Approximately 30 people attended CTN’s mini virtual training conference held via zoom on December 2 titled “Exploring Aspects of the Program.” The conference began at 1 p.m. with the activity “Creating an Active and Engaged Program” where Participants and CTN staff had an opportunity to become acquainted as a building block to becoming a familia (family) to create a supportive learning community. The facilitator for most of the training was Dr. Anna B. Alaniz, CTN Director of Professional Development.

The goal of the next session “Program Mission and Advocacy” was for participants to learn about CTN’s mission, model, and principles.” Erin Doran’s “Building a Community of Practice for Teaching Developmental Courses was used as a reading.

The session “Writing as a Process, not a Product” allowed participants to engage in high-impact, student-centered teaching practices including popcorn reading, freewriting, small group work, and learner-centered discussion. They used family photographs as a means to strengthen a familial culture within the classroom.  Participants learned about Cultural Capital; Rendon’s Validation Theory and Yosso’s cultural wealth model in the next session titled “An Asset-Based Approach: Leveraging Cultural Capital in the Classroom.

Mario Morin, CTN Math Consultant & South Texas College Mathematics Chair, was the facilitator for the next session titled “The Language of Mathematics,” in which participants were provided an overview of how math fits in the Ascender Program Framework

The conference ended with information about resources and a return to the Parking Lot to allow participants to reflect on what they had learned and their needs for professional development moving forward.