New Teacher Center improves student learning by accelerating the effectiveness of new teachers and school leaders. NTC partners with states, school districts, and policymakers to design and implement systems that create sustainable, high-quality mentoring and professional development; build leadership capacity; enhance teaching conditions; improve retention; and transform schools into vibrant learning communities.
Class Central TipsLearn How to Sign up to Coursera courses for free1600+ Coursera Courses That Are Still Completely FreeThis course will close for enrollment as of January 22, 2017.Discussion Based Professional LearningThe ability to effectively use technology is required for success in almost all facets of life these days. In order to prepare students to meet this college and career readiness requirement, teachers need to carefully consider how to integrate a variety of technological resources and learning opportunities into their instructional design.According to the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), “Continuously upgrading educators’ classroom technology skills is a prerequisite of ‘highly effective’ teaching. As part of our nation’s continued push to ensure every classroom is led by a qualified, highly effective teacher, we must commit that all P-12 educators have the skills to use modern information tools and digital content to support student learning in content areas and for student assessment. Effective teachers in the 21st Century should be, by definition, technologically savvy teachers.”The Integrating Technology Exploration focuses on teaching technology and digital literacy skills using a lesson plan grounded in the 21st Century Global Skills.This 6 week Exploration is classroom embedded professional learning that you will engage in independently and through discussions with your peers in the forums. There are 3 discussion prompts, 1 End of Exploration Self Assessment and 1 Survey required to complete this course.Overview and IntroductionYou will review the timeline and expectations for successful completion of this Exploration.Welcome/ExploreYou will explore the standards, think about the applications to your classroom, and choose the standard(s) upon which to base your lesson.Plan/PrepareYou will review resources and get input from content experts and other teachers as you plan a grade-level, standards-based lesson that targets technology and digital literacy skills. By the end of the week, you should have strategies to complete your lesson plan.Teach/ReflectYou will teach your lesson, evaluate what worked, and reflect on the next steps of how you will continue to build upon what you’ve learned.End of Exploration Self Assessment SurveyYou will complete a self assessment regarding the impact of your new learnings on your classroom practice and student success.
Class Central TipsLearn How to Sign up to Coursera courses for free1600+ Coursera Courses That Are Still Completely FreeThe Common Core State Standards arenew and will challenge our students to show evidence of learning in newways. Instructional shifts are required, especially for teachers who mustnow incorporate literacy into content areas. Integrating the literacy standardscan be difficult to do well. In this course you will have the support of acommunity and harness the power of collaboratively exchanging ideas withcolleagues, as you explore a variety of Literacy Design Collaborative tools toalign curriculum with the Common Core. Each week you’ll explore one aspect of the Literacy Design Collaborative model,choosing from a variety of resources to differentiate for your own learning. You’llthen participate in a discussion forum to share you insights, questions, andapplications with others.
Explorations are classroom-embedded professional development experiences for K-12 teachers. Through the Discussion Group for this Exploration, you’ll share questions, reflections, and resources with other teachers who are teaching problem solving in mathematics.
Class Central TipsLearn How to Sign up to Coursera courses for free1600+ Coursera Courses That Are Still Completely FreeThe Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (CCSSM) offer the opportunity for educators to transform teaching and learning by positioning students in more active roles as learners. In addition to explicit content standards (which describe what students will know), the CCSSM present a broad range of practice standards that describe ways that successful students in math demonstrate proficiency. What do students and teachers need to know to take on these standards? What does it mean, for example, for students to persevere through new and challenging problems, and/or critique the reasoning of other students, and how can their teachers best support them?In the words of one math teacher, “it’s not the students’ job to figure out what is in our heads; it’s the teacher’s job to figure out what is in theirs.” Such an approach requires far more focus on formative assessment and deliberate strategies for teachers to pre-assess students’ assets, needs, and misconceptions – then move them forward while continually re-assessing.
Class Central TipsLearn How to Sign up to Coursera courses for free1600+ Coursera Courses That Are Still Completely FreeThis course will be closing enrollment as of 1/29/2017.Problem-solving is a powerful approach for teaching students to develop mathematical concepts and skills. This methodology is not about teaching a specific problem-solving skill to students; it’s about students using problem-solving and collaboration skills to develop their mathematical skills and solidify their identities as capable problem-solvers.Problem-solving is an instructional approach used widely in other countries and is currently helping to inform the instructional approaches many educators are developing to meet the demands of rigorous state math standards. Problem-solving is designed to create interest in mathematics and stimulate creative mathematical activity while supporting student collaboration in the classroom. A typical lesson starts with a problem, then might progress as follows:•First, students work individually to solve a problem using their own mathematical knowledge. •Then, students discuss various approaches and solutions with each other while the teacher listens closely to the strategies being used.•Lastly, the teacher facilitates a whole-class discussion to compare student approaches and solutions in a progression leading toward grade-level standards.According to Dr. Akihiko Takahashi from DePaul University, “The whole-class activity provides students with opportunities to develop their mathematical abilities including conceptual and procedural understanding.” Over time, students also develop critical qualities, such as perseverance and independence.In this Exploration, you will design a lesson that provides students with the opportunities to understand mathematical content while supporting them to become independent learners and problem-solvers.•In the Plan/Prepare section, you will select a math problem for students to solve and plan a lesson using the problem-solving approach.•In the Teach/Assess section, you will refine your lesson plan and include ways to assess the effectiveness of the content objective and the learning process.•In the Analyze/Reflect section, you will evaluate what worked and identify any challenges you may have encountered. You’ll also reflect on the next steps of how you can continue to build upon what you’ve learned.Through the Discussion Group for this Exploration, you’ll share questions, reflections, and resources with other teachers who are teaching math through problem-solving.Successful completion of this Exploration includes:•Regular weekly participation during the 8 weeks.•Posting in the Plan/Prepare, Teach/Assess, and Analyze/Reflect discussions in the Exploration Discussion Community.•Submitting the Exploration Self-Assessment and Survey within the allotted time frame.
Class Central TipsLearn How to Sign up to Coursera courses for free1600+ Coursera Courses That Are Still Completely FreeThe Common Core State Standards are new and will challenge our students to show evidence of learning in new ways. Instructional shifts are required, especially for teachers who must now incorporate literacy into content areas. Integrating the literacy standards can be difficult to do well. In this course you will have the support of a community and harness the power of collaboratively exchanging ideas with colleagues, as you design a teaching task (writing prompt) aligned with the Common Core. You will use a template from the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) to design a task that incorporates literacy into your content area and then create a brief plan for its use. These template tasks are a part of a much more in-depth LDC Module design and will serve to introduce you to the model and process.
Explorations are classroom-embedded professional development experiences for K-12 teachers. Through the Discussion Group for this Exploration, you’ll share questions, reflections, and resources with other teachers who are teaching communicating in mathematics.
Through the Discussion Group for this Exploration (or classroom-embedded professional development experience for K-12 teachers), you’ll share questions, reflections, and resources with other teachers who are looking for ways to integrate technology.
Class Central TipsLearn How to Sign up to Coursera courses for free1600+ Coursera Courses That Are Still Completely FreeThis course will be closed to new enrollment as of September 30, 2017 and remain monitored through December 19th, 2017.Success with your students starts on Day 1. Learn from NTC's 25 years developing key skills and strategies to create positive, productive classroom environments where students thrive. Build relationships with Secondary Grade (6-12) students, establish and maintain behavioral expectations, implement classroom procedures and routines, and use instructional time effectively.About the course:Developing mastery in establishing and maintaining a rich learning environment is one of the great joys of being a teacher. This course will provide high leverage strategies, resources, and support for professional growth so that you can provide students with the engaging, safe environment essential for student learning. This course is aligned to the needs of Secondary Grade teachers (6-12 grade, usually teaching multiple sections of the same content area, like math, fine arts, science, etc. to students 12 years and older).This course will teach you how to implement research-based strategies in the following areas: - Setting and communicating high expectations for students;- Building positive relationships with and between students;- Organizing the learning environment;- Behavioral preventions and interventions; and- Establishing and maintaining routines and procedures that support student learning.Stellar classrooms don’t just happen—they’re created with the kind of intentional planning and preparation this course offers so that you and your students can be successful from the start!
Class Central TipsLearn How to Sign up to Coursera courses for free1600+ Coursera Courses That Are Still Completely FreeThis course is closing enrollment as of January 22, 2017.In mathematics, communication skills supplement and enhance student conceptual understanding, computational fluency, and ability to solve problems. According to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, “Students who have opportunities, encouragement, and support for speaking, writing, reading, and listening in mathematics classes reap dual benefits: they communicate to learn mathematics, and they learn to communicate mathematically.”The 8 Standards for Mathematical Practice contained within the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) describe the processes and proficiencies that students should develop in age-appropriate progression throughout the math curriculum. Yet teaching these skills can be difficult. What does it mean to communicate mathematically? What do the standards say we should be teaching? And how can we teach those skills to all of our math students? The Communicating in Math Exploration focuses on reviewing the standards and creating a lesson plan that integrates a Mathematical Practice, such as MP3---constructing viable arguments and critiquing the reasoning of others.This 6 week Exploration is classroom embedded professional learning that you will engage in independently and through discussions with your peers in the forums. There are 3 discussion prompts , 1 End of Exploration Self Assessment and 1 Survey required to complete this course.Overview and IntroductionYou will review the timeline and expectations for successful completion of this Exploration.Welcome/ExploreYou will explore the 8 Mathematical Practices and your grade-level Common Core Mathematics standards focused on supporting students to communicate mathematically.Plan/PrepareYou will review resources and get input from other teachers as you plan a grade-level lesson that targets communication and math skills. By the end of the week, you should have strategies to complete your lesson plan.Teach/ReflectYou will teach your lesson, evaluate what worked, and reflect on the next steps of how you will continue to build upon what you’ve learnedEnd of Exploration Self Assessment & SurveyYou will complete a self assessment regarding the impact of your new learnings on your classroom practice and student success.
Class Central TipsLearn How to Sign up to Coursera courses for free1600+ Coursera Courses That Are Still Completely FreeThe goal of the College and Career Ready Standards (CCRS) is that all students be college and career ready when they graduate from high school. Students need to be able to read, write, speak, listen, and use language effectively in a variety of content areas and teachers need to be able to teach these skills. With the new CCRS, all K-12 teachers are now teachers of literacy.For many teachers, integrating literacy that meets clearly defined standards can be challenging. The CCRS are new, especially those for literacy in the content areas. In this Exploration you will have the support of others, and the opportunity to exchange ideas with colleagues, as you integrate the teaching of reading and writing strategies into your curriculum.In this Exploration you will use some of the tools from the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) to incorporate the CCRS literacy standards. These tools are a part of a much more in-depth LDC Module design and will serve to introduce you to the model. •In the Plan/Prepare section of this exploration, you will explore the template tasks and the LDC Writing Rubrics. •In the Teach/Assess section, you will help your students develop reading and/or writing strategies to support them in addressing the task. You will then use the task you have created within your instruction and assess student work using the LDC Rubric. •In the Analyze/Reflect section, you will discuss what worked in this process and how you might continue to use and learn more about the LDC tools as part of your teaching.Through the Discussion Group for this Exploration, you’ll share questions, reflections, and resources with other teachers who are using the LDC tasks and rubrics in their teaching.Successful completion of this Exploration includes:•Regular weekly participation during the 8 weeks.•Posting in the Plan/Prepare, Teach/Assess, and Analyze/Reflect Exploration Forums in the Exploration Discussion Community.•Submitting the Exploration Self-Assessment and Survey within the allotted time frame.
Class Central TipsLearn How to Sign up to Coursera courses for free1600+ Coursera Courses That Are Still Completely FreeThis course will be closed to new enrollment as of September 30, 2017 and remain monitored through December 19th, 2017.Success with your students starts on Day 1. Learn from NTC's 25 years developing key skills and strategies to create positive, productive classroom environments where students thrive. How do you build relationships with Elementary Grade (K-6) students, establish and maintain behavioral expectations, implement classroom procedures and routines, and use instructional time effectively?About the Course:Developing mastery in establishing and maintaining a rich learning environment is one of the great joys of being a teacher. This course will provide high leverage strategies, resources, and support for professional growth so that you can provide students with the engaging, safe environment essential for student learning. This course is aligned to the needs of Elementary Grade teachers (self-contained K-6, or teaching the same set of students usually under 12 years old).This course will teach you how to implement research-based strategies in the following areas: - Setting and communicating high expectations for students;- Building positive relationships with and between students;- Organizing the learning environment;- Behavioral preventions and interventions; and- Establishing and maintaining routines and procedures that support student learning.Stellar classrooms don’t just happen—they’re created with the kind of intentional planning and preparation this course offers so that you and your students can be successful from the start!
Explorations are classroom-embedded professional development experiences for K-12 teachers. Through the Discussion Group for this Exploration, you’ll share questions, reflections, and resources with other teachers who are also integrating literacy standards.