This is a comprehensive teacher professional development course that will teach you about specific instructional strategies and learning activities that you can select for an upcoming unit planned, well-aligned with your chosen assessments and lesson objectives. You will learn five instructional strategies and how to choose the best one based on the lesson content, your student's needs, and available resources. Next, you will delve into the difference between active and passive learning and evaluate areas for improvement in your own lesson activities. Lastly, you will complete the course with a ready-to-implement unit plan you have created and use that alongside the various resources provided to you in this class to enable success in your classroom.
Instructor(s):Self-Study
Requirements:
Hardware Requirements:
- This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.
Software Requirements:
- PC: Windows 10 or later.
- Mac: macOS 10.6 or later.
- Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox is preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
- Microsoft Word Online
- Adobe Acrobat Reader
- Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.
Other:
- Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.
- Editing of a Microsoft Word document is required in this course. You may use a free version of Microsoft Word Online, or Google Docs if you do not have Microsoft Office installed on your computer. Model Teaching can provide support for this.
Instructional Material Requirements:
The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.
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Lesson 1
- An Overview of Instructional Strategies & Learning Activities
- The Differences Between Traditional Planning & Planning Using Backwards Design
- The Three Stages of Planning Using Backwards Design
- What's Involved in Planning Instruction
- The Importance of Having a Learning Plan
- The Instructional Strategies – Advantages & Disadvantages of Each Instructional Strategy and How to Implement in the Classroom
- Direct Instruction
- Demonstration
- Cooperative Learning
- Discover or Inquiry-Based Learning
- Project-Based Learning
- Choosing an Instructional Strategy
- Instructional Strategies Are Flexible and Dynamic, and Multiple Strategies Can be Used in One Lesson
- How to Choose an Appropriate Instructional Strategy
- How to Take into Consideration the Lesson Content, the Needs of Your Students, Your Own Personal Experience, and the Time and Resources Available
- Active Learning vs. Passive Learning
- The Meaning of and Differences Between Active Learning and Passive Learning
- When Each Type of Learning is Appropriate
- The Three Main Components of Any Active Learning Activity
- Different Learning Styles
- The Importance of Aligning Your Activities with Your Objectives
- About Different Learner Types Including Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, Global, and Analytic
- Examples of Appropriate Instructional Activities for Each Type
- What You Need to Consider as You Choose Instructional Activities
- Putting it All Together
- Using the sample provided, build your unit plan, selecting from the various instructional strategies discussed in this course.
- Applying What You Have Learned
- Get ideas on how to implement the concepts into your classroom, find a list of online resources that support strategies for instruction, and research behind different instructional models.
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