Two-Hour Badge Courses

Purposeful Planning - 2 hours

Aligned to: Danielson Domains 1 and 2, Marzano Domains 2 and 3 Planning with purpose leads to effective instruction. This course takes learners through a variety of planning processes that align closely to pre-established learning goals, objectives, and state and national standards. In addition, working knowledge of current best instructional design and preparation will highlight the relevance of reflection as it enriches comprehensive lesson development. Participants will work new ideas into planning with specific purposes and ends in mind as they work out of and into the Marzano (2001) Nine Categories of Instructional Planning. Course Objectives:

Develop understanding and knowledge of content and pedagogy as it informs differentiation for a variety of student needs.
Understand and develop working knowledge of what the high instructional outcomes are, and how to plan for them through coherent instructional design.
Develop utility with planning resources that aid in the lesson and content development.

Working the Brain Into Teaching and Learning: Grades K-12 - 2 hours

Meeting old challenges with new ideas can be fraught with mind-boggling confusion if design principles aren't organized around cognition-friendly curriculum and pedagogy. Participants in this e-course will explore and experiment with learning theory that that embraces new design and cross-curricular strategy that engages brain plasticity. Wrapping learner minds around new knowledge through engaging lessons and strategy that builds capacity are some of the goals of this e-course. Course Outcomes:

Develop working knowledge of the elements that make cognitive-friendly instructional design.
Experiment with learning theory that invokes hands-on, cross-curricular strategy for teaching and learning.
Apply methods that capitalize on brain plasticity for higher retention and increased literacy skills.

Co-teaching and Professional Collaboration - 2 hours

Strong co-teaching relationships are the underpinnings for a seamless and manageable instructional environment. Planned and orchestrated instruction, the result of team effort, combined with a sound learning environment leverages students as equal partners in a winning educational pact. This course will prepare teachers to work collaboratively on mutual goals and student learning objectives in a team effort. The benefits of such effort are numerous and include: positive and scholarly collegial exchanges focused on student-centered goals and objectives, planned and orchestrated communication among each other and with students, analysis and use of data to plan effective instruction with. Course Outcomes:

Plan collaboratively using protocols specific to effective communication that results in higher understanding and action steps.
Collaboratively analyze student data to identify learning gaps and develop action steps.
Set mutual student learning objectives and plan around those objectives with strategy.

Motivating and Engaging 21st Century Adolescents: Grades 6-12 - 2 hour

What are the classroom conditions that motivate and engage our 21st century learners? What are the assignments that cultivate curiosity and foster collaborative peer relationships? This e-course examines the research that supports engaging classroom talk, questioning and self-expression through strategy, technology and effective teacher facilitation. Participants will leave this e-course with multiple resources to aid in motivating and engaging the 21st century adolescent learners in their classrooms. Course Outcomes:

Understand the classroom conditions necessary for 21st century learners to become motivated and engaged.
Resource and create collaborative assignments that incorporate hybrid methods of teaching and learning.
Plan for and implement strategies for effective facilitation of a motivating curriculum.

Writing Strategies For All Content Areas: Grades K-12 - 2 hour

Focused exclusively on sound and proven writing strategy, participants will be introduced to research as it promotes writing strategy across all content areas.They’ll learn the scaffolds behind them that aid students in the important transition process across all other content areas.Intentional, consistent and rigorous teaching of reading and writing strategy as it continues to improve student achievement will engage the 90/90/90 principled approach. Course Objectives:

Analyze genre as it applies to specific content areas and teaching objectives.
Acquire and use new resources to teach genre-specific fiction and non-fiction writing.
Apply new strategies and resources to the teaching of writing across multiple subject areas.

Research-Based Assessment Practices for Special Needs Students Grades 3-8 - No. 234

Practical and authentic assessment methods that have a strong research-base will be the central feature of this course in evaluating the needs of exceptional students. Informal and teacher-developed assessment technique will invoke best practices through the use of technology, smart classroom strategy, and through smart curriculum design. Formal, informal assessments and other data will include observation and anecdotal note-taking (kidwatching), SLOs, IEP goals, behavioral assessment, criterion-referenced assessments, standardized and performance based assessments, and learning style inventories. Data gleaned of these assessments will be used to differentiate with while aligning best practices with student needs. Course Objectives:

Evaluate the needs of their ELL students to align best instructional strategy to those needs.
Through job-embedded participation, practice with several research-based assessments in order to determine student needs, learning readiness, and needed instructional support.
Use sound research-based strategy to plan for instruction and instructional intervention, or modify existing instructional plans, for the language needs of the learners.

Teaching to Text Complexity, Grades K-12 - 2 hours

Reading strategies will focus on skill and readability as participants are introduced to leveling systems that scaffold. Participants will be introduced to the scaffolding mechanisms needed to appropriately move up text complexity in multiple genres across all subject areas. Objectives:

Understand how to scaffold for, and teach to, text complexity.
Through practice and application, develop the ability to plan strategy that teaches to text complexity.
Align student learning objectives to strategy that teaches text complexity.

Standards-Based Formative Assessment, Grades K-5 - 2 hours

Assessment of learning or for learning? Balanced, summative interim and formative assessments will be evaluated for CCSS application in this e-course. Participants will understand how to effectively monitor student learning, structure requisite assessment criteria, and teach to support a rapid turnaround of results. Objectives:

Practice with the research skills needed to seek out assessment resources that further teaching and learning.
Match grade-level assessment criteria to standards-aligned curriculum and instruction.
Use tools to monitor student learning to move up individual student performance.

Standards-Based Formative Assessment, Grades 6-12 - 2 hours

Practice with the research skills needed to seek out assessment resources that further teaching and learning.
Match grade-level assessment criteria to standards-aligned curriculum and instruction.
Use tools to monitor student learning to move up individual student performance.

Building Reading Muscle of Struggling Learners, Grades 6-8 - No. 133A - 2 hours

Building reading muscle requires training, perseverance, and constant progress monitoring. Participants will review intervention strategies that include timely response to intervention focused on strength and strategy. Strategic and differentiated interventions reviewed and practiced with will include cognitive questioning, vocabulary development, peer and teacher feedback, use of graphic organizers and reflective self-monitoring. Course objectives:

Become familiar with, and further develop, intervention strategies focused on response to intervention.
Use strategy to differentiate with for struggling learners.
Plan for, and implement with, vocabulary and questioning strategies combined with consistent use of teacher and peer feedback to build reading muscle.

Building Reading Muscle of Struggling Learners, Grades PK-5 - No. 133 - 2 hours

Become familiar with, and further develop, intervention strategies focused on response to intervention.
Use strategy to differentiate with for struggling learners.
Plan for, and implement with, vocabulary and questioning strategies combined with consistent use of teacher and peer feedback to build reading muscle.

Literacy Strategies for Science and Technical Subjects: Grades 6-12 - 2 hours

Transferring literacy skills to subjects outside of English Language Arts is easily achieved when instruction is strategy-driven, explicit and consistently applied across subject areas. In this e-course, participants will focus on informational text and non-fiction essay writing across multiple subject areas. By analyzing non-fiction reading and writing in science and technical subjects, participants will understand and be able to resource supportive strategy for the consistent threading across content areas, genres, and learning styles. Tools for implementation and scaffolding will be abundant. Course Objectives:

Learn research-based strategy for teaching and facilitating content-focused writing sessions in support of non-fiction text.
Understanding of reading and writing genre as applied to specific science and technical disciplines.
Facilitate comprehension and understanding through reading strategy and responsive writing.

Literacy Strategies for Science and Technical Subjects: Grades K-5 - No. 151A - 2 hours

Learn research-based strategy for teaching and facilitating content-focused writing sessions in support of non-fiction text.
Understanding of reading and writing genre as applied to specific science and technical disciplines.
Facilitate comprehension and understanding through reading strategy and responsive writing.