PACKAGE: The Everything Package (150 Hours)

“Your courses fit my needs perfectly.
They were ideal for someone who does not
have a great deal of flexibility, and I learned a lot.”

You’ve heard of the everything bagel, Professional Learning Board presents the first everything PD course package, The Everything Self-Study Package – Minnesota #1, which includes the following TWENTY-FIVE 5-hour self-study courses and saves you $380 over enrolling in them individually. Scroll down to see more information on the courses in this package.

Accommodations through UDL

Teaching each and every student effectively is never easy. It is next to impossible to find a classroom full of students with the same needs, learning levels and abilities. Teachers are faced with the challenge of teaching a diverse group the same lesson and ensuring that they all learn in the process. It can be easy to settle for teaching some, or even most of the students, while leaving out a portion of the class in the process.

This course is designed to present teachers with the Universal Design of Learning (UDL) framework, which makes teaching ALL students a very real possibility. The framework builds on research findings that show how a single teaching approach has very limited results on student learning, highlighting the need for a new curricular approach. Here a learner’s level of recognition, strategic, and affective networks are all taken into account to determine the best way to teach them.

The course is centered around exploring practical strategies that can be used to add a much needed element of flexibility in teaching presentation, student expression and meaningful engagement and upholding learning as the primary focus.

Assistive Communication for Every Classroom

Students with disabilities face many communication challenges. Combined with possible physical and cognitive disabilities, learning can be compromised. As teachers, it is important to help students with disabilities overcome difficulties to attain and maximize potential in the classroom. This course, helps teachers achieve this goal.

Teachers are introduced to available Assistive Communication techniques and tools. Primarily, this course aims to prepare teachers with an understanding of these tools and how to incorporate them into a classroom to best build on the needs and abilities of the student. Teachers also learn how to stimulate and facilitate learning by incorporating high-tech and low-tech assistive devices. The tools, strategies and templates provided in this course help teachers create an inclusive classroom and positive learning environment for students with disabilities.

Bulletin Boards – Ideas for Every Classroom

A classroom can seem incomplete without attractive and educative bulletin boards. Have you ever looked at another teacher’s bulletin boards and wondered how they managed to make it so interesting? Maybe you don’t have a lot of experience with art, or maybe you’re running low on creative ideas.

This course provides a new and fresh direction that helps teachers understand the basic principles of art and design and how to apply these in planning and creating bulletin boards. Included are a number of ideas for interesting, interactive and educative bulletin boards. Through this course, teachers come up with some very creative and visually effective ideas for their classrooms and often are inspired to create their own classroom bulletin board makeovers.

Virtual Field Trips

It is the wish of every committed teacher to help his or her students connect knowledge gained in the classroom with real life situations and process information in a way that takes them beyond the books. Teachers are constantly required to grab the attention of their students, keep them motivated and inspire them to own their learning.

A well-planned field trip can serve all of these purposes in a unique way. Despite being known to be of great merit, schools across the country have been cutting short on such expeditions because of limited resources, whether financial constraints, personnel or time. This course offers a great alternative to teachers and encourages them to make the most of one of the most widely-available resources of our times – technology. Given the rapidly developing digital resources, teachers can take a diverse group of students on virtual field trips and offer them near-life-like experiences that will develop their thoughts and provide wholesome educational opportunities.

This course gives teachers a basic understanding of what virtual field trips are, the different types of trips and why they can be considered a valid alternative to actual field trips. It also offers a look at some concerns that surface while planning virtual field trips and how these can be addressed. The course also details the process of planning an effective virtual field trip with emphasis on how teachers can equip themselves technically. Looking at a selection of pre-existing virtual field trips, teachers will be able to understand the elements of a good trip. They will also learn how to create their own custom-made field trips using an array of online resources offered in the course.

Classroom examples will help teachers understand how they can incorporate these virtual trips in their lesson plans and the various roles they will play during these tours. Teachers will also be equipped to evaluate virtual field trips and will know their impact on student learning.

Classroom Collaboration

Implement collaborative learning in classrooms and develop successful learners. This framework enables teachers to recognize characteristics of collaborative classrooms, be aware of student and teacher roles, and practice group activities as an essential part of the classroom. Teachers are introduced to school-wide policy reforms in place today that promote collaboration and group activities. Teachers are also provided with ideas and strategies to accommodate learners, including students with special needs. The practical examples, real-life experiences, and templates in this online course provide teachers a structure to use in their own classrooms.

Classroom Management for Positive Behaviors

Successfully implement an evidence-based, data-driven Positive Behavior Management system in your school in order to reduce disciplinary incidents and support positive academic outcomes. Through the resources, research-validated strategies and guidelines, presented in this course, teachers will be equipped to apply a multi-tiered approach to prevention. Using disciplinary and behavior analysis data, teachers will be able to develop targeted and individualized interventions and supports for problem students.

Additionally, teachers will be provided with tips and strategies for teaching behavioral expectations, modeling them, and reinforcing positive social behavior for improving the student’s educational experience.

Questions answered in this course include – Why choose Positive Behavior Intervention Strategies (PBIS) for students? Shouldn’t students know how to behave? Why should students be acknowledged for doing what is expected?

Rich in examples, scenarios, suggestions and tips, this course will allow schools to implement the PBIS framework as a team-based, action planning process led by the school PBIS team, providing students with a positive learning environment.

Classroom Organization for the 21st Century

Good teaching is both an art and a science. It requires a significant amount of planning, research, preparation, evaluation, and a whole lot of creativity. However, that doesn’t mean teachers need to sacrifice their personal and family life for education. The key to “doing it all” and “doing it all well” is organization. A rested, relaxed, and organized teacher is an effective teacher.

The aim of this course, The Organized Teacher, is to aid teachers as they strive to make their lives and classrooms more organized and a lot less stressful. There are tips, tools, templates, and creative ideas to help teachers organize the classroom environment, classroom activities, assessments, and other class events. The ideas in this course will present effective ways for teachers to be organized and to take practical steps to manage stressful days and avoid time crunches. This will have a positive impact on both themselves and their students.

Cognitive Skills – Understanding Learning Challenges

The U.S. Department of Education, and others indicate that weak cognitive skills are the source of over 80% of learning problems.

In this course you’ll come to understand the answer: students approach each task with varying learning tools. These tools are called cognitive skills, and these skills determine the quality, speed, and ease with which individuals learn and perform.

This course provides methods for detecting students with weak cognitive skills and tools to strengthen those skills. Teachers will receive understanding, as well as ways to apply development techniques in the classroom. The online class is fun and interactive and includes information about new brain research and how it can impact today’s classrooms.

Curriculum Development

Traditional curriculum cannot always keep up with the challenges of the educational needs in today’s dynamic world. Hence, it is essential to redesign the curriculum. This course highlights the fact that each and every educator has the responsibility to contribute, even in small ways, to making a difference in the curriculum. The resources, examples and templates included, guide the teachers to plan, develop, integrate and evaluate curriculum more effectively. This information will empower teachers to implement novel ideas in curriculum development within their classrooms that will help students to face the challenges of the dynamic world around them with greater confidence. An effective curriculum will enable the students to become successful learners.

Differentiation for Gifted Learners in the Classroom

This course examines some of the challenges facing gifted learners and offers easily implemented accommodations and success strategies. By understanding the unique learning needs of children who are considered “gifted,” participants will indirectly meet the individual needs of all learners.

Through this course educators and parents can make greater sense of gifted and talented education by learning about identification, instruction and assessment of these students while exploring related topics, issues and resources geared towards our gifted population.

• Characteristics
• Personal, Social and Cognitive Needs
• Special Populations
• Practical Strategies

English Language Learners in the Classroom

Facilitate optimal learning in the classroom by helping English Language Learners feel validated. This online PD course includes various strategies and methods that teachers can adopt to help English learners effectively adapt to an English school and curriculum. Teachers are provided with a range of strategies and activities that lead to interactions which benefit the four language skill areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing.

An overview of the Sheltered Instruction (SI) model is presented along with ways to apply this model when teaching English Language Learners. The importance of working collaboratively and ensuring the involvement of parents to enhance learning is emphasized with corresponding strategies. Through a range of research based findings, teachers are equipped to engage students in “higher order thinking skills” and design a sufficiently challenging curriculum.

Ethics for Education Professionals

With the advent of the internet and smart phones, it’s easy for boundaries to become blurred. In the past it was rare for a student to call a teacher at home. Today, students and teachers are faced with numerous ways to contact one another 24/7. Things that in the past may have been black and white are now grey. Where do we draw the lines?

Even though most people believe that their actions are guided by logic and reason, we all have an innate ethical sense that urges us to make predictable choices. We each find words to create rationales that support our choices or decisions. However, ethics education is about recognizing the real power of our own innate ethical sense and how it influences our behaviors.

We build our ethical sense on beliefs that we already bring with us. This is why ethics is about individual’s personal choices. When we recognize and intuitively understand that ethics must be measured on a case-by-case basis, this type of ethical relationship can become a powerfully positive starting point for both educators and students. We must commit to broadening our understanding of ethical issues while at the same time seek to better understand the ideas of others.

Step inside this course and discover through reflection and introspection, an understanding of one’s innate ethical self. You’ll find tools and tips for bringing high standards of ethics into our schools and a variety of topics to explore practical ways to address ethical decisions in our lives at every stage.

Examining and Evaluating Student Work

21st century students must have more than just textbook knowledge. Evaluating student learning goes beyond merely grading papers. Both schools and teachers need to intentionally move toward assessing students’ understanding, and then use this insight to enhance teaching and learning practices.

The wealth of resources and classroom examples provided here enable teachers to enhance existing evaluation practices. Calling for a shift in approach, the course lays out effective and dynamic methods by which teachers can assess student work. These help ensure that educational focus remains entirely on both teacher and student development. The course recommends expanding these best practices by “Examining Student Work” through a process of intentional reflection with other teachers. Through encouragement to engage with other teachers and learn from shared insights, teachers are equipped with useful resources to successfully implement this process.

Technology in the 21st Century Classroom

Technology has become an integral part of our life and learning patterns in the 21^st century. The internet, blogs and smart phones are some examples of tools that we use to grow in our knowledge and understanding. Using technology like this in the classroom requires more than knowing how to use the tool. Teachers need to understand the role of technology in the learning process, and the principles behind integrating it in a way that it promotes learning without it being a distraction.

This course teaches concepts and ideas behind using technology in the classroom. It also helps teachers to understand the various skills that students need to develop in order to use technology in the most effective way. It equips teachers to help students use technology intelligently and responsibly.

Language Acquisition

Delve into theories of the language acquisition process, and uncover practical ways for teachers to help English language learners understand lesson content. Through the strategies and information provided in this course, teachers are equipped to meet students at their specific stage of language learning and create aligned activities thus helping students achieve higher levels of linguistic fluency. The techniques presented cover the acquisition and mastery of literacy skills for students including reading, writing and dialogue, as well as understanding and supporting English Language Learners at a deeper level.

Introduction to Autism

Most people today know someone with autism. People on the autism spectrum are in our classes, our neighborhoods and our families. Whether you know a little or a lot about autism, this course will give you useful information about the autism spectrum.

Although everyone on the autism spectrum is an individual, this course outlines a constellation of developmental differences common in autism that lead to the key concerns of social and communication issues.

A person with autism experiences the world in a different way. They think and remember events differently. They react and communicate differently. By understanding the how and why of these differences, you can become one who gains insight.

Understanding some of the different issues people with autism must face can help us to be more understanding and improve our interactions. By understanding how students with autism function, we can make more informed choices in education and care and, maybe most importantly, we can assess our own automatic hard-wired responses that might occur when someone is truly different.

By understanding the underlying components of developmental differences in those on the spectrum, teachers, parents and others can reframe their own preconceived expectations and help support the learning and behavior for those with autism. Learn to more clearly understand the world from the perspective of someone with autism.

Internet Safety: Protecting Children in an Online World

Issues that the youth of today, parents, teachers and those who are part of their world face online is the essence of this content. Participants discover areas of the Internet used by youth, what kinds of threats exist on the Internet and how everyone can protect their loved ones, family members, students and those under their care or responsibility. A special focus of the course includes ways in which adults can protect themselves online.

• Social networks
• Instant messaging & texting
• Chat rooms
• Gaming & virtual worlds
• Vulnerabilities of Children Online
• Cyberbullying
• Online predators
• Tips & tools for protecting children online
• And more…

Integrating Standards in Teaching

We’re told that a standards-based curriculum is supposed to increase student learning and promote higher student achievement, but what is it really all about? This course helps educators untangle what turns out to be the not-so-mysterious-language of today’s teaching and learning, and put successful strategies into practice.

Inquiry-based Learning

Preparing teachers for 21st century students requires a close look at what it means to teach and learn in increasingly networked, technology-rich, digital classrooms. Schools and teachers need to thoughtfully and intentionally design learning environments and tasks in which teachers explore issues that are relevant while developing pedagogies that are effective for a knowledge era. Utilizing new images and acquiring new expertise facilitates meaningful learning with technology. The Inquiry-based Learning (IBL) approach provides a platform for holistic education.

This course offers a framework for teachers to plan lessons that promote Inquiry-based Learning (IBL). Starting with explaining a need for such a shift in education, the course shows how an IBL classroom works. Through multiple classroom examples, teachers are able to understand what specific and new roles they play and how to encourage student initiative, while ensuring that the focus remains on productive matters.

The Inquiry-based Learning course details some models that teachers can adapt to meet specific needs of their class, as well as to monitor and enhance the learning of their students. Teachers learn practical and dynamic ways of evaluating their students’ progress while also incorporating technology for better results.

IEPs: Documentation and Implementation for Teachers

The goal of this course is to help teachers understand the IEP process and build the teachers comfort level in developing, aligning with and carrying out the IEP through rich examples and templates to help teachers understand and practically use the recommended strategies in a classroom setting.

This course helps teachers provide children who have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) with an appropriate education in the least restrictive environment. It is designed to educate the educators on the various regulations and requirements while helping to develop a team that works together to improve educational results for children with special needs. Teachers will examine various supports and services a student with special needs may receive for instruction and testing.

Guided Reading

Guided reading proves to be one of the most effective tools, not only to improve a student’s fundamental reading skills, but also to develop high level comprehension skills. The teacher’s role in guided reading is to provide support, but the ultimate goal is independent reading of a variety of texts with ease and deeper understanding.

Guided reading is presented as an instructional approach to create independent readers and thinkers through strategies that can ensure success such as selecting appropriate text, reflecting, recapping, self-monitoring, analyzing the text, involving parents and more. Teachers will learn how to implement a guided reading program, adapting it to the needs of various kinds of learners and across different subjects, such as math, science and history. Teachers are provided with resources and activities to engage students as well as tips and management strategies to best use space, resources, materials and technology in a manner that students are propelled to greater proficiency.

Partnering with Parents

Many parents need motivation and support to help them partner with the teacher. In our profession as teachers, we must partner with the parents of our students. The “dream parents” are cooperative, freely volunteer and carry on the learning process at home. However, many parents need motivation and support to help them partner with the teacher.

In this course, you will learn about various personalities and come away with an understanding of why parents think the way that they do. You will also discover strategies that you can use in a number of common challenging situations teachers face while working with parents. Finally, learn more about planning and organizing activities in your school.

This course will help you enhance your professional interaction and communication skills as well as help you build lasting relationships with the parents of your students

Transformative Classroom Management

What makes a teacher successful in one school is the same thing that makes a teacher successful in the next school. It is true that all students are unique and group dynamics, cultural backgrounds, and experiences vary — sometimes dramatically. But for the most part, sound ideas get positive results and unsound ideas get mixed results at best.

Not all ideas sold in the marketplace of classroom management strategies lead to desirable results. In fact, many of the most popular ideas result in more harm than good. For that reason, parts of this course are devoted to explaining why many of the most popular ideas in use today are flawed, and what to do instead.

This course is a synthesis of what’s effective in the area of classroom management. It builds on extensive time, real experiences of teachers, observations of hundreds of classrooms, research and the best ideas put into successful practice.

Project Management for Students through Project-based Learning

Project management encompasses a range of skills that are highly prized in the world today and include – research, collaboration, communication, leadership, problem-solving and cooperation. For the education system to truly fulfill its purpose of preparing students for a world that requires a mastery of such skills, teachers must be able to find ways to integrate project management training into their classrooms without disrupting the curricular learning. Keeping in view the challenges this poses, teachers are presented with project-based learning, as a means to successfully develop students’ needed skills, while simultaneously keeping the focus on topics within the curriculum. The integration of projects into classroom teaching is based on the finding that, often the best way students learn is by doing. Teachers are provided with a range of examples and strategies, along with an in-depth view into the effective use of projects, and understanding of how they can influence student growth at every stage.

Reading Across the Curriculum

This interactive course is one option for K-12 teachers across the curriculum spectrum to demonstrate evidence of reading instruction techniques. Based on research, Reading Across the Curriculum introduces all teachers to sound reading instructional practices.

• Research
• Reading Range
• Meaningful Reading
• Strategies for Reaching All Students
• Includes Resources
• Reinforcement Activities

Reading through Technology in the Classroom

Reading is an essential skill that is central to education. In today’s classroom, students use and access information from a variety of sources, not just books. The skills of evaluating content, collaboration and peer-review become an important part of reading.

This course introduces creative strategies for reading instruction that incorporate technology. It introduces teachers to recent advances in technology and to devices and techniques which can be used to enhance reading in the classroom. The course incorporates activities, strategies, and templates teachers can use in order to enhance students’ reading skills using technology.

Recognizing & Preventing Child Abuse

This course empowers each of us with the ability to recognize types, signs, characteristics, scenarios, and in general, indicators of suspected child abuse. We know this is a difficult subject to discuss. For that reason, we think you will find this course to be respectful of the topic while giving a solid foundation in understanding the key information about child abuse.

• What is Child Abuse
• Physical Abuse
• Sexual Abuse
• Neglect
• Emotional Abuse
• Safe Environment Practices
• Reporting & Resources

Standards Based Instruction through STEM

STEM integration doesn’t need a huge budget, lots of technology, or a ready-to-use curriculum. It’s something any teacher, any school and any classroom can integrate. This course teachers you how.

We understand that no one knows your students better than you. Therefore, this course is designed to equip and encourage you to integrate STEM education into your classrooms in ways that you think are most suitable for your students. You will learn how to plan your classroom set-up keeping in mind the needs of your students. You will also become confident to design your own STEM curriculum, while integrating the standards, including the Common Core Standards.

STEM education is not just about doing what’s “cool” and “in.” It is essential in today’s world that our students learn to apply what they learn in real life situations and across different subjects. The STEM model helps prepare our students for the 21st century.

Teaching English Language Learners

Any K-12 teacher, administrator, or support staff member who would like to help English Language Learners do well in school will find this course to be both informative and useful. The focus includes how to make ELLs and their families feel more welcome while generating academic successes through empowerment.

Participants will improve cross-cultural skills and examine cultural influences on school practices, and come away with greater insight into how second languages are acquired. They will also discover teaching methods and educational strategies for today’s diverse mainstream classroom that are considered best practice for reaching and teaching all learners. Included are highlighted practical tips and activities that can be put to use right away.

Understanding ADHD

Have you ever come across a child who’s always on the move? They might have had ADHD. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity disorder or ADHD is seen commonly in today’s classroom. Children with this condition are restless, find it difficult to sit, are very impulsive and have a very short attention span. On the other hand they are also very intelligent and creative.

These energetic students can often disrupt a classroom. Thus, it becomes even more important for teachers to understand what this condition is all about and learn strategies to teach a child with ADHD.

This course does just that for you. It provides a variety of tips, adaptations and strategies that you can use while working in the classroom. You will learn about classroom modifications and adaptations that will help maintain order in the classroom. You will also discover methods for communicating more clearly with special educators and parents about their children. This course helps teachers gain confidence in not only handling ADHD, but also other students who are energetic, hyperactive or have difficulty paying attention.