The Other Side of Poverty in Schools Wednesday, September 28, 2016 | 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Education Sciences Room 325

In this exciting, stimulating, and intensive one-day workshop, teachers, administrators,counselors, and teacher educators will:

Learn about the five principles for change to better meet the needs of working-class and poor students
Develop research-based teaching practices sensitive to working-class and poor children and families
Reflect on formative assessment of working-class and poor students across the curriculum
Take away powerful classroom ideas for incorporating social class-related content
Get ideas for establishing positive relationships with working-class and poor families
Earn 5 continuing education credits

Coffee and breakfast baked goods included in registration fee.

CLASSroom Project Co-Directors

Mark Vagle, (University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development) a former teacher (elementary and middle school) and middle school administrator, is an award-winning instructor and an associate professor of education at The University of Minnesota. Dr. Vagle is author of over 50 books, articles, book chapters, blogs, interviews, and invited lectures about powerful teaching philosophies and practices. His most current research examines the profound influence social class has on the ways in which teachers and students perceive (and engage with) one another and how particular social class-sensitive pedagogies can be enacted in classrooms.

Stephanie Jones (University of Georgia College of Education) is an award-winning researcher focused on poverty and education, a professional developer and educational consultant, a former elementary school teacher, and a professor of education at The University of Georgia. Dr. Jones is author of Girls, Social Class and Literacy: What Teachers Can Do to Make a Difference and co-author of The Reading Turn-Around: A Five Part Framework for Differentiated Instruction. These books and her many articles are aimed at helping teachers and administrators better meet the needs of poor and working- class students and families.

CLASSroom Project Co-Facilitators

This workshop is led by Dr. Mark Vagle and project associates Tracy M. Leitl and Kelly Gast.

Tracy M. Leitl is a phD student in the department of Curriculum and Instruction, Elementary Education, at the University of Minnesota. Prior to pursuing her phD at the University of Minnesota, Tracy taught kindergarten, second and third grade in New York City. Her teaching and working experiences in New York City led her to question broader socio political and economic structures and hierarchies' impact on our educational landscape and the lived experiences of students, parents, and educators. Tracy aspires to provide and foment in aspiring teachers the knowledge, pedagogical tools, mindful reflective dispositions, and experiences they will need to be skilled, committed, and confident life-long learners and teachers. She wishes to contribute to the field of education in a way that supports and inspires others to become invested and proactive agents in supporting all children to live in a society full of meaningful opportunity. Her work at the University of Minnesota includes teaching and leading pre-service elementary education teachers. She is an associate member of The CLASSroom Project, which is dedicated to examining the effects of social class in educational contexts.

Kelly Gast is a doctoral student in Elementary Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Minnesota. She is a former ESL teacher who has worked with students and teachers in the United States and abroad. Her work with the university has included teaching and mentoring pre-service teachers as they develop a reflexive practice, supporting programs for alternative pathways towards teaching licensure, and supporting the CLASSroom Project as a project associate. Her research interests include the role of contemplative practices in teacher identity formation towards equity-mindedness.