Digital Commons Network^™

Battling Burnout Zombies In High School English, Jennifer Gribben, Michelle Nelson

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

This PLM was created to support secondary education English teachers who are struggling to prevent student disengagement in ELA classrooms. This PLM was based on John Hattie's 10 habits. The creators of this PLM also used Explicit DIRECT Instruction and Rigorous curriculum design to ground their ideas in proven RESEARCH. This PLM will give teachers a place to find ideas and strategies to help make their classrooms a successful learning environment.

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Cultural Responsibility: Whose Job Is It Anyway?, Shannon Coleman, Siobhan Cooke, Yu'vonne James, Elizabeth Younger

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

This professional learning module (PLM) on cultural responsibility in the school setting is rooted in the recognition of the importance of creating an inclusive and equitable learning environment for all students and staff. This PLM module was designed to help teachers, and those working within the school setting, understand, appreciate, and effectively address cultural diversity and its impact on students’ learning experiences.

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Tools, Tips, And Tricks For Beginning Teachers, Kimberly Lilley, Regina Lineback, Brad Rhew, Elia Spencer

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

Tools, Tips, and Tricks for Beginning Teachers is a professional learning module (PLM) that supports the growth and development of beginning teachers. The topics reviewed in this PLM include classroom management, collaboration, instructional strategies, and student engagement. The strategies included in this PLM are research-based and support the Beginning Teacher Standards, Professional Teaching Standards, and Beginning Teacher Standards for Science Education. As you proceed through the PLM, you will have opportunities to consider your current or planned practices in each of the focus areas and select new tools, tips, or tricks that can be applied to your classroom practices.

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Travel Agent Vs. Tour Guide: A Passport To Student Engagement, Alexis Greer, Demia Johnson, Jenee Peace, Christopher Scruggs

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

This module is designed for all teachers (elementary, middle, and high) that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic through virtual and/or hybrid instruction and are currently teaching in a K-12 setting. This module will provide resources and information related to planning authentic learning tasks and re-engaging students! This module will take you approximately 4 hours to complete. The focus of this module is to provide introductory information, examples of high-yield strategies, and resources for future self-paced inquiry.

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Blended Learning: Intentional Personalized Instruction For All, Amy W. Fonseca, Andrew Mccully, Amber Tuttle, Sheila Wright

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

This Professional Learning Module (PLM) was designed to support educators in learning more about Blended Learning, the related models, and information for implementing this effective, enriched, and student-driven instructional framework. Blended learning serves to combine the traditional instruction and feel of a brick-and-mortar school with online learning. This PLM reviews the four overarching models of Blended Learning: 1) rotation models, 2) the flex model, 3) the a la carte model, and 4) the enriched virtual model. The module also provides examples of Blended Learning for K-12 classrooms and covers The Blended Learning Teacher Competencies to support proper implementation. Educators, administrators, …

Deconstructing The Standards, Melissa Y. Pollard, Seon S. Sloley

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

The purpose of this Professional Learning Module (PLM) is to improve teacher understanding of academic standard deconstruction. We created this professional learning module to assist educators in better understanding how to deconstruct standards. In this PLM, you will find information about:

1.The need for deconstruction

2.The deconstruction process

3. Identifying learning Targets

4. Using a graphic organizer

5. Common assessments aligned to standards

We hope that both educators and district-level personnel will find this PLM instrumental in the training process of deconstructing standards. In unpacking, repacking, and organizing standards, teachers will develop a better understanding of what the standards are …

Evidence-Based Reading Interventions For Middle And High School Teachers, Brittany Evans, Beverly Hart, Mashonda Surratt

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

Welcome to Evidence-Based Reading Practices. This module is designed to help middle and high school teachers intervene with struggling readers in their regular education classrooms. This module will take you approximately three hours to complete. During that time, you will learn what to do when students are missing the necessary foundational skills to become skilled readers.

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Self-Mentoring: Discovering The Mentor Within, Lisa Savage, Pamela Williams

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

This professional learning module (PLM) was created to help educators, including classroom teachers, administrators, and instructional support staff learn about self-mentorship. The module will describe the concept of self-mentoring as a process for engaging in self-directed professional and personal growth. Districts may find it beneficial to use this PLM to train educators on how self-mentoring can be used as a leadership development tool for improving their professional and instructional practices.

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Collective Teacher Efficacy, Annie Mcentyre, Stephanie Revis, Helena Vanhorn, Gina Gold

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

This professional learning module (PLM) was designed for those in leadership roles in educational organizations who desire to examine the effect of collective teacher efficacy for school improvement purposes. This module defines collective teacher efficacy as it applies to educational settings and impacts student learning. School leaders will learn research-based conditions and practices that have been found to foster collective efficacy in schools. Collective Teacher Efficacy Professional Learning Module is aligned with the North Carolina Standards for School Executives, Professional Standards for Educational Leaders, and Teacher Leader Model Standards.

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Engaging Students With Disabilities In Virtual Learning, Timothy Adams, Jessie Kong, Mike Lefko, Rachelle Peterson

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

This professional learning module was designed to help teachers of students with disabilities (SWDs) who are navigating the issues related to virtual learning. The authors have experience in being teachers of SWDs, administrators, and lead teachers. We witnessed the struggles teachers had during the pandemic in engaging SWDs and their parents in virtual learning. This module was designed to help teachers alleviate some of those struggles. Districts might find it beneficial to use this PLM in training all teachers about engaging SWDs virtually as the world of education is leaning in the direction of blended learning, virtual academies, and traditional …

Conceptual Math For The Math-Anxious Teacher, Rebecca Chapman, Heather Thomas, Barbara Clarke

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

In this module we will explore many concepts supporting conceptual instruction of math from middle-elementary levels to lower-secondary level math. We help you teach not just how the math concepts work but why they work so students are empowered to engage! (Boaler, 2016)

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Compassionate Care: Working With Students With Aces, Leah Massey Huttlinger, Andrea Gardner Nordberg

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

This Professional Learning Module (PLM) was created for educators to learn more about adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the negative impact trauma has on student learning. Participants in the PLM will learn about ACEs, the brain science related to trauma, behaviors associated with ACEs in the classroom, strategies to help mitigate the impact of ACEs in the classroom. Participants will have the opportunity to apply these strategies to real-life situations within the PLM. The PLM was meant to be completed independently, in small groups, or as whole-group faculty training. The option to submit a certificate for CEUs is provided upon …

Student-Led Conferences, Kendra Alston, Tabitha Boyd-Collins, Lucia K. Jacobs, Phyllis Marshall

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

This professional learning module is designed to lead educators through the process of successfully developing and implementing effective student-led conferences to improve student ownership in their learning and to increase family engagement. The goal is to determine what structures need to be in place in classrooms and schools, to define the key components of student-led conferences, and to explain the impact of implementing student-led conferences on the school community and overall school structure. The module presents current research and resources supporting student-led conferences in school. Resources include activities, videos, and assessments. Educators are presented potential barriers to student-led conferences and …

Designing Online Learning To Increase Student Engagement, Stacy Fuentes, Mary Newton, Jennifer Reed

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

The purpose of this adaptive VPLM is to familiarize educators with how to design online learning to encourage student engagement. The VPLM is designed for secondary education or higher education professionals. The VPLM features three levels geared toward varying ability and comfort levels of educators with designing online learning. Glickman et al. (2018) highlighted the importance of offering differentiated choices to adult learners. Participants are encouraged to complete one or more levels based on their comfort and ability with designing online learning to improve their online learning environments and foster increased student engagement. Each level requires a different amount of …

Trauma Informed Leadership: Leading Through The Chaos, Christina Ruegamer, Joan T. Dorsey, Laine Smith, Megan G. Robertson

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

The purpose of this professional learning module is to create and promote trauma-informed leadership. Throughout the module, leaders will also learn about the six trauma-informed principles on establishing a trauma-informed site. The design of this professional learning module is to prepare leaders in addressing situations involving trauma at their site. This module can be used individually for leadership training and/or professional development. It should take one to two hours to complete. Once the training is completed, an assessment will be given. Upon successful completion of the assessment with a score of 80% or higher, a certificate will be provided via …

Wise Feedback, Mary Newton

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

The purpose of this Virtual Professional Learning Module (VPLM) is to familiarize educators with what wise feedback is and how to provide wise feedback to students. It was created to offer professional learning to secondary English Language Arts (ELA) educators participating in a dissertation research study about the impact of wise feedback on students, teachers, and classrooms. Despite being geared toward educators in a 9-12 English Language Arts setting, wise feedback and the VPLM can be applicable to educators in other 9-12 content areas.

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A Guide To Standards-Based Learning, Geneva Bell, Sarah Rector, Elizabeth Schrecengost, Beth Washle

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

This learning module educates parents/guardians and teachers new to the practice to understand what standards-based learning is, why a school system would use it, how to know when students are learning the standards, and the difference from traditional learning.

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Introduction To Research In Biology (Cell & Molecular Bio 150), Jessica L. Swaringen

Lesson Plan Repository

This plan describes the lesson EKS Librarians teach BIO 150 students. The lesson includes classifying articles as research or review, developing search terms and search strings, recommended databases to search, and citing sources in CSE style.

Restorative Practices: An Introduction To A Positive, Research-Based Alternative To A Punitive Discipline System, Mindy Duckworth, Bianca Jeffries, Kelli Passmore

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

The purpose of this professional learning module (PLM) is to introduce educators to a positive, research-based alternative to traditional punitive discipline systems and encourage research-based practices to improve behavior. This module is intended to be completed individually.

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Coaching The Resistant Teacher, Mallory Bricker, Gwendolyn Johnson, Lashaunda Plain-Mamon

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

This module was created to assist instructional coaches, curriculum facilitators, peer coaches, assistant principals, or anyone in a leadership position to help teachers grow professionally. You, the instructional coach or leader, have expertise in content, andragogy, pedagogy, and communication. However, as instructional leaders, we have all come up against the teacher unwilling to participate in the coaching process. According to Lancaster (2016), the challenges that instructional coaches encounter are "teacher resistance to coaching support, scheduling conflicts, ill-defined roles and responsibilities, lack of administrative support, and teacher reluctance to change" (p. 23). No matter the reason, through this module you will …

Inclusion: A Sense Of Belonging, Judith Mills, Pamela Moore, Alisha Privette

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

The purpose of this professional development module is to improve knowledge and skills in order to facilitate individual, school-wide, and district-wide improvements for the purpose of increasing academic and social achievement of students with disabilities in the inclusive setting.

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Collegial Feedback: Navigating The Obstacles, Anna Coats, Shaunee Howard, Kevin Ward

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

The purpose of this PLM is to provide a conceptual framework for effective collegial feedback and to enhance the educational process. It was devised to empower individuals through building capacity in identifying possible obstacles to effective collegial feedback and to acquaint individuals with resources and strategies to overcome obstacles in collegial feedback. This PLM was designed for educators who have to provide feedback, including mentors, instructional coaches, and peer observers. Because it aligns with the adult learners’ ways of knowing, it is geared toward those who give feedback to adults rather than K-12 students.

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Diversity Informed Practices For Effective Family And School Communication, Shanda Jones, Joyce Patton, Tiffani Richardson

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

This module is designed to encourage teachers to examine their own perceptions of poverty and how these perceptions can influence and impact the degree and quality of parent communication. The module is self-paced and presents teachers with a variety of perspectives and resources to appeal to multiple learning modalities. As teachers increase their knowledge base about perceptions of poverty and family communication they will begin to bridge the home/school communication gap and improve student outcomes.

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From Student Engagement To Student Empowerment, Gail D. Gallman, Kelsey J. Gibson

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

This Professional Learning Module is designed to provide educators with the resources and skills to move their classroom interactions from engaging students to empowering students. The module focuses on six levels of student empowerment that focus on the whole child: intellectual, emotional, behavioral, physical, social, and cultural engagement. Throughout the module, educators will be provided with a series of activities that provide the educator with the opportunity to reflect on and engage with the strategies as they are represented in their own classrooms.

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Data-Driven Plcs, Camey Whitt, Desirae Ball, Jodi Witherspoon

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

The purpose of this professional learning module is to explore how PLCs can be strengthened by using data to support student learning. The goals of this professional learning module is that educators will understand and embrace the three big ideas that drive the work of an effective PLC: A Collaborative Culture, A Results Orientation, and A Focus on Learning.

Educators will develop the shared roles, responsibilities, and relationships within a PLC. Educators will be able to establish and measure the success of SMART goals that align with school and district goals. Educators will be able to answer the following four …

Taking The Lead: Enhancing Student Learning And Professional Collaboration Through Action Research, Meredith Lynch, Lindsey Weycker

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

The purpose of this module is:

To empower teachers in leadership development and leadership roles

To foster mutual respect and communication between adults working together

To encourage action research as a daily classroom practice

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Building A Foundation For Cultural Responsiveness, Denise Cyrus, Jill Douds, Sara Newell

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

This site provides an overview of culturally responsive teaching philosophies and practices in order to make educators aware of the importance of having a culturally responsive mindset. This module also provides research, classroom practice resources, and thought-provoking videos meant to assist educators in using a culturally responsive mindset to improve their practices and positively impact all students.

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Providing Access To Content Using Technology To Engage All Learners, Karrissa Ebert, Cynthia Hutchings, Pamela Edwards, Mabel Eliana Lamprea

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

The purpose of this module is to provide access to research and tools which can be used to differentiate lessons in a classroom for all types of learners. First, the module helps educators understand TPACK as well as why using technology with students is effective. Next, the module delineates the research and tools into 4 categories of learning, which allows educators to learn/ teach using tools specific for different learners. The module concludes by encouraging educators to practice using the tools with a group of learners and a content specific standard.

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Questioning For Critical Thinking, Karen Conner, Ashton Coppley, Betsy Furr

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

Effective questioning is essential for learning. This module will explore questioning for learning and critical thinking. This module was designed for use by teachers of all grade levels. It is intended for the benefit of teachers in designing their instruction and for the benefit of the students they teach. Participants in this PLM will consider the importance of which questions are asked, who gets to ask them, and what role they play in student achievement.

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Engaging Families And The Community In Schools, Alison H. Whitaker, Kathryn Pritchard, Erin Keene, Kim Coleman

Instructional Modules for Professional learning Responding to Opportunities and Valuing Educators (IMPROVE)

This module is designed to lead a collaborative group of educators through the process of designing and implementing an event or activity to increase the levels of family and community engagement in schools. The module presents current research supporting family and community involvement in schools. Learners are prepared to recognize potential barriers to increasing family and community involvement and methods to overcome those barriers.

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