Easing the Language Barrier

Description

Talking Points: Do you have a family who you cannot communicate with due to a language barrier? Do you have teachers looking for a way to communicate with your families? During this presentation, we will walk through using the Talking Points app and explore its features in hopes to ease this difficult barrier. The platform allows non-bilingual educators to connect with parents and students through multilingual text messages.

Web WhatsApp: In the latter part of this presentation, we will look at how you can access and use the Web WhatsApp feature on the computer.

The content in this presentation is geared towards serving the migrant populations in New York State as defined under Title I, Part C and the approved State Service Delivery Plan, and may NOT be appropriate to all situations.

Objectives/Learning Targets

1. To explore features of the Talking Points app.
2. To learn how to access Web WhatsApp on a computer.

Presented/Developed by

Travis Williamson, Training Program Coordinator/Statewide Recruiter

About the Presenter

In his 12th year with the Migrant Education Program, Travis has held many positions.  While working alongside with OSY Specialists and fellow recruiters around the nation, he has had the opportunity to share his ideas and strategies in hopes to better serve our students.

Travis has been with the ID&R program, after a three-year stay with the South Carolina Department of Education where he played a role in all of the duties associated with their MEP.  He currently is a member of the GOSOSY IRRC consortia.  This past summer Travis worked with students enrolled at New York’s SUNY Oneonta Migrant Leadership Academy (SOMLA) and last year’s Close Up program.  He has presented at several national and state conferences to demonstrate how mapping and technological strategies can improve with serving and finding students.