April 20, 2020
Teaching in the COVID-19 Era
Three Tips for Humanizing Digital Pedagogy
It is important now, as teachers and students do their work online, to maintain a human connection in the learning process. A recent Edutopia article shares three strategies for promoting reflection and social connection to enhance both learning and emotional health.

Helping our students (and ourselves) become teachers
With a few weeks of distance learning behind us, all of Pennsylvania's parents are now teachers. If you know a parent, either a colleague or an adult education student, who is struggling at home, consider sharing an article with him or her. Seven Guiding Principles for Parents Teaching From Home shares not only tips like "Encourage productive struggle" and "Allow frequent 'brain breaks'" and the research that support them, as well as a few resources that can be used at home.
COVID-19-related text sets through Newsela
Students respond when reading activities are focused on things they care about. Newsela.com has compiled a collection of text sets based around COVID-19 and the issues surrounding it: science, health, money, and math. As always with Newsela, the articles can be adjusted by reading level and include ideas for using them with students. Newsela requires you to register for a free account.
Information on COVID-19 in multiple languages
A recent LINCS discussion board shared several resources with information about COVID-19 in multiple languages.
COVID-19 job hiring portal
Life-sustaining businesses that remain open are in need of employees. Pennsylvanians who are looking for work can learn more and apply for these job openings through a new online COVID-19 job portal launched by the PA Department of Labor and Industry.
How the CARES Act can help families
The National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) has produced a short 10-minute video presentation to explain the recent $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and how it can assist and impact family literacy work.
Webinar: Adventures in Delivering Online Instruction
On Tuesday, April 21, 2020, at 1:00-2:00 p.m., the Pennsylvania Association of Adult Continuing Education (PAACE) will host a webinar with instructors from Lancaster IU13 and the Literacy Council of Lancaster-Lebanon to share their experiences with online instruction. A wide spectrum of technical knowledge will be represented in this honest discussion of best practices. Space in this webinar is limited to 100, so register online.
Teaching Tips and Resources
Strategies for dealing with students' anxiety
Do you know a student who is very capable but is held back by anxiety in the classroom? A recent Edutopia article, Simple Metacognitive Strategies to Help Anxious Learners Succeed, addressed ways that you can help those students. Specifically, a research study found that students who used self-talk to encourage themselves improved their test scores, but only if that self-talk focused on effort. Ability-focused self-talk did not result in an improvement. This article discusses other ways that students can improve their mental state in the classroom.
Webinar recording: Remote Instruction for Family Literacy Programs
Penn State's Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy has shared the recording of the recent webinar titled Remote Instruction for Family Literacy Programs: Dealing with COVID-19 in the Virtual Classroom . Also available on the Goodling Institute's website are a resource list and webinar Q & A.
Professional Development Opportunities
Professional Learning for Adult Education and Family Literacy Staff
Staff at PDE-funded adult education and family literacy agencies can view  a list of upcoming courses  now available for enrollment in the PD Portal. For more information about any of these courses, please visit the  PD Portal , open the course catalog, and review the syllabus. If you are interested in enrolling in a course, please consult with your in-house professional development specialist (IHPDS) to determine if the course meets your professional learning goals.
PAACE Conference rescheduled for October 18-20
The annual PAACE Conference has been rescheduled. It will now be held on October 18-20, 2020 in Lancaster, PA. If you have already registered for the conference, you do not need to re-register, as conference registrations will automatically be carried over to the new dates. However, hotel bookings cannot be transferred to the new dates, so you should contact the hotel to request that your room reservation be transferred. New registrations are also being accepted.
Virtual Conference: Teaching Skills That Matter in Adult Education
This program year, four instructors from agencies in Pennsylvania participated in a national pilot training called Teaching Skills that Matter. The training focused on teaching nine transferable skills that are important for successful transition into and completion of post-secondary education or training, or employment. The participating teachers learned to teach those nine skills within five content areas that are critical to the lives of adult learners, while using three instructional approaches. The Professional Development System is working on scaling and sustaining the efforts of those four teachers and making the content available throughout Pennsylvania. If you are interested in learning more about the content offered in the training, the organizers of the Teaching Skills that Matter training are hosting a free, virtual conference on June 16-17, 2020. Space is limited so if you would like to participate, please register online .  For additional information or questions, please contact your agency consultant.
PWDA annual conference rescheduled for October 21-23
The annual conference of the PA Workforce Development Association (PWDA) has been rescheduled for October 21-23 . Existing registrations for the original May 13-15 conference will be carried over and a full refund of registration fees will be given through April 30 to those not able to attend the new dates and who complete the refund request . All existing hotel reservations will be automatically cancelled so you should contact the hotel to reserve a new room.
State and National Adult Education News
Workforce Development Project PACTA Conference Recap
In February, Chrissie Klinger, Workforce Development Project staff, attended the Pennsylvania Association of Career and Technical Administrators (PACTA) conference in Hershey, PA. This year’s theme was  Pathways to Career Readiness. When preparing adult learners to enter the workforce, or assisting learners to progress through their career pathway, providing opportunities to explore a variety of careers early in the educational process is crucial. Although some adults come to a program with a career goal in mind, many learners know little about possible careers that may match their interests and skills.  Read more ...
COABE announces election results
The Coalition on Adult Basic Education (COABE) held an election for leadership positions and has announced the results .
Job Posting
The job postings below are for adult basic education programs funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and, at least in part, by WIOA Title II funds. You can also find the postings on the  paadultedresources.org  website. To post a job, please email the job advertiseme nt to  [email protected] . 

There are not job postings at this time.
PA Adult Education Resources
Visit  www.paadultedresources.org  for the latest PA adult education news and resources. Recent additions to the site include:

Upcoming State and National Conferences
State and National Newsletters
State and national organizations' newsletters are listed below and may be of interest to you. To receive the most recent editions by email, please subscribe directly to the newsletter. 

OCTAE Connection, US Department of Education, Office of Career, Technical, & Adult Education   Features news and resources for adult basic, career, and technical education.

Families Learning: News of the Week, National Center for Families Learning
Features information and resources for family literacy, early childhood education, and parent education.

WorkforceGPS, Workforce3 One Features career pathways and workforce development information.

COABE Journal, Coalition On Adult Basic Education Features national information, resources, and initiatives for adult basic education.

World Education/U.S. Features resources and information from World Education projects including The Change Agent, College for Adults, E-Learning, LINCS Region 1 Professional Development Center, National College Transitional network, and many others.