MINDSET: The New Psychology Of Success

Social Media and our students - it connects them, yet also divides them. Many questions surround the use of social media in terms of our students:

• How much time on social media is too much?
• What are the effects of social media on students – their brain development, identity, possible addiction, and well-being? 
• Is there a positive side to social media in terms of student use?
• How can we keep our students safe from the negatives of social media, such as cyber-bullying?
• What advice can we share with our students and their parents to make the most of social media?

This class will delve into these questions (and more). You will learned about the positives and negatives about social media, form your own answers to some of these questions, and come away with ways to advise students and parents about the best way to use social media and the best ways to safe safe on social media.

Research shows that approximately 25%, 1 in 4 students, experience or witness a major traumatic event by four years old (Hydon et al., 2015). In order to reach and support all students, we must approach everything we do through a trauma-informed lens.

Propel student learning by using play-based STEM lessons to create an inquiry-based science classroom environment. Implement lessons which include magnets, gears, whiffle balls, a tin can band, simple machines, plants, funnels, sensory tubs, paint, and more to meet preschool and early childhood science standards! Life science, physical science, earth science, and space science will all be covered in the easy to use, engaging, and teacher friendly text.

When instruction moves online teachers need to prepare a digital space for learning, just like the physical classroom.  Designing online math instruction requires a blended approach of synchronous and asynchronous instruction coupled with distance learning activities to support exploration of concepts and development of procedural skills.  Technology tools to build students’ efficacy in math must be developmentally appropriate and aligned with student’s ability and interest.  This means online instruction must be highly personalized and accessible to all learners.   Delivering digital math instruction can be powerful with virtual manipulatives at your fingertips for teachers to model and students to demonstrate.

Develop hand-on project-based curriculum learning Digital Photography lessons using smartphones, tablets and apps that foster growth mindset and infuse your classroom with enjoyment, playfulness, and active learning.

Ignite and unlock every student’s creative potential by accessing daily device students already know and possess, smart phones, and tablets.

With the use of the downloaded text and resources participants will develop an understanding and learn basic photography principals, techniques, and the use of simple, yet powerful, Free editing apps.

Through self-regulation, students of all ages can take charge of their effect and behavior towards their learning. Teaching kids to control themselves involves providing skills and strategies for students to be able to engage in their learning; knowing when and how to take a break, how they feel and think about each activity, and be able to be confident with assignments that they take home. In the assigned text, Dr. Richard Cash has compiled research-based theories and strategies that can easily be implemented in your K-12 classroom. Supporting videos and articles will enable you and your school to be able to foster a culture of self-regulated learners in your classroom.

Who could imagine that by being fully present the nature of our mind and life could improve so noticeably? You see, there is only this present moment. The past is gone and the future has not yet come. Being led around by an undisciplined mind, we are trapped in thoughts, old emotions, outmoded biases and wrong attitudes, all of which cause stress, fatigue, conflict and suffering over which we have seemingly little control.  Participants in this course will appreciate and benefit greatly from Jon Kabat Zinn’s ground-breaking book, Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Daily Life, a best-seller that made mindfulness a household word. Through the reading accompanied by videos you will learn: 

• Various forms of meditation using the breath, including different postures (sitting, walking, lying down) 
• To use nature as an object of meditation, such as a mountain, lake tree or favorite area in your garden
• How to deal with common difficulties in meditation
• How to monitor and cultivate healthy attitudes and let go of unworkable ones
• The benefits and techniques of loving-kindness meditation
• Ways to bring mindful practices to your work with students  

Think of a lesson that you currently teach – perhaps it’s fractions, structuring complex sentences, Spanish, healthy eating, anything…..  Imagine having students learn the basics of the lesson at home – with video or animation that they can re-watch as many times as necessary until they grasp the concepts. Then classroom time can be spent expanding the lesson and digging deeper into the concept, or helping students in the specific areas where they need help to master the lesson, or complete what was once called “homework.” This is how flipping works – either a lesson or an entire curriculum – and is taking the K-12 world by storm.

Flipping offers numerous benefits for students and teachers – it allows students to learn at their own pace, helps solve the issues of incomplete homework and absent students, helps teachers work with students alone/pairs/groups to meet the many differing needs of our students, allows the classroom time to be used for exploring concepts deeper and more fully.

In this course you will learn:

• The benefits of flipping
• How to flip a lesson, and make it easy by doing one lesson at a time
• How flipping positively affects student achievement
• how to flip when students do not have access to technology at home
• What the flipped lesson/classroom looks like.

Here’s a 3-minute video on the flipped classroom ~ enjoy!

(On a personal note - I was very reluctant to flip my math class and now will not go back to traditional teaching – this is why I am offering this course. I have seen so much improvement with my students’ knowledge and assessment scores that it amazes me.) Used text on Amazon costs about $8. This class is appropriate for teachers of all levels, K-12.

Many students lack the social and emotional skills that lead to success in work, community, and family life. Infusing Social Emotional Learning (SEL) practices is about how you teach what you teach and not something added on to the required curriculum. Through videos, articles, and our text by Dr. Bobbi Hansen (The Heart & Science of Teaching: Transformative Applications that Integrate Academic and Social-Emotional Learning)  participants in this course will cover:

• What does SEL encompass and why is it important
• What various SEL classrooms can look like
• Creating an emotionally safe environment
• Resolving student conflicts using peer mediation
• How to tap student assets
• Content accommodations for special needs
• Cooperative and collaborative learning
• Fostering community and world connections through service learning
• Nurturing students to become self-directed learners
• Cognitive and emotional engagement through projects 

Contributing to positive school culture and climate benefits all educators PP-K-12th grade. Especially administrators, professional learning communities (PLCs), grade levels, collaboration, book study groups, and or individuals that would like to explore stories from the trenches that we can all laugh about. This course is an excellent way to excite collaboration within any group grade level, professional learning community, staff-wide book study, or taken for self-enrichment.