Educators in the adult education sector often seek accessible materials and support to enhance their teaching capabilities and equip their classrooms without incurring significant personal expense. The available source material highlights a range of free resources, professional development workshops, and discounts specifically tailored for Adult Basic Education (ABE) instructors, program administrators, and counselors. These opportunities span on-demand training, downloadable curriculum guides, ready-to-use lesson plans, and retail discounts.
Professional Development and Training
Several organizations provide free professional development opportunities designed to support the unique needs of adult education professionals. These programs focus on evidence-based training and adaptable learning formats.
Essential Education
Essential Education offers a variety of educator training resources accessible through their Educator Help Center. These include: * On-Demand Training: Sessions covering beginning, intermediate, and advanced topics are available for educators to access at their convenience. * Professional Development Webinars: A series titled "Tuesday with Essential Education" discusses the latest trends, teaching strategies, and topics relevant to adult education. * Distance Learning Series: A six-part downloadable course covers the most common distance learning topics in the sector.
First Literacy
First Literacy provides free, evidence-based training and materials specifically for Adult Basic Education teachers, program administrators, and counselors across Massachusetts. Their approach is tailored to participant needs, with topics selected based on educator input rather than public mandates, as they do not rely on federal funding. In addition to workshops, First Literacy offers a library of online resources, including: * Ready-to-use lesson plans * Worksheets * Tools * First Literacy Grant project presentations
Waterford.org
Waterford.org lists several external resources for free online professional development. These include: * Institute for Arts Integration and STEAM: Offers free toolkits and audio trainings on integrating arts into the classroom, some of which can be redeemed for professional development hours. * edWeb: Hosts live and on-demand webinars covering a wide range of topics suitable for educators of various grade levels. * Facing History: Provides free and paid courses, webinars, and video professional learning options focused on challenging bigotry in education. An archive of on-demand webinars is available. * SHAPE America: A resource for health and P.E. teachers, offering free webinars on K-12 health education. Examples of topics include equitable teaching practices, digital resources for wellness, and trauma-sensitive practices. * TeachersFirst Workshops: Offers interactive professional development options, distinguishing itself from self-guided or pre-recorded formats.
Classroom Resources and Curriculum Materials
Educators can access various downloadable materials and tools to support classroom instruction and program administration.
Essential Education
Essential Education provides several free downloads via their Educator Help Center: * Teacher Toolkit: A collection of tools needed for hybrid learning. * High School Equivalency Curriculum Blueprints: Materials designed to prepare students for the GED® and HiSET tests. * TABE 11/12 Curriculum Guide: Resources to prepare students for the TABE 11/12 test. * The WIOA Manual: A guide for implementing the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) in Adult Education. * Measurable Skill Gains Accelerator Handbooks: Handbooks designed to accelerate student gains through Educational Functioning Levels. * 2021 Product Catalog * Additional free downloads are listed but not specified in detail.
Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT)
TPT is a marketplace for educational resources, including materials for adult education. According to the source data, these resources include: * Worksheets, lesson plans, activities, and materials designed to help adult learners develop essential skills. * Tools for teaching reading, writing, math, digital literacy, and workplace skills. * Practical teaching aids for phonics exercises, financial literacy lessons, career preparation, and lifelong learning. * Materials tailored for diverse goals, such as GED preparation, ESL instruction, basic literacy, and continuing education.
Two Kids and a Coupon
This source lists "free stuff for teachers by mail," though specific items are not detailed in the provided text. The source notes that: * The freebies listed do not originate from the website itself. * Each freebie and discount must be requested individually. * The list is intended to help teachers find items needed for their classrooms and families.
Retail Discounts for Educators
Several retailers offer discounts to educators, often requiring verification of educator status through third-party services like SheerID or ID.me. These discounts are available to teachers, educators, and administrators, and in some cases, retired teachers.
Apparel and Accessories
- Vineyard Vines: Offers a 15% discount. Eligibility must be verified through SheerID to receive a code.
- Reebok: Offers 50% off purchases. Qualification requires verification of status with ID.me.
- ThirdLove: Provides a 15% discount code for educators, applicable to any item on the site.
- Hanes: Offers a 10% discount to all educators, including retired teachers. The code is received after verifying ID through ID.me.
- Karen Kane: Offers a 20% discount on purchases after verifying eligibility.
- Under Armour: Offers teachers 20% off purchases after verifying ID through ID.me.
Conclusion
The provided source material outlines a variety of free resources and discounts available to adult education teachers. Key offerings include professional development workshops and webinars from organizations like Essential Education, First Literacy, and various platforms listed by Waterford.org. Educators can also access classroom materials such as curriculum blueprints, lesson plans, and worksheets through Essential Education and Teachers Pay Teachers. Additionally, several apparel and accessories brands offer verified discounts to educators, including Vineyard Vines, Reebok, ThirdLove, Hanes, Karen Kane, and Under Armour.