The Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning (CTTL) hosted a full-day Reading Apprenticeship training workshop on Tuesday, January 21, that was attended by nearly 40 Skyline College faculty, staff and guests. Cindy Hicks, a certified Reading Apprenticeship trainer with WestEd and an English faculty member at Chabot College, facilitated the workshop, which introduced faculty across disciplines to the benefits and practices of the Reading Apprenticeship approach. Sarah Sullivan, a practioner of the Reading Apprenticeship approach, co-presented and assisted Cindy during the workshop. Faculty in areas such as history, earth science, art, math, physics, anthropology, English, biology, communication studies, and business attended the workshop and left enthusiastic about incorporating the strategies into their spring classes.
The Reading Apprenticeship Initiative at Skyline College is a collaboration between the CTTL and the College Success Initiatives (CSI) committee. It is partially funded through Basic Skills Initiative (BSI) funds. Reading Apprenticeship helps transfer-level students make the deep disciplinary connections that lead to sustained academic learning. Developmental students are supported to integrate and accelerate their literacy and disciplinary learning. Additionally, career-technical students learn how to understand technical, job-related materials that contribute to workplace confidence and competence. More information on Reading Apprenticeship is available at http://readingapprenticeship.org/
To help sustain and support Reading Apprenticeship practices at Skyline College, The CTTL has planned additional Reading Apprenticeship workshop opportunities during the spring semester on March 10 and April 10. In addition, the college will be sending a team to the 3-day Cross-Discipline Faculty Seminar in Oakland from June 15-17, 2015. Faculty who would like additional information or who are interested in participating in this initiative should contact Nina L. Floro at floro@smccd.edu.
Article by Nina Floro and Jonathan Paver | Photos by Jonathan Paver
