By Max Bergman
Contributing Writer
The College of Saint Rose is starting this semester’s popular webinar series for education professionals at 4 p.m. on Sept. 28 via Zoom. The first webinar of the fall will be “Practical Strategies and Tips for All Educators Working with Language Learners,” moderated by Sophia Paljevic, an educator with more than ten years of experience in the New York education system.
Last year, the webinar series was started as an effort to provide training development for education professionals in New York State. The webinars are designed to give educators multiple practical and real-life strategies they can implement with their students.
The current series of webinars will focus on more specific relevant topics than the series did last year. Each webinar will have presenters who will share their tips and tricks for working with children throughout the education system. Each topic will be sponsored by a different department from The College of Saint Rose.
The free three-webinar series this fall is a continuation of last year’s five-part series called “Teach on: Hot topics and practical strategies for today’s classroom.” These webinars are part of a larger program to address the nationwide teacher shortage that looms over America’s educational system and looks to expand teacher resources in the New York Capital Region.
“We’ve been trying to get professional development sessions for teachers in the area for things that are relevant to them and certainly our current students attend also,” said Dr. Christina Pfister, a professor of education at the College of Saint Rose. “So, we’ve really been trying to hit relevant topics, ones that are really current in the field right now.”
The online webinars are part of Saint Rose’s Build the Teacher Pipeline Initiative, launched in 2022, which offered education majors free housing, graduate scholarships for those changing careers into education, flexible schedules for working adults, and professional development to combat educator burnout.
In May 2022, a statewide survey of close to 700 educators was conducted by the US Department of Education that revealed pressing training needs.
Saint Rose hopes to address the nationwide teacher shortage by growing and supporting the new and current education professionals in the school system through programs like the Build the Teacher Pipeline Initiative.
The webinars are 90 minutes long, open to the public, free of charge, include follow-up resources, and include 1.5 hours of CTLE credit for each session attended. Any college student majoring in education can earn a badge for completing all five webinars in the series, which is a great addition to an education resume.
The other two webinars this Fall are “Incorporating the Science of Reading in Your Classroom at the Primary and Secondary Levels” on Oct. 26 and “Language Foundations for Literacy” on Nov. 30. All are available to sign up for on Zoom.
