This recorded webinar is the second session of our WestEd’s Leading Together Series with WestEd experts sharing research and evidence-based practices that help bridge opportunity gaps, support positive outcomes for children and adults, and help build thriving communities.
This recorded webinar empowers educators with practical ideas for cultivating a sense of community within their classrooms and authentically engaging students in literacy activities.
Heather Howlett and Linda Friedrich discuss practical ways to create an inclusive learning environment where every student feels valued, heard, and motivated to read and learn. Participants will leave the webinar with ideas and techniques to implement immediately in their classrooms. The strategies discussed are applicable across various educational settings.
Session Topics
- Establishing a Welcoming Classroom Culture: Learn how to create an atmosphere that celebrates diversity, encourages open communication, and builds trust. Speakers will discuss setting classroom community agreements collaboratively and bringing students’ backgrounds and interests into literacy-based activities.
- Building Relationships Through Personal Connection: Discover ways to connect with students individually, understanding their unique strengths and challenges. Explore the power of investigating personal reading histories.
- Interactive and Collaborative Literacy: Gain insights into designing and implementing interactive reading experiences that promote collaboration and peer-to-peer learning. Learn how to create opportunities for students to notice and share their thinking and reading processes authentically.
- Building Agency, Confidence, and Dispositions for Learning: Find out how to offer support for developing key dispositions for approaching and engaging in challenging texts. With such support, students can develop the dispositions to be interested and critical learners.
Featured Speakers
Heather Howlett is the Director of Professional Learning for WestEd’s Literacy team with a proven track record in improving disciplinary literacy in middle school, high school, and college. Howlett leads and manages project staff and over 90 consultants, ensuring quality and impact in the implementation of professional learning programs. She designs, develops, and facilitates face-to-face and digital professional learning experiences for the agency.
Linda Friedrich is the Director of Literacy at WestEd leading the agency’s Reading Apprenticeship team. For nearly three decades, Friedrich has worked at the intersection of practice and research to engage teachers in collaboratively improving teaching and learning with a strong focus on literacy.
