PBS TeacherLine

INST120 Creating Units to Support Differing Learning Styles

Unlock the secrets to developing a curriculum that meets the learning needs of different types of students. Create a cross-curricular unit that integrates technology to support learning, and plan lessons that address the different ways that your students learn. Activities will help you build flexibility into your lesson plans, enabling you to integrate your new knowledge into your instruction.

INST125 Building Critical Thinking Skills for Online Research

Put 21st century skills into practice as you help students get the most from their online research by encouraging their critical-thinking and information literacy skills. Explore different information search process models and strengthen your own online research skills.

INST180 Differentiated Instruction

Meet the needs of all your middle-school students with techniques to differentiate content, activities, and assessments. Discover methods for pre-assessment and strategies for tiered activities. Create a differentiated instructional unit that meets your local standards of learning.

INST300 Curriculum Mapping I by Heidi Hayes Jacobs

Explore curriculum mapping in this course developed with expert Dr. Heidi Hayes Jacobs. Understand how to incorporate mapping in classrooms to enrich curricula and have a powerful impact on student performance. Part I explores the history and purpose of curriculum mapping, your role as a teacher, the types of maps, and the various data collected in the maps. You will finish the course with a complete peer-reviewed plan to adjust the scope and sequence of your curriculum.

INST305 Curriculum Mapping II by Heidi Hayes Jacobs

This follow up to Curriculum Mapping I shifts the focus from classroom data mapping to schoolwide curriculum planning, and explores the role of curriculum mapping teams. Analyze and refine the data in your curriculum maps, then apply seven phases of review and revision to develop one for your school. Note: Curriculum Mapping I must be completed before enrollment in this course.

This course is only offered to groups of 12 or more learners.

INST310 Inquiry-Based Learning in the Classroom

Knowledge gained through investigation produces greater student understanding and achievement. Discover the key principles of inquiry-based learning, and observe and assess its effectiveness on class lessons and student Web projects. Develop an inquiry facilitation plan for a unit to implement inquiry based learning in your classroom.

INST315 Teaching for Multiple Intelligences

Discover the advantages of teaching methods that engage multiple intelligences and explore ways to implement them. You will also learn to teach and assess students differently based on their individual intellectual styles.

INST320 Connecting Family, Community and Schools

Learn the Action Team for Partnership (ATP) model and discover how to engage families and communities in children's education. Examine the "connection" issues, acquire tools to integrate partnership programming into your curriculum, and develop a plan that involves parents, family members, and community resources in your own classroom.

INST325 Using Assessment and Evaluation

Delve into the full array of assessment and evaluation tools, including rubrics, journals, formal and informal assessments, and portfolios. Then, create an effective rubric based on an existing student assignment.

INST342 Teaching with Primary Sources from the Library of Congress

This course helps educators utilize the more than 19 million resources and materials of the Library of Congress to create student engagement, build critical thinking skills, and enhance knowledge construction with primary sources. Gain a new understanding of how close contact with the library’s historical resources can provide young people with a strong sense of the past and a new understanding of the present.