Engagement

Instructor: Liz Brenner 3-in-service credits 45 hours Course Description: “Nearpod is an online tool that allows you to add interactive elements to your PowerPoint slides and pre-recorded lecture videos. You can design gamified learning resources for students to engage with at any time. Use Nearpod as a low-stakes formative assessment tool to offer students real-time feedback into their understanding of content. The tool works great for face-to-face, online, and hybrid classrooms.“ (Nearpod)

PDLI9070 (45 HOURS/3 GRADUATE CREDITS) ON-LINE Course Instructor:  Gayle Meinkes-Lumia – gaylelumia@yahoo.com Course Description  From the very moment that we enter the classroom, we create a definitive image of ourselves. First impressions are everything and encapsulate who we are and what students will glean from the course. Our body language, behavior, and diction are indicative of our teaching styles and our expectations of our learners. Educators are actors, putting on five shows a day, 900 shows a year, all which produce transformative learning from students.  Delving deeply into the students’ psyche and learning styles is tantamount for both educators and students today and provides everyone with the opportunity to enhance their learning and make personal connections between their own experiences and those of the curriculum. Successfully incorporating a wealth of social emotional resources as well as delving into the science of learning is crucial and invaluable. In the end, all aspects of learning will be covered. In this course, participants will learn everything there is to know about creating a successful environment that motivates students.  They will explore various resources such as articles, interviews, readings, differentiated learning sites, lesson plans, and links to literary sites.  They will research a variety of sources and decide which ones are engaging and fit into their curriculum.  In addition, teachers will gain student centered ideas, lessons that differentiate, challenging ways to motivate students, current research on pedagogy, various interdisciplinary websites and Socratic seminars and philosophical rounds that take literacy and learning to a new level!  Applicable all Educators and staff K-12.

Course Description: Different types of physical activity trends come in and out of popularity throughout time. Keeping student engagement high is important to student participation in physical education classes. In order to keep engagement high physical education teachers must be on top of the latest fitness and physical activity trends that are popular with our students. Backyard, Lawn and Beach Games are growing quickly in popularity with school age children so how as teachers can we incorporate these popular activities into our physical education curriculum? 

  3 Credits – In-Service Course (45 Hours) Instructor: Gayle Meinkes-Lumia – gaylelumia@yahoo.com Course Description: Keeping students engaged and invigorated in their learning is the task of all educators far and wide. Offering new and innovative material, deepening students’ skills, and involving them in the learning process are the optimum tools for success. In this course, participants will immerse themselves in the learning process- researching their audience, embracing their students’ worlds, altering their mindsets. They will receive a plethora of information on creating unique lessons, ones that traverse learners’ lives and transcend their mindsets. Boredom shall never occur again at the culmination of the course! **A must for K-12 educators in all disciplines

*New Course

Instructor:  Kim Kittredge  kkittredgeliips@gmail.com

3 Credits In Service Course (45 Hours)

Dates: Summer 2025 - August 4^th-8^th

Course Description:

The learning process takes a village.  It’s not just important to have the teachers, guidance and administrators on your side, but you must have a supportive family behind you.  This course will work with educators and their families to build important relationships. Educators will work on strategies that connect all students to learning and to the learning process. Teachers will be able to share the importance of learning, mindset, communication and more.  Educators will work on daily routines to build support with their students.  Practices will also be shared that can be brought home and worked on with your family.  By the end of this course, educators and families will realize how important it is to make and keep these positive connections for the sake of the students, the family relationships and the learning process.  This course is a must for all educators grades K-12.

*New Course

Instructor: Gayle Meinkes-Lumia – gaylelumia@yahoo.com

Summer 2025 Dates – July 7th-11th

Course Credits: – 3 credits/45 Hours

Course Description:

Culturally responsive classroom education is at the forefront of teaching in the 21^st Century. Students need to learn how to take educational risks and assume the responsibilities of independent work and collaboration. They need to be able to identify inequities and advocate for diversity within the classroom environment.

In this course, participants will be able to learn how to create a classroom environment that represents and values all cultural backgrounds within the confines of their classroom. They will learn how to inculcate various perspectives throughout their respective disciplines and address ways in which empathy, conversations, backgrounds, and perspectives play a part in learning. The class will address the ways that students take ownership in their learning and view mistakes as ways to be constructive.

*A Must for K-12 Educators*

Course Description: This course is designed to arm educators of all subject areas and levels to bring meaning to your classroom.  Meaningful hands-on lessons will be discussed.  Interactive conversation topics, brain games, puzzles and comics will also be shared.  These types of activities will get the discussions started and your students’ minds working overtime.  So, create meaning for your students every day by creating experiences for them. This course is a must for educators grades K-12.  

Instructor: Gayle Meinkes-Lumia – gaylelumia@yahoo.com In-Service Course – 3 Credits – 45 Hours Course Description: Classroom dialogue provides a unique opportunity for students to verbalize their understanding, bring their thoughts to the surface and examine mindsets. By engaging in dialogue, students can identify knowledge gaps, challenge assumptions, and solidify their comprehension, all with the assistance of their peers. Participants in this course will learn how to engage their students in effective dialogue through an open exchange of perspectives, all of which deepen students' understanding of topics and encourage reflection. Reflective journals, democratic dialogue, and Socratic seminars will all be included in the course! *A must for K-12 educators!*

  Course Description: Reflecting and analyzing our practices as educators is critical. Creating learners that possess both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is transformative. This course focuses on a plethora of ways that students and teachers alike can cultivate and systematically address their learners. A myriad of ideas and lessons will be shared that challenge and guide students towards success. Lessons include literary studies, critical thinking exercises, poetry snippets, dramatic dialogues, Sample mini-lessons, activities, and strategies will be provided. A must for all K-12 instructors!!!!!! (3 credits/45 hours) In-service credit only

*New Course

Instructor: Gayle Meinkes-Lumia – gaylelumia@yahoo.com

Summer 2025 Dates – August 25th- August 29^th

Course Credits – 3 credits/45 Hours

Course Description:

Having the means to successfully maintain a positive classroom environment teeming with intrinsic motivation, enthusiastic students, minimal disruptions, and impactful lessons can be achievable via this new course.  Participants will be able to identify the modalities in which students learn most efficiently – differentiated instruction, cooperative learning, guided research. Participants will be equipped perfectly and learn to manage and create optimum learning environments.

*A Must for K-12 Educators*

  Instructor: Gayle Meinkes-Lumia – gaylelumia@yahoo.com (3 Credits/45 Hours) Course Description: Becoming a highly engaging teacher, teeming with innovative ideas and enthralling techniques is what this course is aimed to elaborate. In today’s world of highly engaging technology, kids tend to prioritize the wrong things. This course will instruct educators on the ways in which the adolescent brain functions and the strategies that are required to pave the path for the green light energy. Participants will learn ideas as tapping into students’ emotions, building blocks for effective instruction, making content relevant for students, creating new memory pathways. **A must for K-12 educators!!!

  Do our students understand our lessons? All the time and effort and we put into them? There are so days when as educators we look out at our student's faces and are unable to truly gauge how much they understand. Then, we also have those classes in which participation; the mere raising of a hand, seems like a chore. We seem only have those same few students providing answers every day while the others remain silent. While it is nice to know that these students are learning, we also want to be sure we are reaching each student in our classroom. This course offers ideas on how to model your daily instruction with learning opportunities for all students to actively participate and share. Students will find themselves wanting to get up and get involved and respond. Educators will learn a variety of strategies that will not only activate engagement, but also improve student learning overall. These same strategies will also offer you many opportunities to assess what students really know, and adjust your lessons and daily plans accordingly. This course is for educators levels K-12 of all subjects. Instructor: Kim Kittredge kkittredgelips@gmail.com 3 Credits - In service Course (45 Hours)  

This course will provide teachers with an array of activities that connect students intimately with the material at hand. Any subject can be transformed into an intimate connection between learners. Teachers will explore literacy, history, science, mathematics, and culture via deep connections in the classroom setting. A must for K-12 educators!!!! ON-LINE (3 credits/45 hours) In-service credit only

The ability to engage our learners is a technique all educators must possess. Formulating ideas and strategies to springboard discussions are tantamount for students today. Recognizing the need to enhance the learning environment will lead students towards success. In this course, participants will explore a myriad of strategies to assist them in the questioning process. Text dependent questions will be at the forefront as well as strategies from Fountas & Pinnell, differentiation techniques, student centered lessons, technological ideas, web components, and so much more. Teachers will completely enhance their students’ thinking. A must for all educators in the K-12 Classroom!!! ON-LINE (3 credits/45 hours) in service credit only

Schools experience a wide variety of crises that have the potential to harm the mental and physical health, learning environment, and safety of students and educators. A school crisis is any traumatic event that seriously disrupts coping and problem-solving abilities of students and school staff. It is typically sudden, unexpected, dramatic and forceful and may even threaten survival. A crisis can cause a drastic and tragic change to the environment. This change is generally overwhelming and uncontrollable as well as unwanted and frightening. It may create a sense of helplessness, hopelessness, and vulnerability combined with a loss of safety. This course will provide resources, tools, recommendations, and evidence-based practices for incorporating best practices in school mental health into school crisis plans. Different types of crisis will be discussed and strategies will be developed for teachers of all grade levels and subject areas. ON-LINE (3 credits/45 hours) In-service credit only