as soon as possible to borrow one.

It’s good for the student to get used to work-

ing with this specific calculator if that’s the

one they’ll be using on the GED. These cal-

culators are a bit pricey (about $200/ea), so

isn’t it great that you can borrow one and not

have to worry about buying it!

The other item is a cheapie but a goodie. For the

extremely modest price of $29, there’s a great de-

vice called a Step Pad. It’s like a little pocket tape

recorder, and you can record the steps for a par-

ticular task for your student to refer back to.

So, say you just went over the steps for dividing

fractions (or writing an essay, or using a chart, or

whatever). You’ve gone over it at least three

times with the student, who has watched you

model the steps and practiced the steps while you

watch. Everything is great. You get up and walk to the other side of the room

where another student has been patiently waiting for your help, and the student

you just left is amazingly, immediately, lost. You can run back and forth – which

could be a healthy thing, I guess – or you could try the handy little Step Pad.

Your student doesn’t have to panic when you leave their side!

Continued on page 6

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Adult Learning Network

Adult Education

Advisory Council

Patricia Bates, Chair

El Dorado

Diane Shores,

Vice-Chair, Helena

Ben Aldama,

Rogers

Jim Allen,

Fayetteville

Diane Cary,

Magnolia

Steve Clayton,

Jonesboro

Pat Collins,

Russellville

Sharon Ellis,

Fort Smith

Denise Hester

Blytheville

Lloyd Huskey,

North Little Rock

Margaret Jarrett,

Monticello

Steven Lilly,

Lonoke

Paulette Martin,

Little Rock

Bobbie Sanders,

Little Rock

Flora Simon,

Dumas

Marsha Taylor,

Little Rock

Assistive Technology

for Students with Learning Disabilities, Part 2

Continued from page 5

They can push the buttons for Step 1, Step 2, Step 3....etc....and oh, the relief!

It’s like their teacher is still there talking them through it! But wait, what was Step

1. Just push the first button again! Wow! No more “rewind/stop/oops, wrong

place; rewind/stop/oops, too far...”; that game was never fun.

So the best part is, you can borrow one from the AALRC (we have five of them)

and try it out, and when you and your students just love it and can’t live without it,

you can get your own for only $29! Can’t wait. Order one now at

www.attainmentcompany.com

Stay tuned for the next newsletter, when there will be even more information

about the AT you can borrow.

New Rick Lavoie Book Available at AALRC Library

It’s So Much Work to Be Your Friend, by Richard Lavoie, is

the latest Lavoie addition to the AALRC library. The book is

about helping children with learning disabilities find social

success, but there is much in this book that applies to adults

with learning disabilities as well.

Those who remember Rick Lavoie’s video,

F.A.T. City

, will

also be happy to know that there is also a free podcast avail-

able on Mr. Lavoie’s website at

http://www.ricklavoie.com/podcast/index.html

.

The podcast,

Tales from the Road

, is a series of audio episodes that cover a vari-

ety of subjects of interest to anyone who works with students who has learning

disabilities, knows someone with learning disabilities, or is a person with learning

disabilities.

Dr. Karen J. Miller

Online “LD Talks” from the National Center for Learning Disabilities

(NCLD)

The NCLD website has been hosting a series of “LD Talks,”

which consist of guest experts who answer questions posted by

online participants. The online talks are then archived for any-

time-reading, in case you are unable to participate as it occurs.

The latest addition to the archive is about learning disabilities and

AD/HD, facilitated by Dr. Karen J. Miller, a Developmental Be-

havioral Pediatrician at The Floating Hospital for Children, and an

Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Tufts University School of

Medicine in Boston, MA.

Although most of the questions posted concern children, there are often ques-

tions and answers relating to adults. Either way, it’s valuable information for

teachers and tutors who want more information about their students who have

learning disabilities.

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Adult Learning Network

Tech

Talk

Note: To link to any web address (URL) in this newsletter, go the AALRC's home page at

http://aalrc.org, look up this newsletter, and then just click on the appropriate link.

Internet Explorer Error

When browsing the web, you

have probably encountered

this annoying error message

or one similar when opening

a page. It’s basically a use-

less message (to anyone be-

sides the creator of the web

page), even if you knew how to debug the page, it

wouldn’t let you. (As a browser you don’t have ac-

cess to make changes to the page.) It’s a Microsoft

mystery as to why it is turned on by default - here’s

how to turn it off:

In Internet Explorer, at the top menu bar go to

TOOLS – INTERNET OPTIONS – ADVANCED tab -

put a check mark in the three boxes as pictured.

Free Online Security Audit

Do you know if your computer and/or network is safe. Try an online audit:

http://www.auditmypc.com/

Audit My PC – Click on Firewall, then try TEST 1 and then go to TEST2 and

run the first COMMON test.

https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll.bh0bkyd2

Shiels UP! This is another good free tester. Follow the on-

screen instructions. Look for this newsletter online (

http://aalrc.org

click on newsletters on the left side)

for clickable links to these sites.

If you need help with this process, or if you discovered you are not protected and need help securing

your computer, contact Rob Pollan at

rob@aalrc.org

or 479-649-5830.

Computer Security Confusion

A common mistake that I have been seeing is having two firewalls or two antivirus programs running at

once. This causes major malfunctions and confusion in your computer, plus it will run very slowly.

Make sure that you only have one instance of a firewall and antivirus program running on your com-

puter. Go to START – CONTROL PANEL – ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS and remove the unwanted

antivirus program (third party firewalls like ZoneAlarm can be removed from here too.)

If you have a firewall installed from a third party like Bitdefender, make sure that the Windows XP fire-

wall is turned off (or vice versa). For the built-in Windows XP firewall go to START – CONTROL PANEL

– NETWORK CONNECTIONS – right-click LOCAL AREA CONECTIONS – PROPERTIES – AD-

VANCED tab – SETTINGS button – you can turn the firewall off or on from here. To access the Bitde-

fender firewall, double-click the red and black Bitdefender icon in you taskbar (bottom-right-hand corner

by the clock.) On the left side, click on General, turn the firewall off or on here. Note: The Windows XP

firewall is much easier to use, but the Bitdefender firewall is more secure if you know how to answer the

security pop-ups correctly. If in doubt, choose the Windows XP firewall. (If you don’t use Windows XP,

use the Bitdefender firewall.) The AALRC has more copies of Bitdefender Antivirus/Firewall available.

Please contact Rob Pollan at

rob@aalrc.org

or 479-649-5830.

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Adult Learning Network

The Luther H. Black Memorial Scholarship was set up to recognize an Arkansas High

School Diploma (GED) graduate who demonstrates outstanding leadership, citizenship,

and professional promise. The scholarship was established to honor Dr. Luther H. Black,

the "father of adult education" for his years of dedicated and committed service to Arkan-

sas Adult Education.

For more information about this scholarship and to download the application form,

please go to

http://www.aalrc.org/resources/ged/lhb.aspx

.

All You Have Is Your Name

Luther H. Black Memorial Scholarship-

GED Graduates Are Encouraged to Apply

We have all heard the statement, “You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.” Unfortu-

nately, many times this is a painful lesson. Granted, some situations simply don’t turn out the way we

thought they would; however, when we are involved in a situation, whether good or bad, our names are

attached and will be remembered.

Growing up, my parents did their best to teach my brother and me the importance of our family name.

One particular example stands out for me. I was about six years old and was with my father in a local

convenience store. While he was shopping, I noticed a package of gum lying on the floor and picked it

up. As we were returning home from our outing, I reached into my pocket, opened the package, and

began chewing “my” gum. I probably don’t need to go into detail about the events that occurred when

my father learned his son had placed a package of gum in his pocket knowing he had no money to pay

for it.

Now, to some, the fact that I took a package containing five small sticks of

“Juicy

Fruit”

gum might not be

such a big deal. But to my father, it was a lesson waiting to be taught. After a long talk and questions

about the entire incident, my father chose a dreadful, but memorable punishment for me. As we drove

back to the store, I can remember the most sickening feeling come over me when my father said, “I want

you to walk into the store and ask for the manager. Once you find him, introduce yourself and explain to

him that you took a package of gum without paying for it. Then, ask him if you can pay for it now.”

Needless to say, my age probably helped keep me out of jail that day, but I will never forget the feeling I

had when confessing my actions. Luckily, I was able to pay twenty-cents for the package of gum and

return home. However, the debt I owe to my father is one I can never repay. For I could never place a

price-tag on the lesson he taught me that day. We are known through our actions and for every action

there is a reaction. And whether we realize it or not, others are taking note. When we make mistakes,

and we all do, the choice is ours – either we take responsibility for our mishaps or we don’t. We must

keep in mind, though - we are setting an example for others to follow. It’s never too late to make a good

impression and do what is right.

Maybe I would have learned my

“

J

uicy Fruit

” lesson somewhere else along the way, but I

am sure that had I learned it later in life, it would have cost a lot more than twenty cents.

2006© Vital Communications - Paul Vitale is a national speaker and author.

He speaks to organizations throughout the United States and Asia. To learn

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Provided by Paul Vitale