All student workshops are crafted to include lecture and cooperative learning activities, but we can discuss an approach that works best for your students. All of these workshops are designed to accommodate a wide spectrum of English language learners. The maximum number of students per session is 30.
Appreciating African American English
African American Language, also known as African American Vernacular English (AAVE), is a variety of English that has gained notoriety on a global scale via its pervasiveness in rap and hip-hop music. Despite being ubiquitous in American popular culture, and increasingly prevalent in the popular culture of the English-speaking world, African American Language continues to be broadly undervalued and misunderstood. The goal of this highly interactive workshop is not to teach participants how to communicate in the language—instead it is designed to help others appreciate how the language is an extension of an ethnic group with a rich cultural history and is more than “Gen Z slang” or “Tiktok speak.” We will broadly discuss the evolution of this language, its linguistic hallmarks, and the ways African American Language it has been systemically addressed within the American educational system.
Note: Strictly limited to 30 students or less.
Requests for this workshop are accepted when there is a clear connection to specific lessons or coursework the teacher has already covered related to the African American experience.
Beloved Blackness
In lessons about the United States and its legacy with systemic racism, the racial identity of Black Americans can often be unwittingly framed as solely a “burden.” This workshop seeks to reframe Blackness in the United States context as “beloved” by highlighting the ways in which Black Americans have cultivated a rich ethnic identity in vitally creative and joyful ways. Students will be led in a celebration of the gifts in music, fashion, food, language, and civic traditions that Black Americans have given to the world, even as they have resisted oppression and fought for the recognition of their human rights throughout history.
Note: Strictly limited to 30 students or less.
Requests for this workshop are accepted when there is a clear connection to specific lessons or coursework the teacher has already covered related to the African American experience.
Codes, Registers, and Messages: How We Negotiate Language Differences in Communication
The most effective communicators carefully consider the needs and knowledge of their target audience. Chief among these considerations are choices about codes (the languages we use), register (the manner of speech we select based on the formality of the situation), and rhetorical appeals (the techniques we use to call attention to the message we are communicating). This session will help students unpack what the negotiation of language differences looks like in their own lives as they decide how to communicate (or not!) with their social peers, their elders, people from different cultural backgrounds, and even other Norwegians who do not share their dialect. Additionally, special attention will be given to the topic of “code meshing.” As a means of allowing historically marginalized students to express themselves more authentically in academic writing, the practice of code meshing connects to the Norwegian curriculum renewal language about “plurilingualism.”
Note: Strictly limited to 30 students or less. Offered in 45- and 60- minute sessions only.
Examining Colorism in Visual Media
The social construction of racism, perhaps inevitably, gave birth to the construction of ‘colorism,’ which refers to the systemic privileged treatment of individuals with lighter skin tones and the prejudiced or discriminatory treatment of individuals with darker skin tones. The colorism phenomenon is evinced within and without black and brown communities all over the world, and it ultimately serves the function of further stratifying and marginalizing people who are already victims of racial oppression. Using propaganda, advertisements, product designs, and pop culture references as illustrative tools, students will analyze American media’s explicit and implicit arguments about light- and dark-skinned Black people. Students will also reflect on how issues related to colorism are present in Norway.
Note: Strictly limited to 30 students or less. Offered in 60- and 90- minute sessions only. Ideal for 90 minutes.
Requests for this workshop are accepted when there is a clear connection to specific lessons or coursework the teacher has already covered related to race, racism, or forms of oppression. This workshop is not designed to introduce students to any of these concepts.
Exploring Biases in U.S. Media
The thesis of this workshop is that all media messages reflect the sensibilities of the people or organizations that create them, and as a result, students must improve their ability to critically question and analyze media messages. Using the context of United States news coverage and social media content, this highly-interactive session will get students reflecting upon different types of biases that can be present in the media they consume and how these biases can lead to harmful or limiting narratives.
Note: Strictly limited to 30 students or less. Offered in 60- and 90- minute sessions only.
“Why Don’t Americans Know Geography?”: Unpacking Major U.S. Stereotypes
Some teachers are excited to invite a Roving Scholar to their classes because that Scholar has a workshop that significantly builds upon a specific lesson or curriculum theme. Other teachers are more invested in simply offering their students an opportunity to practice their English skills while asking an American teacher questions on a variety of topics. This workshop is for teachers in the latter category. The first half of the session allows for a non-structured exchange of questions and answers, while the second half focuses on a few major stereotypes that often come up in questions and helps students to thoughtfully explore them.
Note: Strictly limited to 30 students or less. Offered in 45- and 60- minute sessions only.
This workshop is new for 2024, so it is subject to be modified or withdrawn from the list of options.
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Latoya’s Workshops for Videregående skole Teachers and Teachers-in-Training