Fully Online: Course runs Friday, February 19 through Friday, April 2, 2021.
Webinar on Tuesday, February 23 from 7:00pm - 8:15pm (Register by February 12)
Social Studies and Humanities pose distinct challenges for struggling learners. Extensive discipline-specific vocabulary, difficult informational texts –including complex primary sources– and a need for background knowledge can be barriers. Yet the authentic sources, important ideas and connections to issues of these subjects also offer virtual tools for differentiation and potent means to motivate students.
This exciting graduate course supports content instruction for Students with Disabilities in History-Social Studies and Humanities (including literature, art, music, and language); and for Special Education teachers.
Grounded in a decade of practice by history educators, historians, and experts in Special Education, and based on current research and innovative classroom practices this course features models of best practices and employs primary sources and analysis tools.
Participants will:
- Gain and apply practical classroom strategies.
- Integrate History of Disability through issues of Citizenship, private and government responsibility to provide services, and struggles for empowerment.
- Create/adapt lessons: Universal Design for Learning and brain-based language learning.
“Accessing Inquiry” courses meet Massachusetts teacher license renewal requirements for 15-hours of professional development on teaching students with disabilities and students with diverse learning styles or for 15-hours professional development on teaching English Learners. Link to renewal regulations.
Audience
Teachers in Social Studies or Humanities; Grades 4-12.
Invite a partner! We encourage - but do not require - participation of teams, such as a Special Education teacher and a History/American Literature teacher, members of a department, or interdisciplinary teams.
Course Expectations
The online course will run 2.5 hours per week plus some additional reading. Participants may complete work at a convenient time of day for them. There will be one or two scheduled webinars. (Option to watch recordings if needed.) Each week will include a mix of readings, online activities, and video clips. Each week, participants will write responses to prompts in a class forum, and reply to classmates’ posts in the second half of the week. Over the six weeks, participants will each find and create a text set of primary sources and write a lesson plan that employs techniques of access for English Learners.
Please note: This is a graduate-level course. (Sample syllabus from prior course). All participants will be required to prepare for the start of the training by setting up access to course resources in Google Docs and Canvas, and posting to introduce themselves in the TPS Teachers Network. More about this assignment will be emailed after registration is complete.
Credit
Massachusetts teachers receive 22.5 PDPs upon completion of the course and assignments (as per DESE regulations awarding time-and-a-half for graduate-level professional development). CES will send others a letter of participation for 15 hours.
Participants may choose instead to take this course for 1 graduate credit in partnership with Westfield State University. Graduate Credit from Westfield State University costs $125. Registration for Graduate Credit takes place in the first class, with payment accepted by credit card or check.
“Accessing Inquiry” courses meet Massachusetts teacher license renewal requirements for 15-hours of professional development on teaching students with disabilities and students with diverse learning styles or for 15-hours professional development on teaching English Learners. Link to renewal regulations.
Dates
Course runs Friday, February 19 through Friday, April 2, 2021.
Webinar: Tuesday, February 23 from 7:00pm - 8:15pm Eastern Standard Time
Registration Deadline: February 12
Cost
$80.00.