Technical assistance

Areas of expertise:

Assessment – What is it? How is it done? Is assessment only testing?

Building collaborative relationships – How do you build successful collaborations through respectful relationships? What are the key principles of building successful collaborative relationships?

Creative problem solving – Think outside the box. The possibilities are limitless if you can train yourself to explore ideas that seem impossible.

Cultural awareness – What is culture? How do you teach about culture? What can you teach about culture in a public education system? How can you use language to teach culture? What does it mean to be multicultural?

Curriculum and materials development – What is curriculum? How does it affect materials and classroom instruction? How is it affected by the community’s and school’s goals? How is it related to assessment? Does a curriculum have to be based on discrete grammar points or on Essential Academic Learning Requirements? Can a curriculum be theme or topic or project based?

Grant writing – When you do need a planning grant? When do you need an implementation grant? What is the difference? Do you ask for space before staff?

Indian education –

Instructional methodology – What are the best methods for language revitalization?

Language and learning – What is language? How do you learn language? How do you teach language? How do you learn a language? Does age make a difference? What is the difference between maintenance and revitalization and how does this impact learning?

Language and technology – Use of technological resources in teaching and revitalizing languages. What are the ethical concerns? What are intellectual property rights?

Law – Civil rights, Indian education, language rights, intellectual property rights

Linguistics – The science of language. How do you create a written system? What sounds do you represent and how? How do you create a grammar? What type of grammar is most useful for teaching? What is a dictionary? What should be represented in the dictionary?

New strategic directions: program development as a process – Often our goals become our prison. How can you use goals to lead you? This approach to program development encourages teamwork, lots of communication, and a constant revision of goals. Relationship, learning, and successful collaboration are the immediate benefits.

Pilot and guidelines – What is the pilot program? What is required? Where do you start? Who needs to be involved? What do you do and when do you do it?

Transformational communication – Imagine communicating from nothing, with no assumptions, preconceptions, or past experiences influencing the way we hear what people have to say. Imagine what could be possible if you could learn how to communicate with others in this way.

Tribal government –

Understanding language and learning in a new paradigm – Words are medicine: we frame our world through language. Language creates the world. How is our worldview created in the language we use? How is our future created in the language we use?

What do you need to do to get certified? – So you want to be a language teacher? What next?