Mary Ann Johnson

The pandemic has had a significant impact on our educational structure, going from a brick-and-mortar classroom to teach with a drive toward digitization through creating virtual classrooms. Educators were required to adopt a new educational model of teaching and adapt to it quickly, thus creating a new normal, a combination of virtual, hybrid, and brick-and-mortar classrooms. In this exciting course, you will learn from experienced teachers who have developed techniques for coping with the new normal.

With 2020 behind us, we are still faced with the issues of how best to connect, engage, and support our students as we continue to deal with the Pandemic.  In this course, we have gathered together teachers on the front line who make a difference.  Join us as we begin another ten (10) valuable 1-hour sessions on Teaching Tips to assist you in your virtual, hybrid, and brick-and-mortar classroom. 

This course is appropriate for teachers K-12.

Course dates and times:
April 5th – 16th, 2021
One Hour Session each weekday (Monday – Friday)
Starting at 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. (PST)

The pandemic and racial injustice are amazing opportunities for teachers. If we are all to rise together to navigate our global crises, the new generation needs us to provide a new kind of learning. Young people need to understand how their behavior affects the behavior of viruses, influences the climate, and how their lives affect others whose life experience is different from their own. They need to know what they stand for and be ready to act for a greater good. These are challenging new capacities. To develop them, our students need a kind of learning that begins with understanding themselves more fully than has been common in school. 

Without passion and a sense of purpose our youth are finding themselves adrift. Both in life and in school they are falling short of their potential and susceptible to drugs, alcohol and under performance. A proven system, "Natural High," engages grade 4-12 students with what is important. You will review video stories of successful adults. The storytelling is followed by curriculum that guides discussion, provides worksheets and activities that take students deeper into the subject.

Trauma and loss are constant companions for many children today. Whether from divorce, death of a loved one, abandonment, abuse, rejection, or another difficult scenario, educators benefit by understanding the impact of these losses. Strategies to help the grieving child and interventions to  assist their academic progress will be provided. Appropriate for P-12 including administrators, counselors, and other support service individuals.

Most lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) students do not feel safe in school. This course is designed to open up communication lines by sharing techniques and strategies to build safety within effective learning environments for students of all genders and sexual orientations. K-12 students will develop advocacy skills that will be reflected in their confidence and in their ability to thrive at school.

In an era of social polarization and political gridlock grade 6-12 students need the skills to respectfully tackle critical, contemporary issues. Finding common ground forms the foundation of citizenship. Educators taking this course will be encouraged to engage their students on a multitude of issues by examining a subject from varying views. The text grapples with conflicting views of unresolved social issues such as gun control, marriage equality, Black Lives Matter, and immigration.

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.”

Why do some children succeed while others fail? Have you experienced burnout with certain students and are not sure where to turn? Let’s turn this around. When students believe that dedication and hard work can change their performance in school, they grow to become resilient, successful students. Mindsets in the Classroom provides educators with ideas and strategies to build and maintain a growth mindset culture. The focus is on how persistence, hard work and grit can change students’ school performance. All teachers are looking for tools that will ignite a love of learning while communicating that every student can succeed. Do you want to find out how to capture and identify that mindset? Are you ready to create successful and resilient learners? Are you interested in learning the new research on IQ and brain plasticity in order to motivate and engage all students? Then join me for this exciting and transformative course. I recommend this course to any teacher, student, administrator, parent or professional developer who is looking to up their game.

What does a Standard’s Based Curriculum look like in the physical education classroom? This course was designed to assist K-12 educators to understand, develop and create their standards-based curriculum.

After exploring the definition and purpose of a standards-based curriculum, this course will begin designing a standards-based PE curriculum by developing goals based on sound philosophy and reflecting a teacher’s own beliefs and values.