My first full day workshop on Teaching Adults: GED® was great fun in Bristol, CT! We had a packed workshop of about 80 attendees, mostly instructors. Many of them brought their own tablets and laptops and earned a Tech Savvy sticker. Before the session started, people were very curious & most were excited about the possibility of getting stickers. Other attendees got an Experienced Educator sticker for having 20 or more years teaching adult education. Our most experienced had 43 years under her belt! 42 of the participants also signed up for a student account and joined our Edmodo group, which earned them an online badge. I love those little ways of making workshops fun and demonstrating transferrable tech/non-tech strategies.
CAACE hosted the workshop at the Bristol Adult Education Center, which was the first in the state to implement computer-based GED® testing. The facility was fully equipped with SMARTboards, multiple computer labs, re-sizable rooms with dividers…a fantastic space for a large group training. Their Director, Maria Groody, also made it a great experience by emphasizing having a relaxed, fun day together. I tried to take full advantage of the amenities, especially to highlight some possibilities for technology in GED® Test Prep instruction. Unfortunately I lost my own “Tech Savvy” sticker because I couldn’t stop touching the SMARTboard! I’m used to my own chalkboard back in Cleveland.
The first half of the day was my typical “Top 5 GED Changes” presentation, with the Q&A and reflection in pairs and large groups. We had a fresh-off-the-press new version of the book sampler with updated information that had just been reviewed by the GED Testing Service. That was exciting, and as always we generated some interesting discussion.
The afternoon I really got to switch it up by sending participants into small groups in various classrooms & computer labs to create their own lesson plans and post them on Edmodo. Such creativity! The instructors really took to the challenge, finding free online content on relevant topics for their students like coordinate planes, school uniforms, body mass index, abortion, recycling, driver’s licenses… And the best part is all those lessons are now in our Edmodo group for participants to share and use again!
Download the template & create your own interdisciplinary lesson plan:
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