Events

Registration Deadline: FRI. 4/11/25

NOTE: The FLYER with session descriptions and Join Links is available through registration only. Most sessions will be recorded-see the flyer for details.

AGENDA:

8:30-9:45 – Welcome & General Session: will feature two national speakers from the Southern Illinois PD Center, Sarah Goldammer and Tara Schwab, speaking on Adult Learning Challenges and the Power of Universal Design for Learning (UDL):

ALL of our Adult Education learners can learn and deserve the opportunity to learn. If you agree with this statement and are looking for tools to help you elevate instructional practices and remove barriers, join this session to view teaching and learning through the lens of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). How can we design for variability to reach and teach those learners with a variety of barriers? Let’s consider teaching not only “what” to learn but also “how” to learn through the sharing of concrete examples for immediate insertion into your classroom. We are passionate about lifting our learners as we elevate instruction. Please join us and either broaden your UDL knowledge or learn about UDL for the first time.

10:00-11:00 – Session 1 (4 concurrent sessions, 60 min)

11:15-12:15 – Session 2 (4 concurrent sessions, 60 min)

12:15-1:00 – LUNCH BREAK

1:00-2:00 – Session 3 (4 concurrent sessions, 60 min)

2:15-3:15 – Session 4 (4 concurrent sessions, 60 min)

If you require ASL interpretation, contact Gail Rutan at grutan01@hamline.edu

TOPICS:

A variety of concurrent sessions will be offered on the following topics:

• Adult Career Pathways (ACP) marketing
• ACP Credential Specialists
• Beginning ESL Literacy
• Corrections: Packets in Action
• Critical Information Literacy
• Digital Literacy & Beginning ELLs
• Federal policy/funding changes & ABE
• Financial Literacy
• Higher Order Math Concepts
• Leadership: Navigating Difficult Conversations
• Mental Illness Awareness
• Padlet Sandbox: an option to replace Jamboard
• Positive Student Behavior using ACES/TIF
• Reading Instruction
• Scaffolds and Differentiation
• Suicide Prevention
• Teaching Science: Physics

General Session Speakers:

Sarah Goldammer is a passionate lifelong learner and educator. There is nothing more exciting to her than the “aha” moment and supporting others to find theirs! She currently serves as the Director of the Southern Illinois Professional Development Center – part of the Illinois Community College Board Professional Development Network.

Sarah is a certified trainer of Universal Design for Learning through CAST, a founding member of the CTAE UDL SIG, and co-creator of Illinois’ Supporting Student Success Professional Pathway. Creating supportive environments that promote conversations and meet learners where they are, helping them achieve their goals, is what motivates Sarah. She has also coached 50+ programs creating Bridges and Integrated Education and Training (IET/ICAPS) programs and has spearheaded the creation of the statewide contextualized curricula. Starting as a Special Ed teacher and with 25 years in Adult Education, she is proud to have had students from 3 to 83 years old and every age in between.

Tara Schwab is an Educational Training Specialist at the Southern Illinois Professional Development Center (SIPDC), part of the Illinois Community College Board Adult Education Professional Development Network, and she also continues to teach classes in Adult Education. Tara has 24+ years of experience in education in the areas of instruction, training, curriculum development and implementation, and mentoring. Tara’s adult education teaching and technical assistance experience includes IET (ICAPS – Illinois’ branding of IET), ESL, ABE, and ASE programs. Tara is a certified trainer of Universal Design for Learning, a credential that was earned through the Center for Applied Special Technologies (CAST). She also co-created the Supporting Student Success Pathway which involves Universal Design for Learning (UDL) implementation in programs across the state and the Career, Technical, and Adult Education Universal Design for Learning Special Interest group through CAST which is a worldwide group of professionals dedicated to infusing UDL into their practices.