Description

Build School Communities for Educators is about effective transformative actions. This course helps teachers build genuine bonds between themselves and their students and between students and their classmates, to create “kindred class homes” with a foundation of acceptance, respect, and shared purpose. For many of our students, our classrooms may be a safe, nurturing refuge they long for in otherwise tumultuous lives. This course will help you develop strategies and rituals, along with design and environmental skills, to create these safe havens of learning: kindred classrooms where students and teachers work together in synergistic ways that benefit all members of the school family. Students will learn how to differentiate for classroom management and discipline just as teachers do for students’ diverse academic needs. One size does not fit all, but all sizes create a good diversity fit together.

This computer-based instruction course is a self-supporting program that provides instruction, structured practice, and evaluation all on your home or school computer. Technical support information can be found in the Help section of your course.

Syllabus, Objectives, and Outcomes

Objectives:

As a result of this course, participants will demonstrate their ability to:

• Articulate the differences between traditional school relationships versus kindred school relationships.
• Discuss Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Model and how it relates to classroom development.
• Describe Senge’s Theory of Learning Organizations and how it relates to classroom synergy.
• List and describe Gardner’s A-Typical Intelligence Types and how these affect behavior and learning.
• List and discuss Reverman’s Synergy Types and how these affect behavior and learning.
• Review brain-based behavior models and their effect on learning and social behavior.
• Understand and articulate how bullies are created and how bullies can be retrained.
• Understand the effects of trauma on students and develop strategies to help students heal, develop resilience and coping strategies, and build positive relationships using social emotional learning (SEL).
• Understand culturally responsive pedagogy and develop skills to integrate it into curriculum and school environment.
• Compare and contrast Fred Jones’ Positive Discipline model with other classroom management systems.
• Review and discuss how to create a nurturing, safe classroom.
• Analyze literature and lessons that reinforce positive relationship building with students.
• Study and discuss songs and activities that reinforce positive relationship building with students.
• Review and list cooperative games that reinforce positive relationship building with students.
• Understand and describe how to develop empathy in students.
• Understand and describe how to help students self-regulate emotions, behavior, and social interactions.
• Understand Restorative Justice and develop skills to implement restorative practices at the classroom or school level.

Course Materials (Online):

Title: Build School Communities: Brain Smart Classroom Management, Dr. Ardys Reverman

Review Syllabus: Building_School_Communities_Ardys_Reverman_VESi.pdf

Online registration URL closes @ 5:00 p.m. on May 3, 2024.