Miller, Amber

Contact

City: Austin
County: Travis
Click here to request trainer's contact details

Preferred communication: Email

Education

Years of experience in Adult Education: 15-20 years

Adult Education Experience (with roles and length of times in those roles):
ESL Instructor: 2010 - Present PD Supervisor: 2023 - Present

Formal Degrees, Certifications, and Licenses: Bachelor of Arts in English and Spanish Master of Fine Arts in Bilingual Creative Writing

Training Preferences

How far are you willing to travel to provide training?: More than 300 miles

Are you willing to do virtual training?: Yes

Availability:

• Monday : All Day
• Tuesday : All Day
• Wednesday : All Day
• Thursday : All Day
• Friday : All Day
• Saturday : All Day

Availability Notes:

Area of Expertise

• Writing/Composition : 20-24 years
• Team Building : 10-14 years
• Retention : 10-14 years
• Reading Instruction : 10-14 years
• Persistence : 10-14 years
• Learner Motivation : 10-14 years
• Instructional Strategies : 20-24 years
• English as a Second Language : 20-24 years
• EL Civics : 10-14 years
• Distance Learning : 10-14 years
• Digital Literacy : 10-14 years
• Content Standards : Less than 10 years
• Classroom Management : 10-14 years
• Citizenship : 10-14 years
• Adult Learning : 10-14 years
• Adult Basic Education : Less than 5 years
• Accessibility : Less than 5 years

Other Topics:
Pronunciation, Project Based Learning, Professional Development, Transitions, Marketing/Promotion, Education Technology, Lesson Planning

Training Already Developed

Title	Delivery	Training Time	Can training time be adjusted?	Subject Area	Description
ESL Lesson Planning	Either	3-4 hours	No	English as a Second Language	Unlock a clear and easy-to-use framework for designing effective ESL lessons. This interactive training shows instructors how to create communicative lesson plans that move students beyond concept introduction and into confident language production. Participants will learn to structure lessons using key stages—warm-up, introduction, controlled practice, semi-controlled practice, free practice, and review—while keeping communication at the core. Through collaborative activities, attendees will design their own lesson plans on various topics and receive ready-to-use lesson planning templates and a practical planning guide.
Getting Started with Adobe Express	Either	1.5 hours	Yes	Digital Literacy	Adobe Express is a free online graphic design tool similar to Canva, but it has a lot of unique features and AI tools to help you create professional-looking materials. In the first part of this session you will learn about Adobe Express and how you can use it to create documents and presentations for your classes or your program.
Pronunciation Rules! (that every ESL instructor should know)	Either	3-4 hours	Yes	English as a Second Language	Pronunciation Rules! (that every ESL instructor should know) English pronunciation is hard, right? English is not a phonetic language, so students often cannot discern the pronunciation of a word from its spelling: comfortable, drawer, choir, colonel, though, laugh, stomachache... So what do we do? Simply say, "English is crazy'' and move on? That's what I did when I started teaching. But there is good news! Some specific and easy to explain pronunciation rules in English do exist. So come and explore techniques for teaching -ed endings, -s endings, stress in words, difficult sounds, a few phonetic symbols, and more. We'll flex our vocal chords and aspirate all over the place. And you will leave with lots of activities and free materials you can use in your own ESL classes!
Padlet Your Class! New Padlet Features to Enhance your Lessons	Either	1.5 hours	Yes	Digital Literacy	You might know Padlet as a reflection tool or a place to aggregate ideas, but thanks to new features, collaboration and group work have become much easier. In this session we will explore submission requests, breakout rooms, and templates which make creation of Padlets so much easier and useful in a variety of settings. And you will get to see engaging (and almost hand-free) examples of both a class and a PD event created entirely in Padlet.
Make Meetings Memorable	Face-to-face	2-3 hours	Yes	Team Building	Are your staff meetings stuck in a powerpoint rut? Are informational PD sessions all talk and no action? They don’t have to be! There are challenging and fun ways to engage participants while also delivering content. From “blind” quiz games to low ropes challenges, scavenger hunts to breakout rooms, there are a variety of methods to increase team building and decrease boredom. Come prepared to participate, have fun, and learn some new strategies!
Write More, Write Now!	Either	3-4 hours	No	English as a Second Language	Most ESL textbooks teach writing in the same way: read a passage and write something similar (with perhaps a bit of brainstorming thrown in). But how often do we as instructors expand beyond this model-based writing? How can we activate other aspects of English language learning, like speaking or listening, while teaching writing? And most of all, how can we create cohesive and engaging writing lesson plans that extend from warm-up to publication? In this workshop, we will explore techniques that combine speaking, listening, reading, critical thinking and physical activity with writing. At the end of the session, participants will receive a handbook of lesson plans to use in their classes.
Scavenger Hunts Apps for Critical Thinking, Learning, and Adventure!	Face-to-face	1.5 hours	Yes	Adult Learning	Scavenger hunts can be used as quizzes, as learning tools, as campus tours–there are so many possibilities. In this session, you will discover how to create fun, simple, and engaging scavenger hunts for your classes with two popular apps, Goosechase and Actionbound. First, you will experience two different types of scavenger hunts that can be used for online classes or in-person classes, and then we will learn how to make them. Oh, and there will be prizes for the winners!
Getting Started in the Online Classroom	Either	2-3 hours	No	Distance Learning	Come learn and share best practices for online instruction! We will look at some (learned the hard way!) methods of engaging students from day one, discuss best practices for online teaching, and address retention strategies unique to the online format. This training is used for onboarding new online AE instructors at Austin Community College, so it's a great training for both new instructors as well as for PD/DL leads who would like to use this training for their own programs.
Escape Room Games for the ESL Classroom	Face-to-face	2-3 hours	Yes	English as a Second Language	Create "Escape Room" style educational games that can be adapted for any subject matter. These games reinforce subject matter while stimulating skills in critical thinking, team building and working under pressure. In the beginning of this interactive session, participants will first get to experience the game as a student would, trying to open a locked box using clues provided. There will be several different games to choose from! At the end, we will discuss how to build one of these games to fit individual lesson plans using the Breakout Edu template. Participants will leave with access to all the lesson plans, worksheets, and mini-games.
The First Three Weeks in the ESL Classroom	Either	3-4 hours	No	English as a Second Language	Studies show that the first three weeks of instruction are integral to ESL adult learner retention. In this interactive workshop, participants will learn techniques to enhance student motivation as well as methods to create a positive classroom environment. At the end of the session, participants will receive a free book of lesson plans and activities to use in the classroom as well as all the training materials to take back and use with their programs.
Just Paper, Please!	Face-to-face	3-4 hours	Yes	Accessibility	Sometimes we overthink things and spend too much time creating materials from scratch, or we depend too much on books and technology. Let's get super low-tech and back to basics with paper! In Part 1 of this session you will see writing activities, games, warm-ups, and lesson plans that use only paper. In Part 2, we will create mini-books and not-so-mini-books that can be used as reference tools for your ESL and Civics students. Come and join us for this fun and interactive session! (Bandaids for paper cuts will be provided free of charge).
Beyond Kahoot! More Games and Apps to Engage Students	Face-to-face	1.5 hours	No	Digital Literacy	Expand your digital horizons and see new and exciting ways to engage your students both in class and out. We will look at a variety of online games and apps that will stimulate your students with often little to no work for you! Plus, we will learn how to move beyond just reviewing information to teaching with these free online products.
Effective Digital Literacy Content Standards Integration	Either	3-4 hours	No	Digital Literacy	Join us for a training session designed to support educators with the knowledge and skills to integrate the newly developed TX AEL Digital Literacy Content Standards into instructional practices. In this session, participants will gain an understanding of the standards, including their structure and significance in addressing the growing need for digital literacy education. Participants will have the opportunity to put theory into practice by crafting mini-lessons.
Lesson Planning with the AEL Content Standards	Face-to-face	3-4 hours	No	Content Standards	The first part of this session is an exploration of the AEL Content Standards: why we have them, how to navigate the ELA, Math and ESL content areas, and how to reference the standards in lesson plans. In the second part, we will use backward design to craft engaging and detailed lesson plans aligned to the AEL Content Standards. Participants will also get access to a digital lesson plan builder to easily format lesson plans with the content standards. Come prepared to participate and work!
Zoom Tips and Tricks	Either	1.5 hours	Yes	Distance Learning	Come and discover some Zoom tips like how to demonstrate Zoom controls, how to see what you are sharing to participants, how to pin yourself or students to increase focus. We'll also try to answer any questions you might have.
How to be a Pusher: A Step-by-Step Guide to Pushing your Students (with love) to Success	Face-to-face	3-4 hours	Yes	Learner Motivation	In Adult Education, helping students reach their goals is at the heart of our work. But many adult learners need more than encouragement; they need a push in the right direction. In this interactive session, we’ll explore how to be a positive force for momentum in our students’ lives. Together, we’ll reflect on our own instructional mindsets, understand the role of our broader program, and strengthen our relationships with learners. Most importantly, we’ll learn practical, respectful strategies for “pushing” students—firmly but kindly—toward the progress they deserve.
The Good, The Bad, and The Weird: Instructor Practices that Affect the Classroom	Virtual	2-3 hours	Yes	Adult Learning	Come and see how what you do as an instructor affects the students in your class. This will be a fun, entertaining, and interactive session with a lot of videos and a lot of discussion. Please be prepared to participate!
Editing Strategies for the AE Classroom	Face-to-face	2-3 hours	Yes	Accessibility	Save yourself time, increase learner critical thinking and independence, and engage students in the writing process with these editing ideas and tools! Instructors often shy away from multiple drafts because of the amount of work required to take students through the editing and revision process. However, with the use of tools like editing wheels, checklists, circles, and AI, instructors can significantly reduce instructor-led revision while teaching students to recognize errors in their own work. Participants will receive digital and physical copies of the tools and ideas for immediate use in their classes.