Video/Webinar
Teacher Training Plus is a webinar series across four strands that presents best-practice instructional strategies.
Within each strand, we identified three areas of need and designed webinars to address each while also presenting strategies for working in a multilevel class or group and tips to convert in-person teaching techniques to distance learning.
This strand is best for instructors teaching adults who are learning foundational reading skills.
Generously funded by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation.
Upcoming Events
October 21, 2026 | 2:00 PM–3:00 PM ET
Pleasure? What’s Reading Got To Do with It?
For learners at the adult foundational literacy level, reading is hard work. Many have modest sight-word banks and struggle to decode, whether it be CVC words (e.g., bat) for beginning readers or multisyllable words for more proficient readers. So much mental energy is expended on word identification that reading for pleasure feels like an impossibility.
In this webinar, we will explore strategies to make reading pleasurable for beginning readers and, in turn, build their motivation and confidence. We will cover everything from engaging learners in the selection of accessible materials to introducing writing-to-read strategies, reading for celebration, and reading in groups of supportive others. Attendees will also walk away with specific recommendations for high-interest reading materials ready for immediate use.
Presented by: Eleanor Stafford
February 3, 2027 | 2:00 PM–3:00 PM ET
Before, During, and After Reading: A Framework
Between childcare, work, and a multitude of other responsibilities, going to school can be a major challenge for adult learners. Entering a learning environment in which every lesson is a surprise can add even more stress. Knowing what to expect in a lesson, however, can ease students’ cognitive load, making learning more enjoyable and ultimately more effective.
This webinar will present a consistent lesson plan design that sets predictable expectations for what happens before, during, and after reading in every lesson. Participants will learn about intentional prereading tools to activate students’ prior knowledge, stimulate excitement, introduce target vocabulary, and establish a purpose for reading; during-reading tools to support word recognition, fluency, and comprehension; and after-reading tools to help students process text, think critically, and reflect.
Presented by: Eleanor Stafford
March 31, 2027 | 2:00 PM–3:00 PM ET
Functional Literacy: What Is It? and How Do We Get There?
One of the main reasons adult learners want to learn to read or read better is to become more independent. They want to be able to read signs at the grocery store, workplace documents, street signs, and utility bills. They want to write checks, notes to teachers, to-do lists, and greeting cards. They want to become functionally literate, not just literally literate.
In this webinar, we will explore how to engage adult learners in identifying their real-life literacy goals and taking an inventory of the skills they need to achieve them. Participants will learn how to use authentic materials in a range of activities to support students’ development of functional literacy—from using cell phones to setting up reminders and contacts to weeding out junk mail and filling out forms at the doctor’s office.
Presented by: Eleanor Stafford
About the Presenter
Eleanor Stafford, M.Ed., is a licensed teacher with extensive experience in Adult Foundational Education and curriculum development. Throughout her career, she has taught adult learners across all subject areas at Harvard’s Bridge Program, St. Mary’s Center for Women and Children, Literacy Volunteers of Massachusetts (LVM), and the Cambridge Community Learning Center, where she oversaw the development of the Adult Basic Education curriculum.
She has served as Boston’s Literacy Volunteers of Massachusetts Lead Literacy Corps Trainer for over twenty years and is the author of the Basic Literacy Trainer’s Guide. Currently the Coordinator and Lead Literacy Corps Trainer, she manages all aspects of the Boston affiliate. In this role, she offers compassionate and practical support to students, trains prospective volunteers in Basic Literacy and ESOL, and delivers tutor development (TD) workshops and individual coaching for current tutors.