Chant Thomas

An unacceptable and tragic reality is that somewhere between 200,000 to 300,000 children sit in American classrooms and will be trafficked for labor or sex every year. Because of mandatory school attendance, educators are in a front-line position to identify and intervene in the lives of youth that are most at risk of being exploited. Participants in this course will learn about the scope and devastating effects of this exploitation, how to identify vulnerable students and intervene effectively. 

In the original Google Classroom course, we were introduced to the basic features of Google Classroom and put them to use with students. In the second Google Classroom course, we took our practices to the next level by building a simple website, upping our communication with parents/guardians, and rocking some rubrics. In this course, we will explore features that are desperately needed in a Distance Learning environment. We will practice attaching and annotating PDF files, explore grading and returning question answers, attach videos we've made ourselves, as well as an individual assignment where you explore the EDU 90 series to find what works best for you.

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.

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.

Issues and traumas from childhood combined with current personal and professional stress can cause any of us to feel lost and disengaged with life. But we don’t have to stay that way. Celebrated life coach, Martha Beck lays out a clearly defined path to recover a vital sense of self using her text and journal titled Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming the Life You Were Meant to Live, the basis for this course.

This course meets OSPI’s STEM requirements

Learn how to incorporate great STEM lessons (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) into your K-8 classroom, and why STEM integration is important. You will also learn to use rich resources, creative activities and templates to enhance student learning and confidence. The popular movie "The Martian," provides a rich resource of STEM activities. Your students will discover the many occupations STEM learning translates into.  Fulfills OSPIs STEM requirements for Washington State teachers.

Class Culture is a mysterious mix with no recipe and yet it is the special sauce for a happy curriculum and student learning. Refresh yourself as you learn more about how to enhance a culture of thinking in your pre-K-12 learning environment. Review the 8 Familiar Forces that focus students on learning, as opposed to work, and build a supportive matrix with your colleagues while you do it. Text $16 at Amazon.

Why does one K-12 student get argumentative and another becomes withdrawn? What does it mean when a child makes negative comments about assignments? This course explores the motivation of these behaviors and helps you understand their function. You will increase motivation, reduce power struggles, encourage positive relationships while evaluating various stages of behavior, development, and interventions to support change.

This course meets OSPI's STEM requirements.

Supplement your in-class math instruction and homework with an amazing diversity of online math tutorials. Many educational websites are now aligned with the Common Core standards in math. Math tutorials are available covering addition, multiplication, calculus and beyond. Broken down into bite-sized mini-lessons these tutorials address specific concepts and skills.

K-12 educators may explore in this course a wide range of health subjects and curriculums that apply to your grade level and which cover physical, mental, emotional, and social dimensions of health. Learn more about First Aid, Bullying, Emotional Health, Sex Education and Goal Setting for a healthy life.

Understand and deal more effectively with a range of student disorders, such as Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Conduct Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Attachment Disorders, and Self Injurious Behaviors. You'll learn signs and recognition aspects as well as effective strategies for helping children to be successful at school.

The required text for this class is "How to Teach So Students Remember" by Marilee Sprenger.  This book is one of the top-rated and inspiring “how-to” guides showing the seven important strategies, and supporting research, that gives students the best possible chance to make meaning and remember what’s academically important.