Engagement
 | Janna Florio Online Course - 3 credits / 45 hours - In-Service Credit Only Applicable to High School Teachers & Department Coordinators/Chairs Description: Being a student in high school is tough; being a teacher of high school students is tough; however, surviving high school as a newcomer to the country could feel almost impossible. Combined with the harrowing experiences they suffer during their immigration journeys, adolescent ELLs are also faced with the stresses that plague the majority of all other high-schoolers. From high-stakes testing to mental health concerns, students within this age bracket hold a lot of weight on their shoulders. Past trauma, feelings of isolation, displacement from family, and the challenges of learning a new culture and language only exacerbate these issues for immigrant and migrant students. In this course, you will learn about the struggles these students face, the challenges they must overcome, and what schools might be able to do to support them. | |
 | 3 Credits – In service Course (45 Hours)
Instructor: Kim Kittredge kkittredgeliips@gmail.com
Course Description: As educators we want all our students to be curious, questionable and seek adventure through learning. This course will lead educators to take a different teaching route with their students. Critical thinking and thought-provoking techniques will be shared. Hands-on, and experiential learning, critical thing techniques and more will be explored. Since this type of “learning through exploration” is the wave of the future, educators, coaches, directors, and administrators will all benefit from the techniques shared in this course. Teachers will learn to utilize driving questions for students that will help them enhance their learning tremendously. The course will also center around deep discussion, PBL techniques, inquiry-based analysis and many more innovative concepts. This course is a must for all subjects and grade levels K-12. | |
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Instructor: Gayle Meinkes-Lumia – gaylelumia@yahoo.com
(3 Credits/45 Hours) – In-Service Credit
Course Description: Individuals who do the most talking, thinking, reflecting, or moving do the most learning. When learners feel good about what, how, and with whom they learn, they’re more likely to want to do it again. Building upon childhood experiences and engaging our students in relevant, meaningful instruction in all disciplines is crucial. Participants in the course will understand the tools for success that their students need in order to make sense of their learning. They will learn to organize their content, pre-teach, structure their lessons perfectly, develop active participants rather than passive recipients of learning. Classrooms will be completely restructured to meet the needs of their aspiring learners! **A must for K-12 educators!!! | |
 | *New Course Instructor: Gayle Meinkes-Lumia- gaylelumia@yahoo.com Summer 2025 Dates – August 18th-August 22nd Course Credits- 3 Credits/45 Hours Course Description: Fostering deep and engaging classroom discussions is essential for promoting critical thinking and student engagement. Too often, classroom discussions tend to be blasé. This course will instruct participants on the tricks to tantalizing their learners. Teaching tools include effective communication and discourse, Socratic Seminars, innovative role-play, friends without pens, fishbowl, and many more! *A Must for K-12 Educators* | |
 | Pickleball is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, offering an exciting blend of strategy, movement and social connection. This course introduces the fundamentals of pickleball while exploring how it can be used to foster student engagement, physical activity, and a sense of community. Designed for teachers of all levels, this course provides step by step instruction, engaging videos, hands-on activities, and written reflections to help participants understand and implement pickleball in educational settings. | |
 | *New Course Instructor: Kim Kittredge kkittredgeliips@gmail.com 3 Credits In Service Course (45 Hours) Dates: Summer 2025 – July 7th-11th Cousre Description: College and Career Readiness is the new expression in schools today. What exactly does it mean? How do we help our students achieve it? How do we model our lessons? This course is designed for educators who want to work with their students and get them to the next level. Educators who are looking to explore higher order thinking strategies for their students will explore practices to use daily. Teachers will work to share critical thinking, communication, collaboration and other components that students will need in the future for uses in the real-world. Educators will feel confident in sharing their lessons and promoting readiness in all students. This course is a must for educators K-12. | |
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Instructor: Gayle Meinkes-Lumia – gaylelumia@yahoo.com
Course Description: Engaging students in the learning process and motivating them for success is a dynamic endeavor, one in which guides students’ futures and prepares them for the rigor of higher education. Finding the means to inspire students and infuse passionate learning is tantamount for them. Within the course, participants will examine case studies, real-world examples, and ways in which captivating learning can be harnessed. They will develop strategies for engagement and dissect the means it requires for an enchanting audience, teeming with higher-order thinking.
**A must for K-12 Educators!!! | |
 | Instructor: Gayle Meinkes-Lumia – gaylelumia@yahoo.com
Course Description: The power to bounce back from difficulties is crucial for students. Providing the means for effective communication and engagement is the true role of educators who are charged with developing students’ independence and guiding them in their endeavors. This course will provide participants with a way to engage students irrespective of their difficulties. Teaching with resilience means fostering student independence, utilizing exemplars, modeling fiction and non-fiction sources, and fully examining the means to have successful connections. A wealth of lessons and ideas will be introduced.
A must for all K-12 educators!!!! | |
 | Course Description – Creating a rich RTI Classroom, embedded with Tier One, Two, and Three Strategies can transform students’ lives. Being able to connect our students and have them walk in the path of success is essential for all students. In this class, teachers will be able to create lessons that engage the learner via Responding to Intervention techniques, including differentiation, student empowerment, student modification. A Must for K-12 Educators!!! (3 credits /45 hours) – In service Credit | |
| Diving deeper than Wh questioning techniques, this course will provide teachers of all grade levels strategies to increase student engagement by incorporating various questioning strategies into their daily lessons. How to differentiate questions to engage all learners, including ELLs, G &T and Students with Disabilities will be examined. | |
| Student engagement is tantamount in 21st century classrooms. Regardless of subject matter, students need to have techniques that enable them to become self-motivated learners. Providing students with the ability to partake in philosophical discussions and seminars will foster an enhanced understanding of the academic content. In this course, participants will comprehend the unique lessons of the Socratic Seminar and Philosophical Rounds techniques. They will be able to integrate these processes within the confines of their classrooms and enhance the learning environment. A must for all K-12 educators!!!!
ON-LINE (3 credits/45 hours) in-service credit only | |
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Instructor: Gayle Meinkes-Lumia – gaylelumia@yahoo.com
(3 Credits/45 Hours) – In-Service Credit
Course Description: Engaging students in successful learning is an art. Keeping them directed and focused is contingent on many factors – all of which will be emphasized and articulated in this course. A myriad of content driven essential skills will be covered – including activities as predicting outcomes, empathy cards, affinity diagrams, common likes, as well as a plethora of creative and compelling take homes, all of which the developing individual needs in order to flourish. Students in all disciplines can benefit from the guided focus and essential content within the confines of the class. **A must for K-12 educators in all disciplines!!! | |
 | (3 credits/45 hours) In service credit only
Instructor: Grace Rossetti gracerossettiliips@gmail.com
Course Description: Struggling with how to start and end each day with your students? In this course, participants will learn the importance of Responsive Classroom techniques, specifically morning meeting and closing circle strategies. Participants will walk away with a plethora of greetings, morning meeting messages, games and shares to be implemented into their routine right away. The four components of morning meeting will be discussed in detail, as well as incorporating closing circle This engaging way to start and end the day will lead to student success both socially, emotionally and academically. This course is a must for all Educators K-12. | |
| *New Course Instructor: Kim Kittredge kkittredgeliips@gmail.com 3 Credits In Service Course (45 Hours) Dates: Summer 2025 - August 25th-29th Course Description: This course will deal with the tried-and-true form of teaching learning. As educators we should teach our students to work smarter, not harder! This course will provide teachers with simple strategies that will make students’ time in your classroom worth it! Students will learn and study more effectively and make learning stick. Educators will discuss in this course research on how the brain works and thus retains information. Teachers will discuss the day-to-day reality of teaching and learning strategies to a dynamic classroom of students of all levels. Educators will discuss the basics of how the brain takes in and stores information, as well as best practices for retrieval of daily information. Easy-to-implement strategies will be shared to help guide any educator through lessons that can improve outcomes for all students. This course is a must for all educators grades K-12. | |
 | *New Course Spring 2025
Instructor: Gayle Meinkes-Lumia – gaylelumia@yahoo.com
In-Service Class – 3 Credits – 45 Hours
Course Description:
Effective discourse is integral for students today. Encouraging the utilization of higher thinking skills in students and encouraging them to speak their minds is what freedom of education is all about. This course will explore depth of knowledge and create questions that enhance the development of critical thinking skills. Additionally, building background knowledge around a wealth of student centered topics will be addressed and deepening comprehension and vocabulary will lead to greater student discussion and conversations. Participants will emerge with a wealth of ideas to implement immediately.
*A Must for K-12 Educators | |
 | *New Course Instructor: Kim Kittredge kkittredgeliips@gmail.com 3 Credits In Service Course (45 Hours) Dates: Summer 2025 - July 28th-Aug 1st Course Description: A creative teacher is a teacher that students remember. This type of teacher is a pleasure to be around, makes you laugh and makes you want to come to class every day. This course will arm educators with the positive and fun strategies they will need to be the creative teacher they want to be. Strategies such as games in the classroom, exciting cooperative learning activities, and how to build positive and strong relationships that inspire your students will be discussed. By the end of this course educators will feel that they have enough strategies to inspire their students for free exploration and an open atmosphere in the classroom. This course is a must for all educators grades K-12. | |
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Instructor – Gayle Meinkes-Lumia – gaylelumia@yahoo.com
3 credits (45 hours) – In-service course
Course Description – Students frequently become disenchanted when a lack of communication is prevalent in their lives. Speaking a dialectic of freedom means empowering students via engagement and dialogue. Engaging in a plethora of discussion, analysis, and critical thinking elevates students perfectly. This course will focus on the tools that learners require to effectively communicate including Socratic seminars, research on written and spoken communication, questioning techniques, body language, dialogue skills. A wealth of ideas for one’s classroom – entrancing all!
A must for K-12 Educators!!!!!! | |
 | More and more students today are identifying as LGBTQIA+. This requires more understanding and awareness by educators on gender identity and sexual orientation in order to make sure our students feel safe and accepted at school. It is important to understand the history of LGBTQIA+ and all of the terms that are included in order to help support our students. There are many challenges that LGBTQIA+ youth face today and it is important to provide them with resources and supports in order to make them feel safe and accepted. In addition to our students, parents need help as well. It is important to learn how to help both our students and parents navigate through these new experiences in order to support their children. This course is for all K-12 educators and related service providers. | |
 | *New Course
Instructor: Gayle Meinkes-Lumia – gaylelumia@yahoo.com Summer 2025 Dates – June 30th-July 5th, no class July 4th Course Credits – 3 Credits/45 Hours Course Description: Students go through the course of their days absentmindedly listening to teachers, abiding by rote rules of instruction, and mindlessly completing work. This course will instruct participants on leveraging their students’ ability to discover and reach their learning goals via self-awareness, goal setting, metacognition, and task analysis. Strategic learning behaviors will be analyzed for best practices, as well as learning to utilize the learning environment for students’ optimum success. *A Must for K-12 Educators* |