Join a community of professionals committed to effective teaching.

In this session, Laura Glisson (Speech Pathologist) will unpack the evidence around oral language instruction in the early years (Foundation to Year 2). With a particular focus on vocabulary development, storytelling and listening comprehension, Laura will bring a range of practical strategies for immediate implementation in the classroom to support all learners, including those with language disorders. **This webinar will be recorded and available for two weeks after the event** Date: Tuesday 7th May 2024 Time: 7:00 pm – 9: 00 pm AEST (Melbourne Time) Cost: LDA Member: $50 LDA Student Member – $40 Non-Member – $70 About Laura Glisson Laura is a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist (Speech Pathology Australia), with over 13 years’ experience working with school-aged children and young people with language, literacy and social-emotional difficulties. Laura is the Co-Director and Co-Founder of Tracks to Literacy, where she provides training and coaching to teachers and speech pathologists on oral language and literacy instruction, intervention and assessment. Laura also works as a clinician providing Tier 3 intervention to primary and secondary-aged students with language and literacy difficulties and is the Language and Literacy Specialist at Teach Well in Perth where she works as part of a multidisciplinary team providing training and coaching to teachers on high-impact instructional practices. Laura's research and clinical interests include Developmental Language Disorder, Response to Intervention for language and literacy, and oral-to-written assessment, instruction, and intervention. Laura's mission is to support the translation of research evidence into clinical and educational practices so that all children can develop the language and literacy skills needed to become successful and happy members of society.

Understanding the Assessment Process As awareness of Specific Learning Disorders grows, more and more students are being referred for psycho-educational investigation of the nature of their academic learning difficulties. This workshop aims to provide teachers, allied professionals and parents with an overview of the assessment and diagnostic processes used by psychologists to identify whether a student has a Specific Learning Disorder and determine the intervention that is most likely to benefit them, based on their individual profile of learning strengths and weaknesses. The first session will review Specific Learning Disorders and the three academic skill areas – reading, written expression and mathematics – that may be impaired, with a focus on the characteristics of the disorders. The second session will focus on the way results and conclusions may be reported, and the implications of differing learning profiles for remediation and classroom instruction. **This webinar will be recorded and available for two weeks after the event** Date: Monday 20th & Monday 27th May 2024 Time: 6:30 pm – 8: 30 pm AEST (Melbourne Time) Cost: LDA Member: $50 LDA Student Member – $40 Non-Member – $70 About Peta Collins Peta is an educational and developmental psychologist. She is an experienced presenter and trainer in the areas of both written expression and reading development. Peta has been closely involved in the development of DSF's workshops in both Talk for Writing and Talk for Reading, both of which are exceptionally effective programs. Peta also delivers professional learning in a range of other topics and programs, including as a LETRS facilitator, and regularly works with schools and individual teachers to support the implementation of high-quality literacy instruction. Peta has a teaching qualification and uses a range of evidence-based programs in individual and small-group tuition with students of all ages who are experiencing literacy learning difficulties. As a senior psychologist at DSF, Peta supervises clinical staff, and regularly consults with families and teachers about learning difficulties and disorders.