Classroom Management/Learning Environment

Motivating and Engaging 21st Century Adolescents: Grades 6-12 - No. 115

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.

Service Based Teaching: Preparing Students to Learn and Serve - Grades 6-12 - No. 136

Service based learning prepares students to learn by making meaningful connections to their community, taking civic responsibility and in solving real-world problems from the classroom. Participants will be introduced to resources that further service learning goals and move students from passive to active citizens through the use of partnership schools, universities, faith-based organizations and non-profits.
Course objectives:

• Plan for, and integrate, community action with instruction and student reflection.
• Develop SMART goals for a service learning action plan.
• Integrate student goals with development of a service learning plan for immediate classroom implementation.

No Bullying Allowed: Creating a Classroom of Tolerance: Grades K-12 - No. 137

The social and emotional dynamics that underlie bullying will be examined closely for solution and strategies that work into solutions. Specific to classrooms, participants will glean new strategies for dealing with bullying behavior and creating safe, nurturing classrooms in all content areas.

Course Objectives:

• Develop and apply awareness of, and understanding for, the social and emotional dynamics that underlie bullying behaviors.
• Develop new strategies for bullying prevention in their classrooms and schools.
• Import new anti-bullying strategies into lessons across all content areas.

Building Student Grit: Grades K-12 - No. 141

The building of student grit is counterpart to the rigor and academic success that results of it - particularly when preparing students for college and career readiness. This e-course will focus on approaches that build perseverance, character and grit through trial and error learning, reflection on failure, building of mental stamina and strategies for self-control. The catalysts to character development that build student capacity, and ultimately the grit needed to succeed in the classroom and beyond, will take front and center.

Course objectives:

• Understand the theory and research behind strength and stamina building as it works into academic rigor and grit.
• Learn and practice with new strategies for facilitating student stamina and academic rigor as it builds student capacity to become independent readers, writers and thinkers. 

Intermediate Grade Students in Collaborative Learning Environments - No. 110

Project based learning, scaffolding of activities, facilitating peer feedback, setting goals and benchmarks are all actions that teach students new concepts about model citizenship in collaborative learning environments. Teachers will learn the steps needed to teach social responsibility and civic action with in the scope of the intermediate classroom, in keeping with the five traits of good citizenship.
Course objectives:

• Scaffold activities that build into collaborative learning.
• Apply the five traits of good citizenship to planning curriculum and instruction for collaborative learning environments.
• Use the strategies that support effective language learning.

Classroom Management That Motivates and Inspires, Grades 6-12 - No. 108

The social-emotional learning that leads to academic success has strong links to character development. This e-course will analyze the research, theory and strategy behind effective classroom management as it feeds high student engagement and a motivated classroom.

Course objectives:

• Develop working knowledge of research-based theory and strategy for effective classroom management and high student engagement.
• Design and implement lesson plans with embedded cognitive and developmentally appropriate strategy that nurtures social and emotional learning.

Classroom Management That Motivates and Inspires: Grades K-12 - No. 158

The social-emotional learning that leads to academic success has strong links to character development. This e-course will analyze the research, theory and strategy behind effective classroom management as it feeds high student engagement and a motivated classroom.

Course Outcomes:

• Develop working knowledge of research-based theory and strategy for effective classroom management and high student engagement.
• Develop lesson plans that embed cognitive and developmentally appropriate strategy that nurtures social and emotional learning.

21st Century Strategies for Teaching Students with Behavior Challenges, Grades K-12

The challenges faced by some of our neediest children can be easily remedied through a combination of strategy, ingenuity and 21^st century technologies. Among the most challenging aspects of behavior occurs when learning becomes fraught with frustration. Harnessing strategies consistent with how students think, work, and use technologies can level the playing field in classrooms with diverse learners. E-readers, handheld devices, smartboard technology, Internet-based applications and other assistive technologies can assist in a range of ways from the highly gifted, to the struggling learners preventing or eradicating those behaviors that manifest into deeper learning challenges.

Course Objectives:

• Develop working familiarity with strategies and technologies that assist in teaching exceptional children and young adults.
• Develop facility and utility with strategies, tools and technologies through planning and use in teaching exceptional children and young adults.
• Work new strategy and resources into lessons and unit plans to begin implementation of a 21st century curriculum geared to teaching students challenged with behavioral issues.

Organizing and Maintaining Successful Classroom Environments, Grades K-6 - No. SP-202

Course Descriptor and Outcomes

Research-Based Practices for Effective Classroom Behavior Management, Grades K-5 - No. 232

Research-based practices are those that have been legitimized by virtue of having been field-tested.  Using sound and approaches that help us understand the learning styles of our students in order to better meet their needs in our classrooms, participants will learn to scaffold strategy with increased intensity using best classroom practices. Engaging our students is the beginning to opening up the gateway to learning. Participants will learn and practice with learning style theories, engaging 21^st century approaches, and crafting activities around performance tasks that tap into students’ interests.  From maximizing structure, to development of predictable routines, learning in natural contexts, observing students and using anecdotal data to inform instruction with, participants will learn how to find, use, and fully develop research-based practices in order to effectively engage positive classroom behaviors that lead to high student engagement and academic achievement.

Course Objectives:

• Apply age and grade-appropriate research-based strategy to evaluate students and use this data to plan and/or modify instruction with.
• Analyze and play with various age and grade-appropriate behavior management theories as they align the needs of exceptional learners.
• Align behavioral theory with learning theory to craft effective lessons that engage positive student behavior. 
• Learn and apply, through planning and job-embedded action, specific and measurable behavioral management goals and strategies as they align with identified student learning objectives.

Research-Based Practices for Effective Classroom Behavior Management, Grades 6-12 - No. 233

Research-based practices are those that have been legitimized by virtue of having been field-tested.  Using sound and approaches that help us understand the learning styles of our students in order to better meet their needs in our classrooms, participants will learn to scaffold strategy with increased intensity using best classroom practices. Engaging our students is the beginning to opening up the gateway to learning. Participants will learn and practice with learning style theories, engaging 21^st century approaches, and crafting activities around performance tasks that tap into students’ interests.  From maximizing structure, to development of predictable routines, learning in natural contexts, observing students and using anecdotal data to inform instruction with, participants will learn how to find, use, and fully develop research-based practices in order to effectively engage positive classroom behaviors that lead to high student engagement and academic achievement.

Course Objectives:

• Learn and apply age and grade-appropriate research-based strategy to evaluate students and use this data to plan and/or modify instruction with.
• Analyze various age and grade-appropriate behavior management theories as they align the needs of exceptional learners.
• Identify and align behavioral theory with learning theory to craft effective lessons that engage positive student behavior. 
• Apply, through planning and job-embedded action, specific and measurable behavioral management goals and strategies as they align with identified student learning objectives.

No Bullying Allowed: Creating a Classroom of Tolerance: Grades K-12 - No. SP-137

The social and emotional dynamics that underlie bullying will be examined closely for solution and strategies that work into solutions. Specific to classrooms, participants will glean new strategies for dealing with bullying behavior and creating safe, nurturing classrooms in all content areas.

Course Objectives:

• Develop and apply awareness of, and understanding for, the social and emotional dynamics that underlie bullying behaviors.
• Develop new strategies for bullying prevention in their classrooms and schools.
• Import new anti-bullying strategies into lessons across all content areas.

Classroom Management That Cultivates Respect and Rapport: Grades K-12 - No. 300

This e-course, based on Danielson’s Domain 2a: Creating an environment of respect and rapport, will delve into the rules for appropriately handling delicate teacher-student situations in the classroom by understanding how to diffuse conflict through the six steps to problem solving. Participants will come to understand and appreciate the systemic nature of negotiation by examining common classroom scenarios, common teacher-student interactions, and practicing with appropriate teacher-to-student interaction protocols that lead to genuine respect and trust while building rapport in the classroom. As participants read and view examples of appropriate interactions, they will integrate the rationale behind the art of negotiation reinforced through effective classroom management. Participants will learn how to teach students the same appropriate discussion protocols through the power of example, by using them with each other, and self-rating for effective use through a communications rubric in order to realize and understand the classroom potential in turning behavior around.  Control of the classroom conditions, the use of communication protocols, viewing and reading classroom examples that facilitate student respect and further student accountability for learning without using force will be the critical drivers of this course.

Course Outcomes:

• Practice with appropriate teacher-student and student-student interactions that lead to genuine respect and trust, reinforced through classroom environment and recognition of cultural diversity.
• Plan for instruction by embedding newly learned strategies that facilitate classroom respect and rapport with awareness and consideration of cultural diversity.
• Demonstrate and communicate warmth, sensitivity, and caring for all students at all levels of their development, and reinforce these behaviors through a classroom environment that accommodates respect and rapport.
• Demonstrate mastery of appropriate discussion protocols, and embed these protocols and strategies into lessons to teach and reflect on their use in course discussion forums.
• Use appropriate discussion protocols with students to demonstrate their use among peers, and facilitate this use in appropriate learning instances.
• Embed relevant content into lessons that help students develop genuine respect, appreciation for content, and take ownership of their own learning.