PAACE Conference

Last week I had the honor of presenting at the Pennsylvania Association for Adult Continuing Education conference in State College, PA. I spoke alongside Dr. Laurie Cella, Marie Steinbacher (FCLC Coordinator), and Megan Fick about the Community Connection Oral History project I wrote about in this post.

I presented the Americorps VISTA side of things-- my work as a facilitator and co-coordinator of the project, and also about my critical interpretation of the project's successes and what I would do differently. The title of our presentation was titled "Partnerships that Make a Difference in a Changing World-- A Successful Model of Collaboration between LIU12 Franklin County Literacy Council and Shippensburg University" and we pulled between 20-30 people. I got the opportunity to practice my presentation skills, especially public speaking, and also work on my professional development. The presentation went really well and I was asked a lot of questions about my work afterward, so I was happy to see that people were interested. It was nice to see that some people were inspired by our work to embark on their own collaborative efforts in their respective councils and programs.

I visited a few other panels as well: a presentation on teaching mathematics and one about beginner readers. I decided to see the math presentation because I haven't yet tutored math, so I thought I'd get an idea of what the test asks and how to teach the material. We were broken up into groups and had to solve problems based on math one might use in a career-- specifically, we looked at the health industry, construction, and food preparation. These careers, I learned, were high priority occupations for adult learners. Presenters also discussed the 4 areas of assessment the new GED will test. I may have moved from the FCLC by the time I'm ready to teach math, but in other tutoring or service learning programs I may be able to use some of the knowledge I picked up at this session.

I also went to a presentation on adults who are beginner-level readers, but I think it was mostly geared toward council coordinators and not tutors because the presenter discussed specific materials that could be ordered that have helped her with her students. The best part of the presentation was a video that her son put together with interviews from her students saying which materials were most helpful to them. Also, group tutoring was emphasized during her session. She touted tutoring reading in a group because it shows the student that others are struggling, which gives them a "we're all in this together" perspective, and also allows students to help one another and temporarily assume the role of teacher (which gives them confidence, something quite necessary for adult learners to achieve).

Overall, it was a great professional experience. The conference atmosphere is invigorating; today, I walked into my tutoring session with the conference in mind, trying to think creatively about ways to approach the day's lesson. A successful presentation, some new knowledge of adult education, and lots of available food and coffee made PAACE an event I'm sure to remember when reflecting on my years as an undergraduate.