Guiding Children Successfully, Episode 3: Parents and Teachers Working Together - Parental Involvement

This course instructs teachers and parents on how to work as partners to assist children. Three main points for parent and teacher cooperation are discussed by host and Family Life Specialist, Dr. Wally Goddard. Also among the topics discussed are negotiation skills, strategies for helping children succeed in school, and strategies for handling hostilities.

Resource: Using PBS LearningMedia in the Classroom

Educators work hard to support their students. They are mentors, guides, and champions, helping students develop life's most important skills. And educators know better than anyone else how to prepare their students for the road ahead. That's why PBS and WGBH partnered to create PBS LearningMedia, a trusted source for pre-K-12 classroom resources. 

This resource page will provide an array of documents for educators to explore and learn how to utilize the PBS LearningMedia platform in their classrooms. PBS LearningMedia offers free and easy access to thousands of lesson plans, videos, interactives, productivity tools, and curated collections to give every teacher the chance to create one-of-a-kind learning experiences that ignite students' curiosity. And with PBS LearningMedia's Google Classroom and Remind integration, assigning the lesson you've created just takes a few clicks.

Notice: Professional development credit for these resources is not available from ArkansasIDEAS.

Grab Your Students By Their Brains with Humor and Passion

In this course, LouAnne Johnson discusses reaching seemingly unreachable students. Ms. Johnson is the author of the New York Times bestseller Dangerous Minds, which was turned into a movie by the same name. The book and movie recount the difficult time she had at the beginning of her teaching career. Ms. Johnson now uses those experiences to teach others how to "grab" their own students "by their brains" using humor and passion, just as she did.

This presentation was taped at the 2015 AASCD summer conference in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Closing the Attitude Gap

Mr. Baruti Kafele, Principal presents advice to help educators transform student attitudes. He emphasizes the importance of teacher self-reflection, overwhelmingly positive environments, and the students' will to strive. He also explains how students who live goal-oriented lives are more likely to achieve success. By focusing on closing the “attitude gap,” teachers enable students to soar with purpose in their own lives.

This presentation was taped at the 2015 AASCD summer conference in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Grey Matters: Teaching the Way the Brain Learns

The Brain-Targeted Teaching Model creates a framework that combines neuroscience research and best practices. The aim is to give teachers practical strategies that result in helping students connect to content in meaningful ways to achieve deeper learning and can be applied in any subject area. This course is an introduction to the model in action, seen through the eyes of students, educators, and Dr. Mariale Hardiman, author of The Brain-Targeted Teaching Model for 21st-Century Schools. 

Better Together: Critical Components of Co-Teaching

The goal of the Better Together co-teaching series is the creation of more inclusive classrooms in Arkansas where ALL students have equal access to the general education curriculum as well as social-emotional learning.

The first course in this three-part series focuses on the critical components of co-teaching: co-planning, co-instructing, and co-assessing. In this course, we discuss the importance of each component and how the components work together to build the foundation for effective instruction in the co-taught classroom. Co-teachers that participate in this course will gain knowledge that will aid in planning effective lessons, delivering those lessons using specially designed instruction, and assessing for the purpose of data-driven decision making, while working together cohesively to benefit all students.

Better Together: Six Instructional Formats for Co-Teaching

The goal of the Better Together co-teaching series is the creation of more inclusive classrooms in Arkansas where ALL students have equal access to the general education curriculum as well as social-emotional learning. 

The second course in this three-part series focuses on the six instructional formats recommended for providing effective co-taught instruction. In this course, we discuss the uses of each instructional format and their potential benefits and challenges. Participants will gain a better understanding of how each format works in the classroom and will learn to choose the best format to use with various lessons.

RTI Arkansas: Overview

RTI Arkansas: Overview is the first module of the RTI Arkansas educational initiative, which is designed to be a comprehensive, cultural shift within schools. In this overview course, educators from across the state share their insight on Response to Intervention (RTI) to show how it has made an impact. Response to Intervention is defined in detail, including its essential components, the multi-tiered system of supports, screening, progress monitoring, and data-based decision making.  

Creating a Culture that Connects

Creating a Culture that Connects showcases Joel Lookadoo, 2020 Arkansas Teacher of the Year, as he provides understanding that the culture of our classrooms helps build students’ identities and that developing the whole person and high-quality, academic instruction are not mutually exclusive. Developing the whole person is for adults just as much as it is for kids, and this course is designed to help you explore that. Joel will provide strategies on incorporating academic content alongside skills that develop the whole person and evaluate the use of technology and instructional strategies for their ability to foster connection to create innovative experiences. 

Understanding Alternative Education in Arkansas

This course highlights successful Alternative Learning Environments (ALEs) across the state and the techniques and approaches that are used to reach struggling learners. Students are given the chance to voice their opinion on the experiences they have had in an ALE. The teachers and experts discuss a variety of topics, covering everything from student-teacher ratio to the advantages and disadvantages of hiring security guards.