Virtual Open House TESOL (MEd Concentration in Curriculum and Instruction) Transcript

George Mason Online Admissions: Just start by saying, Good evening, everyone. Welcome to our virtual open house for online masters of education and curriculum and instruction, with a concentration in Tsall Pk.

George Mason Online Admissions: Pre. K. To 12, and through adult we are very excited to get started. But let’s just wait a few minutes for everyone to log on and get situated

George Mason Online Admissions: while we are waiting. If you would all not mind practicing with the chat question box. That would be greatly appreciated.

George Mason Online Admissions: If you can hear me, please. State your first name, and where you are joining from, and we will get started in about another 3 to 5 min.

Kathleen A. Ramos: I always do love to learn where people are

Kathleen A. Ramos: joining us from.

Marie Champagne: Me, too. That’s the best part.

Kathleen A. Ramos: Are they able to unmute the participants, or they can type in the chat. Possibly.

George Mason Online Admissions: They should be able to

George Mason Online Admissions: they should be able to unmute, and they should be able to put a message in the chat as well.

Kathleen A. Ramos: Okay.

Kathleen A. Ramos: fantastic.

Kathleen A. Ramos: I see another person has joined.

Kathleen A. Ramos: So, Brianna, I think maybe we can start. And the first couple of slides

Kathleen A. Ramos: or more informational, anyway. If anybody else joins

Kathleen A. Ramos: it’ll be okay.

George Mason Online Admissions: Absolutely

George Mason Online Admissions: this over here.

George Mason Online Admissions: Okay, so thank you. Everyone for joining us this evening. We are excited to get started. My name is Brianna, and I am the admissions representative for the online program.

George Mason Online Admissions: I am here as a resource to give information, answer questions and walk through the admissions application process. If this is something that you decide to move forward with

George Mason Online Admissions: a quick overview of what we are going over this evening, we will meet our faculty leaders. I have with me today. Dr. Kathleen Ramos, Associate Professor and Marie Champagne, Coordinator services. They will tell us a little bit about themselves and their roles. Give us a general overview of the degree and the certificate, and answer any questions you may have.

George Mason Online Admissions: There is a question box you should see on your screen. So feel free to ask questions during the duration of the open house, and then we will address them towards the end.

George Mason Online Admissions: Okay.

George Mason Online Admissions: So here are some chat features feel free to utilize. The first one is the chat. The chat feature allows you to chat with other attendees panelists. Including the host, depending on the permissions that we have allowed you in your control at the bottom window. You can click or tap chat when you click on, chat. The chat window will appear. It will be on the right. If you are not in full screen.

George Mason Online Admissions: If you are in full screen, it will appear in a window that you can move around your screen. You can type your message and press, enter to send it.

George Mason Online Admissions: You can also select who you would like to send the message to by clicking on the dropdown next to

George Mason Online Admissions: the raise hand feature in the webinar allows you to raise your hand to indicate that you need something from the host or from the panelist.

George Mason Online Admissions: So you’ll click. Raise hand in the webinar control

George Mason Online Admissions: once you have raised your hand, then we’ll be notified that you have a question. And this gives you the opportunity to talk and we’ll prompt. We’ll go ahead and unmute to you, and then you’ll be able to ask your question.

George Mason Online Admissions: and the last feature is going to be the question.

George Mason Online Admissions: You can ask you can comment on questions if needed. Then we’ll go ahead and address those questions as well.

Kathleen A. Ramos: Hey? Thank you so much, Brianna. So I’m Dr. Kathy Ramos, Associate Professor in the College of Education and Human Development in the School of education at George Mason University, and we are really delighted to have you joining us this evening.

Kathleen A. Ramos: I’ll just share briefly about my own background. I have been an educator for 32 years. I have 20 years of experience teaching K to adult learners in the public school system, and I have been a teacher, educator, and researcher scholar for the last 12 years.

Kathleen A. Ramos: focusing on equity in learning outcomes and experiences for multilingual learners and their families, and I’m really pleased to have my special colleague, Marie Champagne, join me this evening, and she can introduce herself.

Marie Champagne: Thank you so much. I serve as the professional academic advisor for all students in this program. So I’m the person that’s your number one cheerleader going to help with your development over the course of the program. Ref. Make any referrals you need for support, and just be with you every step of the way. I’ve been working in Esol education for 8 years now.

Marie Champagne: I was a teacher before that. And I really enjoy this program and seeing how you develop and what you do and where you go next.

Kathleen A. Ramos: Thank you, Marie.

Kathleen A. Ramos: Okay, next slide, please.

Kathleen A. Ramos: Okay, thank you. So we think we have a very unique T-so program to offer you. And you’ll be hearing more details about that. But some prime benefits of our program is that you will engage with high quality faculty

Kathleen A. Ramos: whether they are full time faculty members. We also have many wonderful adjunct instructors, but our faculty members also teach in this program, and we all have extensive experience in Tsol as practitioners, as researchers and scholars as well as deep expertise and excellence. Really, in online teaching.

Kathleen A. Ramos: As this is an online asynchronous program.

Kathleen A. Ramos: So through this program you will be able to participate in innovative, online teaching and learning experiences that are never boring and that have the full participation of the instructor in the course with you. Okay, the goal is for you to be able to gain or deepen, enhance your expertise. If you already have some expertise

Kathleen A. Ramos: to design and deliver engaging culturally and linguistically responsive and sustaining instruction in English across many different contexts. And

Kathleen A. Ramos: of course it is always a benefit to be part of a renowned university. George Mason University is a research one university which is high recognition that is enjoyed by just a specific number of universities in the United States.

Kathleen A. Ramos: And we are also currently in Virginia, the only program recognized by Tsil International Association.

Kathleen A. Ramos: So you’re in good hands when you choose. Mason.

Kathleen A. Ramos: Okay. So our online learning, as I said, is innovative, interactive, collaborative. There are many, many different kinds of activities, actually, probably too many to tell you about tonight. But across the course you will have some major performance based assessment assignments that allow you to apply real world. Apply your theoretical learning in real world practice.

Kathleen A. Ramos: and also lots of other smaller activities that are active learning style. So you may have scenarios. You may have some Mini case studies. You may have some videos to respond to. You will have many options for how you can represent your thinking and understanding in all of the courses. They are designed with the support.

Kathleen A. Ramos: instructional design technologists and ourselves as subject matter content experts

Kathleen A. Ramos: so know that you are getting a a high quality learning experience that is enjoyable, but also leads to the kind of deep learning that you can expect from from a reputable master’s program.

Kathleen A. Ramos: Okay. So this slide is probably probably the most important one. And I’ll just take a little bit of time here. To explain the way that this program works. Okay? It is 10 courses. And it is so. It is a 30 credit Master’s degree. It’s important to know that this is not an initial teacher licensure program. So if you are looking to be

Kathleen A. Ramos: a certified license teacher in a Pk to 12 school, but you are not yet a teacher. We do have program options for that. But this one is not that. Okay? So this program is a master’s, that is non licensure, but allows you to prepare for many pathways

Kathleen A. Ramos: of teaching multilingual learners. In many contexts from really Pre K through adult, as the title suggests. Okay.

Kathleen A. Ramos: so the way it works is the courses. What is kind of beautiful about it is that the courses are 8 weeks in length, and as a busy graduate student, perhaps with a full time job already.

Kathleen A. Ramos: You only have to take one course at a time. Okay, being 8 weeks. They are intensive courses, but they’re very carefully laid out with a an opportunity to build the the major performance based assessment projects across the 8 weeks. So you’re not doing that all at the end along with having a lot of collaboration with your peers

Kathleen A. Ramos: and the instructor in the course. Okay, so it is designed. It is flexible, but it is designed. And now it is our hope that students who or or interested participants who elect to join us in this program will take the 2 courses, each semester including running through the summer. So this means that really in just 5 semesters, you can finish your master’s degree for a fall. 2024 start.

Kathleen A. Ramos: you would take 2 courses, 2 in the spring, 2 in the summer, 2 in the following fall, 2 in the following spring, and you’re done with your master’s degree. Okay?

Kathleen A. Ramos: the the courses do include field work. This is a very important component of any Tsil program to be able to deepen, expertise or gain. Initial expertise is, we have students in this program from all walks of life.

Kathleen A. Ramos: Some who have never been teachers, some who are practicing teachers, and just want to deepen their expertise with multilingual learners. Some who work in higher education, some who aspire to work in higher education, or with PE particular populations of multilingual learners.

Kathleen A. Ramos: however, for all of those, for all of those scenarios, it’s very important to have hands on application and interaction with actual multilingual learners. So field work is an important component of each of the courses, and students are responsible for locating their own field work settings for many of our students. That’s very easy, because they’re already working

Kathleen A. Ramos: some kind of educational setting, whether it’s K to 12 or it is an adult learning context. Okay? But

Kathleen A. Ramos: once in a while we have students who need a little support with gaining those field work settings. And so I’m just going to invite Marie to share a little bit about that.

Marie Champagne: Absolutely. So I can offer support in helping you. Brainstorm. Where to look.

Marie Champagne: I would first ask you where you’re located, and then we do a search to see other literacy organizations, tutoring programs, churches that offer English language classes. And I also have templates that you can use email templates how to introduce yourself to an organization explaining that you’re in a program and why you need to come in and do the field work. So

Marie Champagne: I’ve never had a student not be able to do field work.

Marie Champagne: People are quite happy to have people come in and help them work with multilingual learners. So you are very needed in any arena.

Kathleen A. Ramos: Thank you, Marie. Yes, we are always successful at that. So I think we have been able to share with you. I’m sure you can see the names of the courses, and how they all tie together to lead to the kind of deep knowledge that you need to be a 20 first century. Absolutely excellent instructor or leader of literacy and language learning in tiesel settings of all types.

Kathleen A. Ramos: Okay? So that leads us to some professional pathways. And one of the things I enjoy most about this program is how we’re how our students really do come from so many walks of life with so many aspirations. In fact, I have one student who graduated about a year ago who was in a in a special program supporting newly arrived young adult

Kathleen A. Ramos: multilingual learners from various countries and various levels of

Kathleen A. Ramos: schooling from their home countries in the K to 12 setting. And she felt that this program really prepared her for being brave enough to venture into a new pathway, and she obtained a full time faculty position at a community college, and she wrote to me and said how pleased she was that the program gave her the confidence to make that kind of career switch.

Kathleen A. Ramos: You may. Really love the K to 12 population. And, as I said, you may be a practicing teacher already who wants to deepen expertise. And these 8 week. Online courses appeal to you getting your masters in just 5 semesters.

Kathleen A. Ramos: or you may be somebody who said, You know that teaching license is not so important to me. I know that I want to work in private schools or international schools, or I want to work in non governmental organizations. I want to be involved with refugee support. I want to be involved with adult literacy learning. I want to be a corporate language trainer. So this program really offers you an opportunity to pursue any of multiple pathways that may be of interest to you.

Kathleen A. Ramos: Okay, so we do have kind of a large group of faculty that belong to the to our our division in the School of Education, and many of us teach in this program, and the 4 of us Dr. Sujin Kim, Dr. Apromics, Foster, Dr. Joan Tang, Shin, and myself were the original creators of this program, and are all instructors in the program, along with some of our colleagues.

Kathleen A. Ramos: Okay? And I thought I would just share this special note. So this student graduated in summer of 2022 and she is an educator in Hong Kong. And she sent me this email to just express how much she enjoyed the master’s program, how much she learned and benefited from it and how much she has grown as an educator from participating in this program.

Kathleen A. Ramos: Okay, so Marie is gonna just talk a little bit about the admissions process. Because our classes start on August 20, sixth, and the admission process can take a bit of time. We do strongly encourage you if you are interested to apply to have your application really ready to submit by August the first, so that there is some turnaround time as it is required.

Kathleen A. Ramos: and you want to be ready. You don’t wanna miss even one day of an 8 week course, and our semester begins on August 20 sixth. So, Marie, do you wanna talk a little bit about this.

Marie Champagne: Absolutely so. The first requirement is a bachelor’s degree, that is all we require. If you have another master’s and associate degree, associate degree, or even a doctorate. That’s wonderful. But we don’t need to know, because then you have to actually get those transcripts pay for them, have them sent, and it slows down the admissions process. So just submit your bachelors, please.

Marie Champagne: We do see a minimum. We do say a minimum 3 point O Gpa, if you have a low 3 point. O, please don’t let that deter you. Sometimes various things can happen and undergraduate students life that can affect their grades. You can still apply. We’ll admit you provisionally, and then we’ll monitor you the first year, and as long as you can achieve a 3, and that first 12 credits of study will take you off. So

Marie Champagne: have a think about that. It’s not a deterrent for us and we’ve had a lot of success with all of our students.

Marie Champagne: You will need to get transcripts. I just covered that. The one transcript from your bachelors. If you have international transcripts, you’re going to have to allow some more time to have them translated by an accredited service. So please keep that in mind.

Marie Champagne: Also, we’ll need your resume your current. Resume 2 letters of recommendation. Ideally, they should be people that you work with.

Marie Champagne: If you’re still an undergrad that can be from your professors, and then your personal statement.

Marie Champagne: What do you want out of this program? And why this program in particular.

Kathleen A. Ramos: Just maybe to add a little bit there. Your personal statement doesn’t have to be long.

Kathleen A. Ramos: Just. We want you to share a little bit about your background. What appeals to you about this program? What are your aspirations?

Kathleen A. Ramos: What is your passion for working with multilingual learners? Why are you interested in the program? So it doesn’t have to be very long, and neither do the letters of recommendation. Okay, they just have to be someone people that can attest to your readiness for graduate studies and your motivation and determination as as a graduate student.

Marie Champagne: So looks like there’s a QR. Code

Marie Champagne: there.

Marie Champagne: and there’s folks

Marie Champagne: scan it. It will go right to the application. Is that how that works? Brianna.

George Mason Online Admissions: That is correct. So this is a great opportunity. If we have any questions. That we would like to ask today that was not covered during our meeting. Please feel free to ask

George Mason Online Admissions: if you would like to reach us for additional information. You could reach out at 703-48-5006. And of course we’ll be more than happy to assist you. You could also email us at online [email protected]. And just in case you’re not able to connect via phone, and we will also address your questions there as well.

Kathleen A. Ramos: Oh, do we have any questions from the participants

Kathleen A. Ramos: that you’d like to ask?

Kathleen A. Ramos: Let’s wait just a few moments to see if

Kathleen A. Ramos: people need a little time to access the chat or the Q&A.

Kathleen A. Ramos: Or to unmute and ask us directly.

George Mason Online Admissions: I do have 2 questions. One of the questions that was asked is that some students have a lot of fares with online education overall? How does the faculty maintain communication with students? And is there an opportunity to network.

Kathleen A. Ramos: Okay, those are great questions. So yes, the way that we communicate with students is to be actively engaged in the courses ourselves. We’re always available by email, we can arrange, have we have virtual office hours. So we are happy to make individual appointments to meet virtually by zoom also.

Kathleen A. Ramos: But mainly you will feel so well supported within the course. I believe that you, you will feel the instructors, presence. And we have many students who have never taken an asynchronous online class

Kathleen A. Ramos: and have express apprehension about that at the beginning. And I really can’t count how many students have told me. Oh, I was so nervous about this at the beginning, and it was just so well designed and so carefully structured and so well supported that. I don’t know why I was ever nervous about it. And I really liked it. Okay, yes, there’s lots of opportunity to meet network with faculty

Kathleen A. Ramos: one of the students that I was telling you about. She and I presented together at a conference. So one of the benefits of of joining a program that is offered by a university like Mason is that you are joining worldwide community of alumni with whom you can stay connected and network throughout your career.

George Mason Online Admissions: Thank you.

George Mason Online Admissions: Now, this is always a big one, too. Is there any preferred background knowledge you feel students should have prior to entering this program.

Kathleen A. Ramos: I do not, I think. For me, the most important thing would be to have a passion for teaching multilingual learners. Whatever age group that is, to be a compassionate, empathetic person, with what I like to call a teacher’s mind and a teacher’s heart. I think those are kind of essential for moving into this career. Those are the real foundations

Kathleen A. Ramos: for success in this career. I do see. Now we have some questions in the

Kathleen A. Ramos: chat over here.

Kathleen A. Ramos: so I’m not sure if it’s Selena or Selena. Sorry if I’m not pronouncing correctly. She wants to know if you already have a Master’s degree. Would this be considered an additional Master’s degree? Absolutely. This is a full Master’s degree this pro this program.

Kathleen A. Ramos: And Ishra is asking, would you please kindly provide the application fee, waiver code.

Kathleen A. Ramos: So, Marie, do you wanna say a little bit about that? I know that

Kathleen A. Ramos: the college of education and human development is offering this code

Kathleen A. Ramos: for people who participate in virtual sessions.

Marie Champagne: Yeah. So if

Marie Champagne: if the the the guests, the our attendees, can be provided to gia and our admissions office, she will send out

Marie Champagne: a waiver code and mark everybody as attended.

Marie Champagne: So when people apply, they can be

Marie Champagne: checked off in the system.

Kathleen A. Ramos: So, Brianna, that would be something to follow up on to make sure that

Kathleen A. Ramos: the list of attendees and their emails are provided.

Kathleen A. Ramos: Okay?

Kathleen A. Ramos: another question. I’m also currently an Ml teacher at an elementary school. But I need to find another field work. Or would my daily work with my students count your daily work with your students counts. That will be your field work site in our licensure program. We have more specific regulations for field work.

Kathleen A. Ramos: however, in this program. People who are practicing teachers with multilingual learners in any type of school setting are welcome to use that setting as their field works. Site.

Kathleen A. Ramos: Yes. Good. Question

Kathleen A. Ramos: any other questions.

Kathleen A. Ramos: Okay? Well, as Brianna said, you

Kathleen A. Ramos: can reach out to us by phone or email or through the website. So we hope to hear from you if you have any other questions.

Kathleen A. Ramos: Oh, let me see, there might be one in the

Kathleen A. Ramos: oh, this one was about the fee. Waiver again. Yeah.

George Mason Online Admissions: Okay.

Kathleen A. Ramos: Okay.

Kathleen A. Ramos: Yep.

Kathleen A. Ramos: Whoops!

George Mason Online Admissions: Well, thank you, Dr. Ramos, and thank you, Miss Champagne, for being present tonight, and thank you everyone for attending our virtual open house as always. If you have any questions or ready to apply, please contact us at the number or the email address, and we’ll be more than happy to assist you.

Kathleen A. Ramos: Thank you, Brianna.

Kathleen A. Ramos: our pleasure to have you all join us. Have a pleasant evening.

George Mason Online Admissions: Have a wonderful evening.

Kathleen A. Ramos: Thank you.