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Online Professional Development

The Homewood School District 153 Online Professional Development Committee has approved two different professional development platforms,  Ed Leaders Network and Microsoft Education.  Both require staff to login using a username/password.  Below is a list of approved online professional development courses.  If you have any questions please email [email protected]. 
 
EdLeaders Network

To access EdLeaders Network, click on the course name.  After logging in, please use the search feature within the platform to locate the professional development course.  Once the course is completed a Completion Survey will be provided and your Evidence of Completion Form will be emailed directly to you.  Please keep the form for your own records.

Classroom Control and Discipline

6 PD Units - This course will cover six sections related to classroom control and discipline - Rules, Procedures, Consequences, Room Arrangements, Building Relationships and Engaging Instruction.

 

Creating a Valid and Reliable Assessment
2 PD Units - This course covers best practice in classroom assessment design, creation, and modification of assessments while exploring three phases: Planning for the assessment, designing the assessment, and post-assessment.  

 

Cyberbullying: 21st Century Problems and Solutions 

2 PD Units - Electronic harassment is a problem for students of all ages, and educators often need guidance related to when and how an appropriate intervention should occur. 

 

Diverse Learners and Differentiating Instruction  

6 PD Units - This course covers five sections and gives tips on: 1) Differentiation, 2) Cultural and Linguistic, 3) Special Education, 4) Gifted Learners, and 5) Collaborating with Educational Professionals. 

 

Effective Conversations 

3 PD Units - The participants in this course will interpret how conversations, emotions, motivations, and perceptions with staff will create an environment that can either raise them to higher levels of achievement or push them down. 

 

Introduction to Assessment Literacy 

3 PD Units - The National Council on Measurement in Education, American Federation of Teachers, and National Education Association collaboratively developed the Standards for Teacher Competence in Educational Assessment of Students. This course you will help you learn strategies that will support you and your colleagues to meet these standards.  

 

Leading Teaching and Learning: Effective Classroom Discussions  

3 PD Units - This course strengthens a school leader’s ability to analyze and evaluate effective classroom discussions and discussion techniques used to facilitate a collaborative classroom culture. Participants will develop the knowledge and skills to lead and support high-quality discourse necessary in teaching and learning excellence. 

 

Leading Teaching and Learning: Highly Effective Instruction
2 PD Units - This course supports school leaders’ understanding and recognition of the instructional shifts present in highly effective classrooms. 

 

Parent Communication 

2 PD Units - This course will cover four sections Academic Achievement, Positive Parental Engagement, Teacher Preparation and Teacher to Parent Communication. It will provide educators with strategies that can be used to promote home and community support. 

 

Restorative Practices - Academic Circles

4 PD Units - This course will demonstrate elementary, middle, and high school students and teachers implementing academic circles. These circles (meetings) may be used for content delivery, problem-solving with feedback for the students to the teacher. 

 

Teaching Strategies and Practices

6 PD Units - This course will provide educators with practical classroom instructional strategies, tools, and ideas. 

 

Time Management for Teachers

4 PD Units - This course introduces the participant to techniques that help with personal organization of schedules, setting of priorities, and carrying out goals related to teaching. 

 

Understanding Adverse Childhood Experiences

2 PD Units - This course introduces educators to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).

 

Unmotivated Students 

2 PD Units - This course will provide educators with practical classroom instructional strategies, tools, and ideas. 

 
 
Microsoft Education

To access Microsoft Education, please click on the course name.  After completing the online course please email your course completion certificate to [email protected].  Once your request is processed, you will then receive an email containing the course survey.   After the completion of the course survey, you will have access to your Evidence of Completion Form.  Please keep the form for your own records.

1 PD Unit - Microsoft's mission is to empower all people and all organizations to achieve more.  The classroom is no different.  Microsoft Windows and Windows-based applications like office, together with other assistive technologies, offer features that make computers easier to use for everyone - giving teachers the opportunity to provide personalized learning, and students an improved experiences and equal opportunity in the classroom. 
 
1 PD Unit - This course is designed for all educators from all subject areas who would like to know more about computational thinking and how it can be applied within cross-curricular educational settings.
 
.5 PD Unit - In the 21st century, the use of technology and being online are a way of life. That is why, being good digital citizens and coaching students to model good digital citizenship and safe online behavior takes on greater importance.
 
1 PD Unit - Participants will learn how to create a Grid, Topics, and share with students. Participants will discover ways to use Flipgrid within their learning communities. 
 
1 PD Unit - Digital technologies are now ubiquitous in the home, in school, in the workplace. It is easy to take this for granted... but can we make available and emerging technology work harder for us?  Young people adapt well to changing environments and demands when it comes to social media, gaming and streaming media content: but they need more.  This unit attempts to set the scene for your education setting's development of digital literacy, whatever your starting point. 
 
1 PD Unit - This introductory course will get you started using Microsoft Forms. With Microsoft Forms, you can create surveys, quizzes, and polls, and easily see results as they come in. When you create a quiz or survey, you can invite others to respond to it using any web browser, even on mobile devices. As results are submitted, you can use built-in analytics to evaluate responses. Form data, such as quiz results, can be easily exported to Excel for additional analysis or grading.
 
1 PD Unit - OneNote Class Notebook provides a platform for teachers to prepare instructional materials and collaborate with students in an organized manner. In this training, participants create a Class Notebook and begin building instructional content they can use with their students. 
 
1.5 PD Unit - Problem-based learning (PBL) has become an integral part of the 21st century classroom. When students are faced with solving ill-structured, open-ended, messy problems, they are pushed to think more critically and work collaboratively. Many Microsoft tools help support problem-based learning. This course has been developed to help you understand what PBL is and how to plan and implement a problem-based learning experience in your classroom.
 
1 PD Unit - Successful writers are not born. They learn by doing. They develop, practice, reflect. They receive feedback and grow. Therefore, teaching students the writing process is as important as the technical components of writing. The process helps students learn how to grow from a good writer to a great one. Because of the proliferation of digital and print, the need for effective communication is no longer confined to the humanities classes. Instead, to be college and career ready, it is important for students to be able to communicate clearly and persuasively with a variety of audiences and subjects. 
 
1 PD Unit - Games have always been a powerful way to amuse, to puzzle and tantalize, to tell stories, and to evoke powerful emotions. Now a growing body of research is finding that games can be a powerful way to stimulate engagement and play a significant role in experiential learning and reinforcement of content. 
 
1 PD Unit - Everyone should have access to all educational materials in your classroom. This course will provide information on the importance of creating accessible documents, creating new and revising old Word, OneNote and PowerPoint documents so they are accessible to everyone and Skype Translator and Office Lens as key tools for creating accessible content for all learners.
 
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