B.A.K. to School

Building Rapport

Something that is often brushed over in education training, yet has an impact on student learning, is the rapport that an educator has with their students, staff, and colleagues. In countless surveys, students have reported that having rapport with a teacher/administrator can have a lasting effect on the students’ motivation to attend school, their interest in a subject area, and their trust in school leadership. This course will explore some of the methods that educators have used to build rapport with students/staff/colleagues.

​

Classroom Management Hacks

Classroom teachers often do not have time to devote to finding, evaluating, and implementing strategies to help make their classrooms/courses run efficiently. This course will point classroom teachers to some of many websites devoted to classroom “hacks” or ideas to help make teaching more efficient or manageable.

​

Classroom Transitions

*This course requires 2 weeks of classroom application

Whether it is using a warm-up to get students geared up for the lesson or ways to transition from one activity to the next or a way to wrap it all up and end the lesson or class period it is good to have options in your teaching toolbox. This course will present some tried and true transitions as well as some new and creative ways help your classroom run more efficiently!

​

Creative & Innovative Content Delivery

*This course requires 2 weeks of classroom application

Don't get stuck in your old ways and habits!  Learn new and innovative ways to deliver your content.  This course will help provide ideas, time and space to revamp your old presentations to help engage and invigorate your students interest in your content.

​

Cross Curricular Instruction

This course will provide examples, ideas, and a space to explore creative ways to integrate cross curricular instruction into your educational setting. Examples include a class called "Artometry" that utilizes geometry and art co-taught by a math and art teacher and "Math Construct" teaching math through construction co-taught by a math and career and tech teacher!

​

Culturally Responsive Instruction

Culturally Responsive Instruction is a course gives some background knowledge and information to help adapt your lessons or activities in your educational setting to meet the needs of any and all students. Student culture is key to learning. It plays a role not only in communicating and receiving information, but also in shaping the thinking process of groups and individuals. A pedagogy that acknowledges, responds to, and celebrates fundamental cultures offers full, equitable access to education for students from all cultures.

​

Digital Citizenship

The K-12 students are digital natives while many of their teachers are still just digital immigrants. The new digital arena comes with its own set of complications, cautionary tales, and teachable moments. This course  will provide some tools for teachers to help navigate the digital landscape and help guide students to become good digital citizens. 

​

Google for Education

Google Apps for Education is a set of tools for use in schools to make education more efficient for both the teacher and the student. This course is broken into three different sections (each section offered different months, sections CAN BE TAKEN independently of each other) and is designed to help the teacher become more comfortable with the tools. 
 

ED500: Google for Education (Docs, Sheets, & Slides)

Will focus on Google Docs, Google Sheets and Google Slides. This course will present some tips and tricks to make these three tools better meet the needs of the educational setting.
 

ED500: (Forms, Drawing, & Classroom)

Will focus on Google Forms, Google Drawings.  This course will present some tips and tricks to make these three tools better meet the needs of the educational setting.

​

(Chrome & Chromebooks)

Will focus on Google Classroom, Chromebooks, and the Chrome Browser. This course will present some tips and tricks to make these three tools better meet the needs of the educational setting.

​

Grant Writing

*This course requires 2 written grants

Every educator is very aware of the difficulties in funding. This course will guide you through the process of writing the grant request effectively.  At the end of this course you will have prepared two grants ready for submission.

​

Innovative Review Strategies

*This course requires 2 weeks of classroom application

This course is designed for you to create and try out new review strategies in your classroom. You will read and reflect on study strategies.  You will create and conduct review games for both the individual students and for classroom groups. 

​

Intervention Strategies

When quality instruction and differentiation do not meet the needs of all your students then interventions become a useful strategy. This course provides tips, tools, and practical application to support integrating intervention strategies into your educational setting.  There will also be some specific focus on integrating math and language arts intervention strategies into any subject area.

​

Keeping up with Drug Culture

Drugs are everywhere these days so stay on your game and know what you are looking for to keep your classroom safe.  This course is an overview of historical trends across the nation, the direct and indirect effects of drugs on our students, and what to look for so that we know just as much or more than our students.

​

Learning the Stories of English Language Learners (ELL)

*This course requires reading a book

Compassion and understanding are key to connecting and understanding students learning. In this course you will choose a biography from a list provided to read and reflect on various language barriers, cultural influences, and obstacles that ELL students face on a daily basis.

​

Motivating Students

*This course requires 2 weeks of classroom application
Has this ever happened to you? You have a student who is not a behavior problem, tires to fly under the radar, is not completing work, and has poor communication skills...this course is designed to refine your skill to work with these reluctant learners.

​

Movement in the Classroom

*This course requires 2 weeks of classroom application

It is not a newsflash that students need to move more to help the kinesthetic connection to learning content. This course will aim to provide the educator with some ideas for getting students up and moving!

​

Project Based Learning

This course is an introduction to project-based learning (PBL) as a student centered pedagogy. PBL utilizes a dynamic classroom approach in which it is believed that students acquire a deeper knowledge through active exploration of real-world challenges and problems. It is a style of active learning and inquiry-based learning. PBL contrasts with paper-based, rote memorization, or teacher-led instruction that presents established facts or portrays a smooth path to knowledge by instead posing questions, problems or scenarios.

​

Practicing Mindfulness

*This course requires 2 weeks of classroom application

Schools are now implementing mindfulness into their curriculum. This is an introductory course to give you a chance to try it out for yourself as well as for your classroom.

​

Restorative Practices

Restorative practices is a social science that studies how to improve and repair relationships between people and communities. The purpose is to build healthy communities, increase social capital, decrease crime and antisocial behavior, repair harm and restore relationships. This course will help educators reach new restorative goals.

​

Self-Care for the Educators

*This course requires 2 weeks of personal application

Often the educator is the one who takes care of everyone else in their lives and can forget to take care of themselves. This course will try to provide the educator with some tools to help make time for self-care. 

​

Social and Emotional Learning

Educators will explore the concepts of Social & Emotional Learning centered around the 5 elements of SEL; self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. The course will use case studies to explore the various facets of SEL and strategize learning techniques to accommodate students. 

​

The Science of Learning

Discover how our brain learns. Explore what hinders that learning and how to overcome student obstacles in the classroom.  Research a topic such as (exercise, physical environment, nutrition, and depression) and reflect to improve your individual teaching needs.

​

Trauma Informed Practices

Students show up with a variety of stories and baggage, some of which is impactful on their learning. This course will provide some insight into how trauma can manifest in a student's daily learning experiences, as well as some techniques to help the student manage, seek help and some resources that may be available. 

​

Understanding & Decoding Individual Education Programs

Understanding an IEP can be overwhelming. This course helps to break down IEPs and help understand what they mean and how to use them in an educational setting.

​

Using Digital Portfolios

Digital portfolios, or student journals, are a great way to help students keep their work organized and paperless. This course will guide you to create a digital portfolio through two different platforms so that you can explore what works best for you and your students needs (differentiating grade level and subject area).  By the end of this course you will have created two working digital portfolios to demonstrate and exhibit your mastery of this material.

​

Working with ADHA in Education

An estimated 6.1 million children in the United States have been diagnosed with ADHD. Millions more children with the disorder are surely left undiagnosed. Early intervention is so crucial for success down the road, at home and at school. This course helps give you the insight and tools to help support students.

​

Working with English Language Learners (ELL)

This course will help you learn and improve on your strategies to connect with ELL students.  You will learn how to identify students knowledge of the English language and provide classroom strategies to support your current lessons for individual ELL students.

​

​