NEW AMERICANS IN THE CLASSROOM:
A Workshop for Educators
In this interactive workshop, participants get a glimpse inside the refugee youth experience and build skills for teaching new Americans. What is it like to be forced to leave your homeland? How does it feel to enter a classroom in a strange language, in a strange land? How does trauma interfere with learning? And how do we, as teachers and staff, help immigrant students feel welcome and learn? We will identify practices that you already do that you can "lean into" to help your newcomer students, and will share additional strategies for working with multilingual learners.
Note: We customize the content to the needs and strengths of your organization.
“Best presentation I’ve attended in 10 years.”
Staff Member, Boise High School
“Inspirational. Moving. Incredible.”
Staff member, Whittier Elementary
Objectives:
By the end of the session, participants will be able to:
· Identify at least 4 things they already do, but can "lean into" to support their newcomer students.
· Implement at least 4 new techniques for working with multilingual learners.
· Describe the difference between “survival brain” and “learning brain.”
· Name at least three ways in which trauma affects students’ ability to learn.
· Incorporate at least one trauma-informed teaching method into their work.
· Model how to respond to a student who has been “triggered.”
· Describe how trauma and culture contribute to disruptive behavior.
· Share three tips for engaging with refugee parents.
· Feel compassion and empathy for students with a refugee background or who are learning English.
· Feel acknowledged in the importance of their role as educators.
Time: The full workshop is four hours, but we can shorten the workshop to as little as one hour.
Facilitators:
Presented by the Neighbors United Education Committee, a coalition of organizations working to support Idahoans with a refugee background in their education and learning. Workshops always include a personal story from someone with a refugee or immigrant background. Depending on the topic and organization, we bring in additional facilitators with specialized expertise.
