Maryland PBS Teacherline Courses

Children's Authors on the Web: Online Sites that Motivate Students to Write For K-6 (2 MSDE CPD credits)
 
Connecting with authors often motivates students to do more reading and writing. By exploring websites dedicated to published authors, students begin to see authors as real people with both ordinary and amazing life experiences and writing as an exciting adventure as well as a structured process. This course is designed to help teachers advance their student’s skills in reading, writing, and communicating in different forms.  Participants will explore and evaluate online author studies and the websites created by and for children’s authors. This fully facilitated, online course allows teachers to share ideas about children’s authors and have discussions about working online with elementary-aged students. Participants also create an author study related to their curriculum that is enhanced by the use of Internet resources.

Differentiated Instruction for Middle School Students Grades 6-8 (2 MSDE CPD credits)

Meet the needs of all your middle school students with techniques to differentiate content, process and products. Discover methods for pre-assessment and strategies for tiered activities. Your final project is an instructional unit that aligns with MD standards of learning.

Effective Writing Instruction Grades 1-3 (2 MSDE CPD credits)

Learn how to use Writing Workshops to teach the theory and practice of writing to your early elementary students.  From setting up and maintaining a Writing Workshop to analyzing obstacles to good student writing, you'll have the opportunity to share insights with online colleagues.  You'll also learn ways to help students learn to evaluate the credibility of their sources.  You'll write a synthesis paper or design a class Web site to accompany a Writing Workshop program as your final project.

Enabling Students with Special Needs to Succeed in Math Class Grades 4-8 (2 MSDE CPD credits)

This course focuses on how to promote equity in mathematics education for students with disabilities. Learners will develop new instructional strategies for making mathematics more accessible for students with disabilities and develop a plan to incorporate accessibility strategies into their daily teachings.

The Internet can be a fantastic tool to promote student learning at the primary level when teachers know how and when to integrate it effectively into their curriculum. In this fully facilitated, online course, participants review the National Educational Technology Standards in relation to the K-2 classroom. They have an opportunity to search for, evaluate and select appropriate Internet resources for their K-2 Language Arts classrooms. As the course proceeds, developing high-quality Language Arts lesson plans, technology integration, classroom management considerations for technology use, and online safety issues at the K-2 level are covered. Contact your local Continuing Professional Development Liaison to determine if this course will meet a state reading requirement for you.

Math in Everyday Life for Grades 6-8 (1 MSDE CPD credit)
 
In this module, teachers will explore ways to incorporate real-world math into classroom activities according to their grade level. Participants will learn exciting and effective ways to enrich their math curriculum while meeting national educational standards. Participants will also develop activities that use a variety of technologies and engage students in problem-solving activities on such topics as storage capacity, room size, and global population.

Patterns and Relations: Algebra Concepts Grades 1-5 (1 MSDE CPD credit)

Teach you students how algebra connects to patterns and relationships, by incorporating manipulatives, technology, problem-solving activities, and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards into your algebra curriculum.

Searching and Researching on the Internet (2 MSDE CPD credits)
 
Discover the tools and background needed to successfully use the Internet as a research tool in classrooms. Explore methods of Internet research and learn to use them effectively and efficiently. You will also gain an awaremess of some of the ethical and legal issues that may arise when using these new tools in the classroom. As a course assignment, you will practice using your new skills and knowledge by searching through the Internet for appropriate lesson materials to build an enriching resource library.

Teaching and Learning with Graphic Organizers: Featuring Inspiration© (2 MSDE CPD credits)
 
Through this course, participants will learn to use Inspiration software productively in the classroom. They will explore the current research on visual organizers and concept mapping and understand how students and teachers can use electronic graphic organizers for presentation and organizational purposes. Participants will utilize electronic graphic organizers, such as Inspiration© , (demo available through TeacherLine) for presentations, personal productivity, and in the learning station or lab.  A detailed lesson plan incorporating technology and Inspiration diagrams is required as a final project.

Teaching for Multiple Intelligences (2 MSDE CPD credits)

Discover the advantages of teaching methods that engage multiple intelligences and explore ways to implement them.  You will also learn to teach and assess students differently based on their individual intellectual styles.

Teaching Writing Across the Content Areas Grades 6-12 (2 MSDE CPD credits)

You can bring writing into your classroom in all content areas with a practical plan developed through your work in this course. Covering the research basis for writing across the curriculum, the course will also help you teach students effective writing processes, including finding the time to write. You'll learn sound techniques for evaluating writing skills and discover proven ways to promote writing to students.

Practice Learning Online with PBS TeacherLine (non credit)

Learning online is different from taking a traditional class. You may find that you are curious about taking professional development courses in your own home, at any time of day or night and interacting with other learners through the Internet, but concerned that your technology skills will prevent you from completely the course successfully or that these online opportunities are just too new for you. You may need to adjust your study habits for this new environment or schedule your work differently. This free, non-credit course will help prepare you for the experience of online learning and help you get acquainted with the PBS TeacherLine online course environment, Desire 2 Learn (D2L). It will teach you to navigate through online course content, assist you in posting your ideas to discussion boards, and allow you to explore your strengths and your needs to become a successful online learner. It will help you understand the rewards of online learning in general, as well as give you tips to avoid any pitfalls. All components of a regular course are explored from preparing your computer and managing your time to downloading video clips and posting to discussion boards. You must be registered for PBS TeacherLine to fully experience this non-credit course.

Using Assessment and Evaluation (2 MSDE CPD credits)
 
First, you will investigate different types of assessment and evaluation, aimed at both your instruction and at student learning. Then you will become acquainted with the full array of assessment and evaluation tools - including rubrics, journals, formal and informal assessments, and portfolios. As you learn to properly integrate them into your curriculum, they will greatly enhance both teaching and learning. Your final task will be to create an effective rubric based on an existing student assignment.

Using Multimedia to Develop Understanding (2 MSDE CPD credits)

Explore Bloom's taxonomy and consider ways to use a multimedia project to promote higher-level thinking skills. This course equips you to help students use multimedia tools to convey their ideas and demonstrate their understanding of a subject without confusing the medium with the message. Learn to instill in them a strong understanding of content, while promoting their critical thinking. Finally, you will develop a simple multimedia project and create a plan that, when appropriate, integrates the use of multimedia in student class assignments.