• Convenient, flexible, easy-to-use

  • Online learning that fits
    your schedule
  • Learn wherever and whenever you want
  • Easy-to-use learning platform guides you through the course



• We've helped educators at more than 15,000 schools

  • "This is how I'm going to get my continuing education credits from now on."

    - Wendy J. Cope, French Teacher, Lancaster Catholic High School, Lancaster, PA

  • "This course lives up to its promise. It is real and easy to implement. It's made a big difference in my teaching!"

    - Frank Martin, Principal, The Stevens School

  • "I absolutely love the class I am taking. I am taking it to improve my leadership skills. It's been great!"

    - Connie Cullip, Special Education Supervisor, Rudyard, MI EUPISD




• • "The Coursework is convenient and interesting! I definitely recommend the program."

    - Jennifer Desloges, 7th Grade English Teacher Plymouth Elementary, Plymouth, NH

  • "I am through about 4 lectures and am loving the ease and simplicity of how it all works! Everything is so easy to navigate."

    - LuAnn Funk, 2nd Grade Teacher, Case Avenue Elementary

• • "I took this course with some reservation, but it proved to be very helpful. Some of the simple things that I learned made a huge impact on the amount of energy my students put into learning"

    
    

    "It was easy to do. I got to work at my own pace, explore all the websites and absorb the materials As a 28 year veteran I do believe you can teach old dogs new tricks."

    - Joseph Fusco, Physics Teacher Lodi High School, NJ

Course 1094

Becoming the Best: Essential Skills for Today's Teachers

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Apply this towards your professional development requirements

Tuition: $575 for all 3 modules complete

The world has grown and changed through technological innovations and economic conditions, and the world of education is no exception. Teachers no longer work in one room school houses. Many now find themselves in large institutions with various bureaucratic layers, as well as classrooms equipped with technological devices that students can navigate more proficiently than teachers. To remain effective in the classroom, educators must constantly develop new skills and adapt to changes that may alter the way they teach. They must continually evolve, and constantly strive to become better teachers. Through this course, you will develop new communication and leadership skills, as well as approaches to technologies that you can successfully incorporated into the classroom.

What You'll Learn

The top performers in any industry know how to organize and present their ideas in a logical and coherent manner. But the ability to clearly communicate thoughts and ideas is especially critical for classroom educators. Whether you’re communicating with students, colleagues or parents, it’s essential that you possess the tools to deliver your message clearly, articulately, and with confidence. This module will help you become a better teacher by providing proven, effective communication strategies.

In this module, you will learn how to:

• Deliver engaging and coherent classroom presentations
• Make connections with students of all ages and content areas
• Actively communicate with parents and family members
• Collaborate and build lasting connections with colleagues

Highlights

Mastering the Art of Presentations

• Analyzing your audience based on psychology, demographics and situation
• Understanding the components that ensure clear and effective delivery
• Discovering creative markers for successful presentations
• Evaluating the importance of pitch, inflection, volume and enunciation

Successful Student Communication

• Understanding the “Learning Paradox”
• 7 proven ways to increase classroom participation
• Enhancing your active listening skills
• Discovering the importance of reading non-verbal communication cues

Communicating Beyond the Classroom

• Building relationships with families
• Understanding the diversity of today’s modern families
• Connecting and collaborating with colleagues
• The importance of delivering constructive feedback

What You'll Learn

The world of academia has come a long way from the one room schoolhouse. Today’s schools have layers of administrators, teachers, and staff. It is becoming more and more common for teachers to become lost in the bureaucracy of school life and to become detached from their students and colleagues. Fundamental leadership strategies can go a long way in classrooms, making teachers more effective and confident. When everyday teachers become teacher-leaders, their students, administrators, and colleagues will all benefit.

In this module, you will learn how to implement strategies and tactics that will make you an effective leader. You will discover:

• How to increase your students’ achievement by becoming a teacher-leader
• How to embody each element of the REACH model of leadership
• The benefits of different leadership styles and how to know when to use each one

Highlights

Becoming a Teacher-Leader

• Identify the characteristics of a teacher-leader
• Examine what teacher-leaders accomplish inside their classrooms
• Dispel common myths about true leadership

The REACH Model

• Master each component of the REACH model to become a successful teacher-leader
• Implement strategies that will make you a more effective teacher
• Incorporate proper reflection into the daily decision making process

Situational and Transformational Leadership

• Differentiate between the benefits of situational leadership vs. transformational leadership
• Evaluate the characteristics that define the type of leader you are
• Identify the circumstances that determine which type of leadership is most effective

What You'll Learn

Integrating technology in the classroom environment is essential in allowing more learner control in the educational experience. Teachers must embrace technology in order to maximize student learning.

In this module, you will learn the many benefits of technology and how to balance it with the brick and mortar fundamentals of education. Our speaker, Eunice M. Merideth, Ph.D., will help you understand:

• The difference between digital natives and digital immigrants
• How to make a GAME plan to successfully use technology to enhance your lessons
• How to engage students on a deeper level using common technologies

Highlights

Make the Most of Familiar Technologies

• Use word processing programs to create professional looking products
• No-nonsense PowerPoint tips that will grab and keep your students’ attention
• Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts & E-Books – What they are and how your students can benefit from them

Benefits and Concerns of Learning with Technology

• Close the gap between digital native students and digital immigrant teachers
• Increase students’ perception of control over their learning

Creating a Personal Learning Environment

• Transition from teacher-driven to student-driven learning
• Use students’ technology skills to become the creators of their own learning
• Provide an opportunity for sharing intelligence and cooperative learning

The Virtual Teachers Lounge™

Check in with your peers and get answers to your questions – any time, 24/7. Taking this course will give you exclusive access to the thoughts, insights and experience of other educators and K-12 experts discussing your topics and giving you solutions and ideas for whatever is on your mind. In the Teachers' lounge, you can:

• Learn new, working strategies and solutions from other educators – live!
• Get answers to your toughest questions from top K-12 experts
• Discuss course topics with your peers and benefit from their experiences
• Share your success stories and best practices to benefit other teachers and administrators
• Get new perspectives, fresh ideas and guidance – whenever you need it.
• You can log whenever is most convenient for you, 24/7

All you have to do is sign up for this course, and you're in!

Connect with, hear from and get help from you peers.

Materials & Assessment

Lectures	Your lectures, delivered by one of the nation's leading, recognized experts on this topic, are presented in multiple parts to make listening and tracking your progress easier. You can listen to each as often as you like by playing it on your computer, downloading it to your iPod or other MP3 player, even burning it to CD. Listen wherever it is most convenient for you: at home, in your car; at the park; and whenever you like: before or after work, at night or on weekends. Many educators can complete a module in only a week.
Text Resources	Virtual text resources are downloadable and expand on the material covered in your lectures. They may include articles, web links to related materials and web sites, definitions of important terms and concepts, and a bibliography. All materials can be viewed on your computer or downloaded and printed.
Assessment	To receive your Certificate of Completion or Certificate of Attendance and earn Professional Development/Continuing Education units/credits/hours, you will need to complete all assessments and submit all final projects.
Virtual Teachers Lounge	To gain Professional Development credits or hours for any of these three modules, you must participate in the Virtual teachers Lounge discussion for that module. If you are not seeking credits or hours, participation in the Lounge is not mandatory, but you are still welcome to connect with and share your thoughts, questions, insights and experience with your peers at any time.