Curriculum

As a parent or guardian, you may have concerns about challenges your child is currently having in regards to screen time stamina and engagement. As the biggest advocate for your child, this course is designed to help provide you with the current research on screen-time, and learn how to apply practical strategies to help your child overcome screen time based challenges. Join a community of parents and guardians who are also learning more about screen-time usage and share strategies to support learning.

Empathy is an essential piece of academic, social, and emotional wellbeing. Understanding what empathy is and how it so critically impacts our day-to-day interactions is essential in effectively building and overcoming barriers to empathy in the classroom. In this course, participants will explore the definition of empathy and develop an awareness of how empathy impacts students well being and success. Participants will then explore strategies for building empathy in the classroom and develop a plan for effectively leveraging these practices for the social-emotional and academic well-being of their students.

Despite growing up in a world that is heavily and increasingly reliant on technology, our learners need support in order to develop and practice the skills necessary to be successful in their academic and later professional lives. Acquiring and attaining mastery in these skills is not a natural process but one that must be intentionally instilled and cultivated. In this course, we will examine executive function skills and clarify the role that they play in our success across the many facets of our lives. We will then explore the connection between the executive function skills that are integral to thriving with technology. Participants will evaluate a series of strategies for establishing and practicing executive function skills when using technology and assumable a flexible toolkit that can be used to support the learners in their context.

The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework provides a guide for rethinking the design of learning experiences to remove barriers and promote access. UDL draws upon brain science, evidence-based practices, and leverages digital tools. This framework can be applied to all lessons, regardless of grade level, content area, or delivery mode. In this course you will unpack the UDL Guidelines, and explore specific applications across content areas, with a focus on hybrid and virtual learning environments.

With technological revolutions over the past 50 years, people are able to easily access the internet, use different types of devices and connect digitally. We can talk, chat, video call, share, create and innovate all while being in different places. What allows us to be able to share our work or connect with loved ones? It’s called the cloud. In this course, we will explore what the cloud is and how we can use different types of Google applications that utilize the cloud. In addition, determine how to adapt your practices to be able to learn and work effectively, using Google Workspace and the cloud.

Assessment is an integral part of teaching students. Traditionally, assessments were administered using paper and pencil. Google Forms and Google Classroom have allowed teachers to move assessments into the cloud. In addition to being accessible from any learning environment, there are features that help teachers streamline the grading process. Learn how to set up self-grading questions, and provide immediate feedback that helps learners review or extend their learning based on their answers, as well as how to deploy quizzes from Google Classroom.

Culturally Responsive Education is a kind of forward-thinking pedagogy that allows for the intentional inclusion of students from underrepresented groups and helps all students feel valued and included; this is accomplished by following specifically outlined methods of teaching, combined with high expectations for students. Teachers who are successful in this approach are those who put in concerted efforts to get to know, learn from, and engage with students and families who are culturally and often linguistically different from the teachers. To set the stage for this to happen, it is imperative that teachers do their own introspective reflection work to discover areas of growth that, once strengthened, can help them truly teach this way. This course will help participants understand how to approach this introspective process, providing a structure for reflection that will help in designing culturally responsive educational experiences.

Increasing student motivation is not a new challenge; however, it feels like a new challenge in the virtual classroom. In this course, educators will explore how to leverage the strategies they use in the physical classroom to increase student motivation and engagement in the virtual classroom. Additionally, educators will explore ideas for tapping into authentic audiences, entrepreneurial mindsets, and gamification.

Recognizing how Clevertouch technology can enhance the learning experience for your students is the first step into transforming your classroom practice. In this introductory session, we will explore the features that make Clevertouch an educator’s go-to interactive board. We will explore the functionality and discuss the ways in which features can change practices, as well as enhance the way lessons are taught in the classroom.

Establishing a successful overall communication strategy in a school community ensures everyone receives the information they need. When developing a communication strategy, school leaders must consider a variety of stakeholders, including students, teachers, staff, administrators, family members, and the community at large. Developing a plan that accounts for different types of communication, varied schedules, and consistent platforms helps members of the school community know what to expect. In this course, learners will review different methods of communication, explore strategies to meet the communication needs of different stakeholders, and examine potential pitfalls. Learners will develop a plan to improve the school’s communication strategy to meet everyone’s needs.