Educators and support staff will become experts on using digital tools to communicate, create, collaborate and assess students. Participants will gain an understanding of Internet tools to create online resources, screencasting, assessments, online portfolios, communication options for students and parents, and how to maximize the learning environment to reach students through different learning mediums. No textbook is required for this course. Critical reading of assigned articles and supplementary materials are embedded throughout the course. If you are taking this course for Graduate Credit, participants must register with Manhattanville through Instant Enrollment. Email Colleen Gill at cgill@rockteach.org for more information.

Technology can increase teachers' capacity to support the learning of individual students with wide differences in their abilities to see, hear, speak, move, read, write, understand English, attend, organize, engage and remember. To do this efficiently and effectively technology should be carefully selected, purposeful planned and thoughtful implemented. Not all technology is useful for all students. Required Texts: "Integrating Technology in the Classroom: Tools to meet the needs of every student”, by Hamilton, Boni. (2018) (2nd Ed.) Washington DC: International Society of Technology in Education; "How to Differentiate Instruction in Academically Diverse Classrooms”, by Tomlinson, Carol Ann, (2017), Alexandria, VA, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. *If you are taking this course for Graduate Credit, participants must also register with Manhattanville through Instant Enrollment on Service Hub. Email Colleen Gill at cgill@rockteach.org for more information. Note: Official graduate transcripts will not be available until the official end of the college semester.

Based upon the works of authors Arthur Costa and Bena Kallick, participants will learn and apply instructional practices to cultivate the "habits of mind” needed to be a successful student and citizen. These practices will assist teachers in not only teaching academic material but also instruct students in matters pertaining to social skills. The Habits of Mind include: persisting, managing impulsivity, listening with understanding and empathy, thinking flexibly, questioning and problem posing, gathering data through all senses, taking reasonable risks, finding humor, thinking interdependently and remaining open to continuous learning. In line with an educator's mission to educate the whole child, participants will develop strategies to develop these habits of mind. This topic is pertinent in all aspects of education; all educators have a shared responsibility to build powerful, life-long "habits of mind” with and for our students. Required Readings: "Learning and leading with habits of mind: 16 characteristics for success", by Costa, A. and Kallic k, B., 2008 Alexandria, VA: ASCD. If you are taking this course for Graduate Credit, participants must register with Manhattanville through Instant Enrollment. Email Colleen Gill at cgill@rockteach.org for more information

In this course, students will understand how to construct, teach, and enhance writing responses to texts. They will learn how to implement a yearlong framework that will move students from simple responses to multi paragraph essays. Students will learn how to adapt their lessons to reach all learners. Finally, they will use the lessons taught to create a framework that is relevant to their particular students. Required Texts: "Better Learning Through Structured Teaching: A Framework for the Gradual Release of Responsibility", 2nd Edition Paperback, by Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, 2013, Alexandria, VA ASCD; "Notice & Note Strategies for Close Reading", by Kylene Beers and Robert E Probst, 2013, New Hampshire, Heinemann. If you are taking this course for Graduate Credit, participants must register with Manhattanville through Instant Enrollment. Email Colleen Gill at cgill@rockteach.org for more information.

This course will help participants teach nonfiction reading skills and strategies. They will use these strategies to help their students respond powerfully and creatively to nonfiction through written responses, arguments, discussions, research essays, and presentations. Students will learn how to adapt their lessons to reach all learners. Finally, they will use the lessons taught to create a framework that is relevant to their particular students. Required Texts: "Disrupting Thinking Why How We Read Matters. Scholastic", by Beers, Kylene, and Robert E. Probst, 2017; "Reading Nonfiction Notice & Note: Strategies for Close Reading", by Beers, G., and Robert Probst, 2013, Heinemann; "Nonfiction Matters: Reading, Writing, and Research in Grades 3-8. Stenhouse Publishers", by Harvey, S., 1998; "5 Kinds of Nonfiction: Enriching Reading and Writing Instruction with Children's Books", by Stewart, Melissa, and Marlene Correia, 2021, Stenhouse Publishers; "The Knowledge Gap: The hidden cause of America's broken education system-- and how to fix it", by Wexler, N., 2020, Avery, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. *If you are taking this course for Graduate Credit, participants must also register with Manhattanville through Instant Enrollment on Service Hub. Email Colleen Gill at cgill@rockteach.org for more information. Note: Official graduate transcripts will not be available until the official end of the college semester.

As a result of this course, participants will develop skills and strategies to formatively assess student learning. "Anyone who has ever played or coached a team sport understands the basic idea that ongoing assessment and adjustment are the keys to improved performance.” (McTighe, 2007). In this course, participants will engage in the process of ongoing assessment, feedback, reflection, revision and instruction. Participants will develop what Charlotte Danielson (2006) calls a "Habit of Mind” in which student assessments guide teacher instruction. The book Checking for Understanding by Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey will be the guiding text. Course expectations include taking ideas from individual research, small group online discussions and whole group sessions to put ideas into action. Participants will be able to make an immediate impact upon their teacher and the learning outcomes for students in their classes. Required Readings: "The Power of Assessment for Learning: Twenty Years of Research and Practice in UK and US Classrooms", by Christine Ann Harrison & Margaret Heritage (2021) 1st Edition; "Checking for Understanding", by Fisher, D. and Frey, N. (2007); "Results Now", by Schmoker, Mike (2006). If you are taking this course for Graduate Credit, participants must register with Manhattanville through Instant Enrollment. Email Colleen Gill at cgill@rockteach.org for more information.

As a result of this course, participants will develop skills and strategies to reach struggling learners. This course will cover important aspects of Response to Intervention models. Participants will develop methods of evaluating students and pinpointing areas of academic difficulties. Students will utilize "Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports” (Blackburn & Witzel/2018) to identify struggling students and provide interventions before the application of special education services. Then, participants will develop a positive "mindset” to unlock the potential of all learners. (Dweck/2006) Further, participants will develop strategies to explicitly guide student learning through a systematic approach. Participants will develop a "tool box” of interventions that are responsive to the needs of all students, but particularly the needs of struggling students. In the words of Fisher and Frey/2010, "Teaching every child is hard work. With that hard work, though, comes a group of learners who are prepared to participate in society. This learning occurs in the classrooms of well-prepared teachers who are undaunted by student learning variations because they believe that each child is an individual and that individuals exhibit differences in growth due to many factors, including carefully selected instructional interventions.” This course will have a direct impact upon student learning. Teachers will walk away with a process of intervention that will make them more purposeful and effective. Required Readings: "Rigor in the RTI and MTSS Classroom", by Blackburn, B. & Witzel, B./2018; "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success", by Dweck, Carol/2006. If you are taking this course for Graduate Credit, participants must register with Manhattanville through Instant Enrollment. Email Colleen Gill at cgill@rockteach.org for more information.

Teaching is change; learning is change. Merriam-Webster.com defines change as "to give a different position, course or direction to” and "to make different in some particular manner.” Learning is the ability to "solve problems, think critically, communicate effectively, and collaborate well.” (Gagnon & Collay/2006). Teachers, then, facilitate learning experiences by teaching students to think innovatively about change and the problem-solving process. Each minute, period, day, month and year, teachers are required to create and sustain changes in their students and their teaching. This change is manifested in such educational terms as curriculum mapping, formative assessment, response to intervention (RTI) and differentiated instruction. In this course, participants will develop skills and strategies to facilitate change in their teaching and in student learning. Participants will learn how to: identify challenges, develop ownership, write SMART goals, craft plans/lessons, facilitate student "buy-in”, and formatively assess student work. This change process will not only assist teachers in developing a "Habit of Mind” but impact student learning in their classrooms in real time. Participants will be expected to apply and reflect upon course material on a weekly basis through on-line correspondence and ongoing communication with other course participants. Required Readings: "Our Iceberg is Melting" by Kotter, J. and Rathgeber, H./2016. New York: Penguin Random House; "Who Moved My Cheese", by Johnson, S./1999, (2nd ed.), New York: Vermillion. If you are taking this course for Graduate Credit, participants must register with Manhattanville through Instant Enrollment. Email Colleen Gill at cgill@rockteach.org for more information.

Participants will develop a thorough understanding of instructional strategies that meet the needs of all learners. Participants will work collaboratively to develop strategies "to reach out to individual learners at their varied points of readiness, interest, and learning preference." This quote from Carol Ann Tomlinson will serve as a guiding principle of the course. Course participants will develop curriculum adaptations and instructional strategies that are responsive to the individual needs of all students. Specifically, participants will acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively differentiate curriculum and instruction in the classroom. Participants will develop the "big ideas" associated with curriculum designs. Then, participants will analyze and apply methods of differentiating products (content), process (instruction), and product (assessment). Required Readings: "How to Differentiate Instruction in Academically Diverse Classrooms", by Tomlinson, Carol Ann. (2017). 3rd Edition. If you are taking this course for Graduate Credit, participants must register with Manhattanville through Instant Enrollment. Email Colleen Gill at cgill@rockteach.org for more information.

As educators, we expect our students to "solve problems, think critically, communicate effectively, and collaborate well.” (Gagnon & Collay, 2006) Participants will analyze the effects of effective teaching upon student performance in relation to the criterion above. This weekend will enable participants to develop instructional activities to actively engage students in the learning process and assist students in the development of self-assessment or "metacognition.” Participants will learn how to incorporate research-based methods and techniques in order to achieve a balance between conceptual understanding and procedural knowledge. Participants will develop the tools necessary to create this "balanced approach” to teaching all content areas. Teachers will develop strategies to assist students in "constructing” content knowledge as part of a "meaning-making” process. Required Readings: "Getting to Got It", by Gagnon & Collay.(2006). If you are taking this course for Graduate Credit, participants must register with Manhattanville through Instant Enrollment. Email Colleen Gill at cgill@rockteach.org for more information.