Title

Description

Grade
Level

Critical thinking skills are an essential part of any academic program.  This class focuses its questioning using Bloom's Taxonomy of Higher Learning for any classroom teacher K-12.  Students of this class will learn the questioning techniques to easily integrate them into any academic program.  Many times teachers are bogged down with the lowest level of questioning without touching upon the higher levels.  We know as educators what we need to do.  This class sharpens teachers' tools to bring their classroom to new levels of learning.

This course is designed to help the participant create and implement lessons that meet the needs of diverse learners in the ir classroom. This course is designed to help teachers, administrators and staff support the ir students in achieving excellence in the NYS learning standards, regardless of the ir background.

Curriculum in the Constructivist World!

The course will address the principles, practices, issues specific to and underlying technology integration and the development and construction of the curriculum in the public school under the Constructivist View. Focus is on the practical application of the techniques of curriculum. Curriculum will be developed using a range of teaching and learning methods, media, and instructional technology along with creating appropriate criteria, rubrics, and assessments that promote successful learning. The course will also address standards-based education, curriculum validity, balance, and evaluation. In the end, the participant will walk away with a new perspective of designing curriculum and as a result improve the ir teaching techniques.

Dimensions of Learning [DOL] is a practical framework of proven teaching methods that can be used by K-12 teachers to improve student learning and achievement.  Developed by Bob Marzano, and over 90 educators, DOL takes over 30 years of best practices and theories and presents them in a way that allows teachers to improve the quality of their teaching.  

The Effective Paraeducator

This 15 hour course is designed to provide information that will increase your awareness and knowledge of the expectations and responsibilities of aides. The class will provide you information on effective communication skills, assertive discipline techniques, and effective listening skills. Participants will gain knowledge of the special education categories, identify appropriate strategies, and possible accommodations to assist special education students.

K-12

Effective Strategies for Working with Teens

Understanding the brain development of the typical teen/adolescent is imperative in effectively approaching these learners who have or are in danger of dropping out of the traditional education system. Brain research is the basis for this approach to teens/adolescents. Building relationships with these teens is a delicate matter that must be addressed to lead to positive learner outcomes. This course will welcome you into the chaotic world of teen/adolescent behavior that drives their decision-making abilities.

K-12

Reaching All Students: Differentiating Instruction for Learners

In this class, teachers will learn to develop and implement lessons and activities to better support the students in their classroom. Teachers will create activities and lessons that are aligned with the NY State Standards and area based on whether the learner is a visual, kinesthetic, or auditory learner. Teachers will use computer programs, the Internet, games, manipulatives, and/or other resources to enable students to comprehend and communicate curriculum objectives.

K-12

Research Modules

In this course you will create a research project for your students based on the Research Module by Jamie McKenzie. Rather than finding answers, you will challenge your students to make answers to higher order thinking questions you will ask them. You will base your questions around web-sites you have previously chosen for your students to explore.

K-12

Successful Transition From Elementary to Middle
School

Transition from elementary to middle school provides challenges to many students. The purpose of this online course is to enable middle school level teachers to help their students successfully and smoothly make the transition. This course is consistent with the NYS Teacher Center Online Academy Standards. Participants will authenticate their students’ learning in accordance to NYS learning standards.

K-5

Teaching Multiple Intelligences in a General Education Classroom

The goal is to have teachers understand and create instructional lessons incorporating Gardner's Multiple Intelligences to accommodate different learning styles within a general education classroom.

K-12

This course will provide students with interactive learning strategies to use in your classroom based on Level 3 research. (In a university setting, Level 3 Research means that the research has been proposed, utilized and replicated on a large population over a long period of time successfully.) Strategies will be introduced which will transform your classroom, help to increase student achievement, and add excitement to your lessons. Each week, a different topic will be introduced and the research-based readings will support the discussion of the strategies. Participants will be encouraged to try the strategy in their classroom and participate in the discussions engendered by their own experiences. Participating in a collegial circle of peers will encourage experimentation as participants receive feedback from the instructor and their peers. Participants will receive a rich framework of strategies that will add to their own pedagogy for both novice and veteran teachers.

The rise in hate crimes and racially charged violence in schools has led to an increased need to understand how prejudiced, stereotyped, and discriminatory viewpoints develop among young people in a school setting. Research has shown that children can develop negative attitudes towards individuals of different races and cultures, which presumably will affect behavior in the classroom. In fact, these attitudes may also be carried on into adulthood. Teachers must understand how negative intergroup attitudes and behaviors develop in children in order to help create and maintain a socially tolerant classroom.

Educators are being held accountable for the achievements of the ir students more than ever before. How can you use data from your students to improve instruction?  Participants in this course will research ways o the r educators are using data to improve test scores by using new and innovating tools used in the online environment. During the course you will have the opportunity to read and examine data in order to formulate a plan for improvement.

If you've ever been asked "how can you teach middle school kids?" the n this course is for you.  In this course participants will learn how to use teams to increase student learning through increased motivation, communication and consistency.  Reasearch will be done to support the use of teams in schools and participants will develop a plan for the ir own team as well as the program the y will work under.  Rules for behavior, parent support and student interest will also be discussed. After finishing this course, participants will be ready to present the team concept to o the rs and propose the use of teams in the ir building.

Using a Vacation Planning Unit to Integrate Across the Curriculum

In this course teachers will learn how to use a thematic unit to integrate math, social studies, language arts and technology into a realistic project students will become actively engaged in. This course offers participants the opportunity to develop, create and implement a travel based unit into their preexisting curriculum that allows students to go beyond the classroom. The nature of this unit allows students of all levels to achieve success at their individual ability as well as drawing from a variety of learning styles.

K-12