TEACHING THROUGH CURIOSITY: Bridging Divides in Education

We are facing an epidemic-a life threatening, brain-paralyzing, heart-destroying disease known as the ‘doing disease,’ as described by Bec Heinrich. This relentless drive to keep moving, achieving, and fearing stillness is taking a toll on our well-being. In this course, Toxic Productivity Mindset, you will explore brain science and data-driven studies, along with personal anecdotes, to uncover the reasons behind why doing enough is never enough. If you find yourself overcommitted, compulsively overachieving, and constantly exhausted, join me to delve into why pursuing productivity at the expense of your physical, emotional, and mental health is detrimental. This course will help you identify deep-seated beliefs about overwork and provide actionable strategies for both your personal life and classroom.

Are you ready to take your social studies lesson to the next level? Revitalize and recreate social studies for today’s students. Bring social studies alive by integrating culture, history, economics, civics, and geography while discussing current events and high interest topics. Find out what you can do with maps, cultural exploration, and STEM through the social studies lens. 

Cyberbullying affects everyone from children to adults. Anyone who uses the internet could become a victim of online harassment. This course will explore the roots of the problem with cyberbullying and examine solutions on how to handle cyberbullying when it happens. The course includes multiple activities that can be used with children in a classroom or homeschool setting. 

This course is designed to empower teachers with strategies for leveraging language functions to enhance content instruction in the mainstream classroom. It emphasizes the idea that language is a crucial tool for learning and understanding academic subjects, and through this course, teachers can learn to effectively integrate language functions into their teaching practices to support student success.

According to the Dyslexia Center of Utah, one in five students, or 15-20% of the population, has a language-based learning disability. Dyslexia is the most common of language-based learning disabilities.

This course will introduce you to some practical ways you can help your struggling readers become proficient readers!

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.

It’s harder than ever to know where the truth can be found today in public media. Since the 2016 presidential election in the United States, both the political as well as social polarization in America has sunk to new lows. While this reflects historic social, political and ideational differences, the widening gulf in media reporting, including fake news, is a main contributor to the breakdown in finding the “truth” as bias pushes narratives on different sides further apart, each side claiming fact-based truth.  Common ground and bipartisanship is all but lost. In this course for secondary teachers we will explore fake news and bias in all media platforms and its effects on public attitudes and actions. Participants will develop the tools, skills, and strategies to help students be able to break through the barriers of disinformation to find the truth within the agendas being pushed by governmental, and outside powers of influence. Our text, Fact vs. Fiction: Teaching Critical Thinking Skills in the Age of Fake News, is $24 on amazon.

Generation Z comprises students born since 1995 into a digital world made up of the Internet and cell phones. They are enmeshed in social media and criticized for lacking social skills. However, they are the future and we need to teach them in a manner that will lead to their success. To do that, learn how to best meet the unique needs of Generation Z and how to engage them in the K-12 classroom. Learn about what they think, where they are going and how they may change the world.

How often do we get to simply read for pleasure and inspiration in ways that enrich our lives and our work?  In this course you will choose from a wide range of reading  that suit your personal and professional needs.  You will also reflect on the importance of engaging your students in productive reading.

Teenagers are both incredibly delightful and occasionally frustrating. While that may not be news to you, why teenagers behave the way they do is, indeed, news to many of us. Recent research has helped create a significant body of study and literature that explains the developmental phases our teens go through. Based on recent research on the teen brain, this course helps you navigate the labyrinth of emotions, developmental differences, and entertainment we often call “the teenage brain.”