International Education

The challenges of educating children around the world are daunting. Yet the dedication of teachers in under-resourced communities is inspiring. Many teachers work for under five dollars a day, often with over 50 children in a small classroom. These teachers often desire more training in effective practices than they tend to receive.

We can assemble a team of volunteers to work on an educational project that matches the school /community needs. Our model is one of sharing and sustaining, not just one-way and one time. We visit classrooms for a week or more and talk with teachers, who then work with us set up training sessions.

We offer training in the following categories:

Teacher Training

• Developing critical thinking and academic language in every lesson
• Teaching other languages
• Reading comprehension
• Student-centered and active learning
• Cooperative and small group learning
• Bilingual education
• Designing units and lessons through Backward Planning
• Summative and formative assessment
• Differentiated Instruction and multiple intelligences
• Motivation
• Content knowledge (math, literature, history, science, English)

Curriculum & Materials Development

• Aligning assessments with curricular resources
• Weaving language and thinking in national curricula
• Designing socially and culturally appropriate materials
• Designing effective health education curricula

Literacy

• Teaching methods and materials for early literacy and adult literacy
• Developing literacy materials in home languages
• Social and cultural foundations for literacy

Professional Learning Communities

• Professional learning communities allow teachers to control and expand their own professional development through focusing on key questions and evidence of learning.
• Teachers collaborate to analyze student work and data to strategically plan instruction and assessment.
• Educators are trained to use PLCs to make professional development sustainable

If you are a teacher or teacher educator interested in volunteering, please email jazwiers@usfca.edu

If you are interested in working with us, please email jazwiers@usfca.edu