Source: https://www.theteachersacademy.com/about-us/testimonials/
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 19:01:23+00:00

Document:
“Being able to include students of all levels of learning because that is what this lesson focused on.” Jessica S.
“Caught Texting activity---students will be thrilled to do it.” Bethany K.
“I found that the activities listed were ones I could directly apply to my lessons tomorrow.” Tara W.
“Linking lesson plans to Common Core. We are working on Common Core at my school and now I have 3 new lesson plans to use. I thought it was great!” Meredith F.
“I appreciated the Three Strategy Implementation project because it gave me access to 10 different activities and allowed me to choose those most applicable to my classroom.” Heidi L.
“I enjoyed the lesson planning. I had never thought of performing modern day interest based activities, such as texting or making a FB page, to learn about a figure in history. This could be a super fun way to learn, review and test!” Amy J.
“I really enjoyed the video analysis section of this course. I watched it multiple times to see the collaboration between the teachers and their interactions with their students in the different settings. I feel that sharing information and researching instruction with other teaching professionals is critical to the development of students as learners.” Sarah B.
“The Google Earth activity. I think it is a great idea to show the students pictures of a region or historical site that they studied. Very useful.” Suzanne H.
“Addressing different learning styles and ability levels. I chose this because it is very challenging to achieve this in the classroom and this course provided examples and real projects that can be used to do just that.” Andrew P.
“I actually enjoyed the activity titled "Virtual Tour". I think my students would get into it because I not only have them learning about famous musicians, but adding their prediction of their future and how it could unfold, which could keep students interested.” Kristie H.
“The video response. I even tried the Math activities with my students.” Megan C.
"Implementing Three Activities; this really got me thinking about how this course applies in "real life" in my content area!" Jennifer C.
“I really liked the 10 activities to choose from and to implement. You can use them in so many ways and for different subjects. They are engaging for all learners.” Elizabeth K.
“Reviewing all of the websites - what great new resources to have!” Jean B.
“Browsing/becoming aware of and familiar with these websites. They are valuable, but without this course I would not likely have taken the time to get to know them.” Wendy M.
“The stand-out skill for this class was exposure to wonderful educational websites. I became aware of many websites that I had not previously known.” Kathleen M.
“I learned about many new websites that were available. I was not aware of their existence before this course.” Elaine K.
“Stand out skill was being able to better evaluate the pros and cons of various websites. There are so many websites that provide interactive games and activities for students but I feel like it is important to consider which ones will be easy for students to navigate or consider if they have ads, etc. I feel like I take more time doing that now.” Carey A.
“I learned a great deal about a couple of websites I had never even heard of as a teacher and could use a great deal of in the classroom! I was able to quickly think of ways to incorporate these websites with lessons I teach in class.” Jennifer S.
"I liked researching all the various websites to see which ones would be truly beneficial to use in the classroom." Lynn H.
“It was eye opening to me to discover new websites that could be useful in the classroom and enhance the students' learning experience.” Debra B.
“Reviewing websites - I selected this activity because technology is becoming a huge part of education, and it is important for teachers to possess the skills needed to direct students to appropriate and valuable websites.” Katie B.
“The actual reviewing of websites. I never have time to do that and this forced me to be able to actually look at content of websites.” Tara M.
“The stand-out activity in this course was my exposure to excellent websites for both the teacher and the students. As I explored the sites, I was amazed with the available resources online. In my substituting experience, I had played "Peep and the Big Wide World" videos selected by the permanent classroom teacher but was not aware of the great science curriculum the site included. So, this course activity opened my eyes to resources I can access even as a substitute teacher.” Carol M.
“I did enjoy learning about the different websites available. I am a retired teacher but like to keep my license current. So I am not very web intelligent but there are some sites that I will use just for my own information such as the Have fun with History.” Evelyn C.
“Both projects helped me develop my excel skills for the classroom.” Felice I.
“Class Grade Sheet - I often have to present data to parents, administration and other support staff for meetings or placement purposes. This would allow for more professional looking presentation and eliminate much of the math involved.” Tabitha M.
“Using formulas in Excel to make quick calculations.” Kristal P.
“The class grade sheet because i will be able to use this when teaching and doing grades in the future.” Rebecca L.
“Student Grade Sheet because I think it is important for students to see their grades for each project so they can improve before the report cards come out.” Alaina K.
“Creating the Student Assignment Sheet was very informational! It was valuable to learn formulas to save time when entering grades!” Melissa C.
“Researching the various websites. I learned of the existence of so many useful websites that I was not aware of. I like the variety of resources that each site offers. I especially like the fact that there are interactive sites for students as well as sites with resources for teachers.” Diane E.
“I often don't have time to look for resources on the web, this was a great opportunity to do so in a narrowed field. I will use at least three of the sites regularly now and recommend them to others.” Wendy A.
“I enjoyed spending time learning about different apps and websites that could help me with my future students.” Jennifer R.
“Reviewing internet apps and websites should be a strong skill for all teacher, and this class improved my skill level.” Gordon G.
“Creating an activity to be used in class based on the websites or apps. This was stand out project because it is something that can easily be used in a preschool classroom.” Jennifer R.
“I loved exploring Ezra Jack Keats website and learning how to incorporate diversity into my lesson plans.” Alayne G.
“I chose to create an updated resource list for parents that included many of the websites that I learned about in this course. I chose this activity because I felt the resources I was providing to families at the end of Evaluation Reports was outdated. I also liked that the one resource I was most excited about was available in Spanish to prepare their children for the transition to Kindergarten.” Kathleen C.
“Knowing there are many websites out there for use. Good to know we have outside help for teachers.” Hilary D.
“Integrating the website resources by creating an activity was the stand-out activity for me. This is because I had to take what I learned and implement it in a practical way.” Meagan S.
“I chose to create a lesson using one of the websites that I discovered during this course. I reason that I chose to create a lesson was because it has direct application within my classroom and I will implement the lesson in the upcoming school year.” Jean S.
“Some of the websites I learned about were very cool and usable for the classroom.” LaVonna W.
“Creating a lesson plan based on the websites I reviewed was very helpful.” Molly B.
“I enjoyed the website reviews. The websites associated with this course gave me new resources for lesson planning and teaching.” Katherine S.
“I enjoyed the actual website review. It is a task that I never have time for and this forced me to take the time to review educational websites.” Tara M.
“The wealth of websites that were compiled was an amazing resource!” Jennifer H.
“Reviewing the website. They are powerful resources that I did not know about before this class.” Madeline O.
“The variety of sites offered. I liked that they weren't just history or geography. All aspects of social studies were demonstrated.” Jean B.
“I enjoyed exploring all the different websites. There is such a variety of websites for social studies teaching that it often makes it hard to get a handle on the best. This course helped narrow the field.” Victoria W.
“The integration of website resources project was the "Stand Out" activity as it was helpful to integrate the information of the course into my content area.” Bridgette M.
“I think the value of this course was the introduction to various social studies websites that can be very useful in the classroom. If not for this course, I probably would not have found these sites.” Stacey P.
“The exposure to new web resources was the stand-out component of the class.” Vincent G.
“I really liked the website on the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. The list of websites was very helpful. Some I had seen before but never taken the time to explore. This course gave me the opportunity to do that. I think the most important part of the lesson was creating a detailed lesson plan from a website. I am looking forward to using this in my class.” Hanora B.
“Ted Ed was an invaluable addition to my teaching tools. It has endless topics to be utilized at all grade levels. As a special needs teacher I am constantly searching for materials to meet the challenging needs of my students. Ted Ed is a wonderful tool.” Nancy H.
“This provided me with a strong format to house or receive student research.” Chris M.
“Writing the lesson after reviewing the math sites got my creative juices going. I have begun the lesson I created for this course. The students loved the math video and challenge. They enjoy working with peers and investigating guided topics. Not sure how they will do on plotting data - I don't believe they have been challenged with this high order math skill previously.” Nancy H.
“Creating my math centers - it will be very useful in my classroom.” Sarah C.
“The stand-out skill was personally completing the story maker reading strategy. I think that was the best way for me to understand the strategy and I enjoyed completing it. If I enjoyed completing it, then chances are my students will too. I think it is a very effective teaching tool for reading and I like how the course approached it.” Meagan S.
“This lesson offered a different strategy when presenting new vocabulary to enhance reading skills. Learning new key words and using them in a creative writing lesson sounds like a fun and effective way to secure comprehension and reading fluency.” Marilyn B.
“I really liked how it started off by going through the strategy from a student's point of view. That really helped me see how beneficial and engaging it would be for a student.” Erika B.
“The stand-out skill was the introduction of new words in a fun way that uses critical thinking. It seems anytime a student uses critical thinking skills, the idea seems to take root.” Amber M.
“Enhanced reading activities. I am always looking for new and innovative ways for students to express knowledge and this is a great method!” Katie R.
“Use of story in vocabulary development- a creative, engaging way to teach what is typically a tedious lesson.” Marian R.
“I liked learning a new way to integrate writing into reading.” Katie C.
“Writing your own story-maker story because you had a chance to be in the student’s shoes for a moment.” Julie L.
“The stand-out activity was the create a story. I never thought to have the students write their own story first using vocabulary words to enhance learning.” Linda F.
"The part I enjoyed most was the opening activity, it gave me the opportunity to act as the student would, and it put me in the correct frame of mind to complete the assignment." Natasha S.
“I use tables all the time in my classroom for different things. We recently updated to 2016 Word and this course has helped me learn new ways to create and make my tables more effective.” Amy K.
“Several specific ways of changing a table. Lots of good tidbits!” Joe U.
“I appreciated learning to use tables to create grading rubrics.” Karen D.
“The Lesson Plan Project was great, as it will be used all the time when I have to prepare with a new course or textbook.” Pamela B.
“Removing borders and merging/splitting cells because I didn't know how to do this and now that I do, I can create better tables in less time.” Wendy E.
“To help organize my student grades and help my students become more accountable with their own learning.” Elizabeth M.
“Learning to do the weighted grade sheet and template that I can adapt for my class.” Katherine G.
“I am retired and only have used paper pencil for grading. Wanting to update my technology skills for classroom.” Naomi R.
“The weighted grade sheet by category was awesome! I will be sure to use this one in the classroom as I am always trying to find fun and exciting ways for students to pay attention to and calculate their grades in real time.” Kara B.
“The weighted student grade sheet, I had not used SUMIF before and this presented a good use for it.” Justin B.
“I am excited to be able to bring a new level of PowerPoint presentations to my classroom. I love that I have this new skill!” Elizabeth L.
“The stand-out skill in this lesson was learning how to use and create triggers in a Powerpoint. It takes several steps to put triggers in a power point and this lesson walked me through each step.” Nealy D.
“Completing the game using triggers, it helped cement the skills being taught.” Loretta M.
“I enjoyed the activity -- I used volleyball PowerPoint. I used this because I teach 8 units in my class. Every unit has a quiz at the end of it. I believe with me adding a power point quiz on to our google classroom this will enable my students to perform better on their unit quizzes and quarter assessments.” Keith C.
“I enjoyed the animation pane. It made me feel like I was programming.” Anne M.
“Using the triggers to make my own game was probably most beneficial to me. I am currently homeschooling my five year old and she had fun trying it out when I finished. I enjoyed being creative and hope it is ok that mine is different from the sample I was to copy.” Hillary R.
“The entire lesson was fun and interesting. I will use these skills a lot.” Susan D.
“I thought the projects in this lesson were a helpful way about reinforcing the information presented in course. I really enjoyed the Myth of Average video and the way it made me view approaching students.” Tanya B.
“As a special education teacher I am always looking for any new information to enhance my teaching. While I have learned about UDL through school, it was great to learn about it and re-visit it.” Meghan Q.
“Giving students autonomy to choose their own activities or modes of learning.” Irene S.
“I think the reworking a lesson was really beneficial. It helped me to look again at my instruction process and gage the outcome I was seeking would in fact be achievable. I really re-worked my lesson!” Karen M.
“I really enjoyed the TEDex video. I found the fighter pilots metaphor very useful.” Melissa W.
“The Myth of Average Video Response. The presenter made a lot of really great points that I had never really thought about before!” Jennifer C.
“I liked the lesson redesign, the application helped me understand the difference parts of UDL more clearly. “ Natasha S.
“I particularly enjoyed where I was able to design my own test. Many times this can be time consuming, however using Microsoft Word can indeed speed up the process.” Scott F.
“I enjoyed learning some new skills for copying images and inserting texts, as well as learning how to cite references and do a bibliography.” Sandra S.
“Using references. I had no previous experience using these functions.” Jeffrey C.
“The certificate because that was a new skill for me and it looked very professional when completed.” Lisa N.
“The parent letter/ merged letter. I did not know how to take a generic letter and easily insert information for my whole class without doing each individual student. Definitely a lesson I will use in the future!” Bracey B.
“Writing the report. I am an elementary school teacher and it was useful learning how to insert references and creating a bibliography.” Maria M.
“Creating a test inside Microsoft Word. I have to make tests (or at least create sections to add to the ones that come with my textbook) almost every week, and this course gave me a lot of tools to make those tests better organized, more focused, and easier for students to understand.” Charles L.
“The Report. I was challenged to choose a professional topic, given that I am now a consultant and researcher. I liked that you opened it up to be a report of practical use. I would teach such a class again.” Dr. Madelene O.
“Loved the merged letter - I have used Word for years, I never used this feature or really looked at it. Thought the course was great and explained very well.” Teresa B.
“The mail merge stood out to me. I had no idea the functionality existed. I'll be teaching this to my Computer Apps class.” Nick K.
“Using clip art pictures for tests. It is a quick and easy way to bring more life to assessments.” Michael P.
“The Parent Letter/Mail Merge activity was so helpful. Prior to this class I would spend hours typing out information in different formats. I thought this was going to be difficult, however it was quite the opposite!” Elizabeth M.
“The Report: Many people in my age group know how to do the basic functions of Microsoft Word--basic typing, changing fonts/sizes, fixing grammatical errors, etc. But the more detailed/advanced features such as documentation is something I definitely needed freshened up on.” Chad B.
“Creating a Certificate- This is a motivational project for elementary students. I truly felt like the course covered so many options Microsoft Word offers. I can't come up with a skill I felt was left out.” Jaclyn P.
“The mailing list will be an extremely useful tool for application in my program.” Robert C.
"Creating a document utilizing the insert functions: header, footers, clip art, text wrap, etc. and mail merge. The course was an excellent introductory to Microsoft Word. Therefore, the curriculum was perfect." Paul T.
"I loved learning the features of the Mail Merge. This is an invaluable skill and will be extremely beneficial and time saving. I also loved the Reference section and even shared it with my own children while I was learning about it!" Joella H.
“Creating research reports. I learned skills like how to write citations (easier than I expected!) and footnotes. This is definitely something I can use with my students, especially third and fourth graders.” Heather R.
“The mail-merge letter—it incorporated skills I didn't even know about and I am SO grateful for!” Abigail R.
“Mail Merging was really helpful. I've simply never used it because I never understood how to. I'll be using it every chance I get!” Phillip N.
“I enjoyed all of the projects/assessments in the course however I learned most about the mail merge project. This project was something I never had done before, I struggled initially but learned the most from the challenge.” Michael K.
“Integrated Projects: Report- There were features that I used in Microsoft Word that I have never used before such as captions with photos and citations.” Michele F.
“Parent Communication Letter. I did not know that I could type 1 letter and merge it with another document to fill in areas specific to each individual child.” Lindsey M.
“The stand out activity was the grade sheet; it was very valuable for me to learn how to use a spreadsheet to calculate grades.” Louise S.
“I learned a lot from all of the projects as I did not know how to use EXCEL. Most schools in my area use a commercial gradebook, so I probably won't have to make my own. I will use mail merge to communicate with parents, that is certain. I believe that the budget activity was a stand-out project as well as it introduced me to the formulas used in EXCEL and could be easily used in a home economics or life skills class.” Andrea K.
“The standout projects in this lesson were creating a grade sheet and address/mail merge. These two projects will be useful in my classroom and used on a regular basis.” Nadeen R.
“Adding student records when doing the grade sheet. It was nice to learn how to add more students without disrupting the outcome of others already in the spreadsheet. I am always getting new students in my classroom and adding them in the mix is always a problem.” Robert S.
“Mail Merge feature. I could never get this right in the past. This section was very helpful.” John H.
“The stand out skill, for me, was setting up the spreadsheet. The format was explained well and easy to follow.” Elizabeth R.
“Financial Budget: I chose this course because this is something that I could use everyday in my personal life not just in a professional scenario.” Ryan R.
“Budget - this is good to know for, both, personal and professional.” Kara B.
"I enjoyed all of the projects in this course. The budget, grades, and merging are all things that are daily activities and is relevant." Teresa B.
"The stand out activity in this lesson was the grading sheet. It has very direct practical applications that any teacher can use and the student's can use as well. Additionally, the different functions that can be applied to the data allow for quick and accurate snapshots of how student's are doing academically and allows a teacher to see who needs extra instruction." Joella H.
“Excel was never a program that I used very much. The ability to now create tables and charts to monitor student progress for my curriculum will help me greatly.” Brian M.
“The stand-out skill in this lesson was developing a formatted grade sheet. I found this useful regarding the organization of course activities and outlining expectations. Learning how to assign percentages, sort data and filter data are helpful tools in tracking student scores. This also serves as a vital resource for both the parent and student.” Steven S.
“The Personal Finance Budget Project served as the stand out project for me probably because it was the first project in the course and it taught me a few new, time-saving tricks.” Nancy T.
“The grade sheet stands-out to me. This gives me an additional tool when communicating with parents, to be able to send home weekly progress reports. Especially with struggling students, parents want to be aware of their progress throughout the journey. It was also beneficial to learn how to add in new students in the middle of a term.” Mary S.
“The Budget spreadsheet. I teach Economics and found that there are a lot of ways that I can enhance student's knowledge of their own spending habits using the format presented in this course.” Thomas N.
“One skill I learned that I found to be beneficial is the use of formulas particularly in the grade book and budget assignments.” Michael K.
“Personal Budget - I have tried to create a budget on Excel and this lesson has definitely given me the tools to create one more professionally.” Thomas E.
“Creating the Chart/graph and the Mail Merge. I always struggle with creating a graph, but this step-by-step made it so very quick and easy. I will be able to help my science fair students so much better now! The mail merge I hadn't done before, but I will definitely be doing much more now, even in my personal life.” Angelina M.
“Creating a gradebook for this is so important in the classroom and makes knowing how your students are doing in the classroom easy to access for parents and report cards.” Michelle F.
“I liked learning how to use mail merge because several of my colleagues have use it and I have always wanted to learn how. I will be teaching members of my family also how to use it for address labels for Christmas cards.” Jon F.
“I am decent on excel, but I never linked it to word for the labels. There are also so many things to do in excel, it was great to use things I have never used.” Broc H.
“I really enjoyed the Interactive Presentation because it allowed you to have more freedom with content and design. It also allowed me to try my skills at using shapes to create different images for the presentation.” Adam M.
“The stand-out skill for me was adding references, I was unfamiliar with this skill, so it took a little bit of time to understand how to use it.” Carole M.
“I chose the interactive game skills as my stand-out skills. These skills could be adapted to any of my lessons to make a quick and fun review for my students.” Susan D.
“Interactive Games- I had absolutely no experience with this aspect of Power Point. I was stuck on animating objects. What stood out was how accessible the staff at The Teachers Academy is- they were truly a lifesaver!” Tamara C.
“Interactive Presentation. I was glad to learn the trigger function, as I can see it helping in the classroom, making the work more interactive and changing from the usual routine.” Irene S.
“I think the stand out skill for me was learning how to use triggers. I had no experience with those and it will be fun to create interactive games for my students in the future.” Leslie S.
“I think interactive presentation was definitely the stand out activity. I had never created or used Powerpoint in that way and never knew how to use triggers. It was interesting to learn about and create the game. I have many ideas of how to use triggers and games on power point in my classroom.” Julianne T.
“The Interactive Presentation was very challenging! I hope to use this to create classroom assessments to be used as a study guide game.” Kara B.
"I choose the Interactive Power Point lesson just because it incorporates a different take on learning and I believe would help keep student's interested in the lesson. This is also a great way to review what you have taught in previous lesson and evaluate student content retention." Ryan R.
“Animation at the end. I made a spinner and now use it in class for games.” Justin B.
“The Interactive Presentation, because my students love playing games to learn, and this design will reap benefits long term with learning Social Skills.” Robert A.
“The web search project was helpful because it helped me to see the importance of scaffolding the process of learning how to search the internet. It is easy to forget that navigating the internet takes skills that need to be practice at all learning levels.” Amy Y.
“How to use Wikispaces--I had never used this before and thought this was another good way to have students interact.” Paula C.
“I think creating the web-search was the most useful for me--I was able to create something I could immediately utilize with my current curriculum.” Harry C.
“Probably making a lesson plan to cover plagiarism because it is so important- often we just talk about what not to do and don't include what to do.” Darlene P.
“The 'wake-up' call regarding cyber bullying as it relates to social media.” Andrew S.
“Creating blogs and wikis for the classroom. I have not used wikis or class blogs. I will be incorporating them in my classroom next year. They can be amazing tools to enhance the learning experience.” Maria M.
“Learning to use the Edublogs and Wikispaces was invaluable. Will definitely be taking those into my classroom.” Ronald S.
“Web Search. I thought it was interesting and think it will be a good project in the classroom.” Margaret D.
“Creating the wiki page was the stand out skill/ project in this lesson. I chose this lesson because this project taught me a way to connect with students on many levels in and out side of the classroom. I am now able to extend teaching time to reach students who need help once they are home.” Ryan R.
“Create a Web Search. I feel that this is a very useful activity for teachers working at any grade level. Even if a classroom can only use a lab occasionally, a teacher can easily incorporated this into her lessons. Web searches can be as basic as a one website search and as complicated at searching for information and citing sources. Unfortunately, my home computer would only allow me to create this on Word pad. The project was pretty basic. This has opened my mind into other activities that I can use in the future.” Dawn B.
“The Edublogs and Wiki were the stand-out projects in this lesson. I chose these because before this course I was afraid to try any of these resources because i thought they would be too difficult for me to use. While it will still take some time for me to properly utilize blogs or wikispaces, I now know that they are not too hard and are accessible for me to use.” Diane T.
“Creating a blog for my classroom is very relevant and will be immediately useful and engaging for students.” Jonathan D.
“I chose the Cyberbullying project because I think this is a great tool that I will be able to use later in my classroom and to share with other staff. The course covered a great deal of information in a concise, meaningful way.” Adrianne B.
“The web search activity was a stand-out because I enjoyed learning about new subjects and topics.” Kim L.
“Writing a letter to parents, because it made me reflect on my teaching and the goals I have for my students.” Steve F.
“Binary and Base 10. I had not used or converted these in many years. It was a good refresher for skills that had long been forgotten.” Susan D.
“I liked the explanations of how the computer worked and what the hardware and software was called. Also, I liked the information about the internet.” Elaine K.
“I enjoyed learning the formatting skills in the word processing section. Most beneficial to helping in my daily classroom work.” Melissa B.
“I found writing the parent letter to be the most beneficial for me I was able to look at different ways to present the letter. I'm sure that I will now experiment more with different fonts, pictures and such when I send out any new correspondence.” Alison M.
“I really benefited from the section of Parts of the Desktop, because I was so unfamiliar with the terminology.” Jessica G.
“Trying to figure out how to zip a set of files but by far the most difficult part of the class but finally knowing how to do it has been a skill I have used a few times since then.” Doug B.
“Every Part of the course helped me. I learned something from each activity that I completed. If I had to pick one, I guess it would be the assessments because it reinforced the skills just learned.” Marcy H.
“Learning different ways to save files in different locations was complicated for me. This course made me much more confident in that aspect.” Jaclyn P.
“I enjoyed the Web Hunt because it was some of practical skills I would want students to do. It will enable them find solutions for basic concepts taught.” Louis R.
“I choose the whole course as a stand out skill. Most of this I have never done before.” John M.
“The Web Hunt because I was able to actually use the skills and better my familiarity with the internet and explore on my own.” Ryan R.
“Editing the parent letter was the stand-out activity for me because it taught me new things that I did not know previously. These skills will be huge time savers.” Joella H.
“Binary was a total mystery to me before this course.” Rembert R.
“I liked the survey and then merging it into a letter. I had trouble doing that in the future but the directions were very clear on how to do it. I will be able to use that a lot when obtaining information from my parents. I love knowing where to get the responses as well. I've tried doing this before but had a lot of trouble, got frustrated, and quit.” Lynn O.
“Online surveys - These surveys can help provide feedback from parents to enhance instruction catered to individual needs.” Jean B.
“Creating test on Google Docs. I can now create any form, test, or worksheet I need.” Erin S.
“The parent survey was beneficial. I was not aware that I could create an online survey and have the results merged onto a spreadsheet. In the past I have asked parents for this information and then I have to create my own spreadsheet by typing in their responses myself I will use this format from now on.” Bridgett C.
“I loved the mail merge feature that was taught. I feel this was easy to use and will be very convenient in real life.” Stacy P.
“Merging documents--challenging, useful and a time-saver.” Kelly S.
“The survey and learning to merge. I feel like this will save me a tremendous amount of time.” Sierra L.
“Parent Survey. I think this is a great resource to be able to use. I have already made one and sent it out to my fellow peers to get some answers.” Bracey B.
“Google Forms-Survey and Responses. I can use this for so much.” Leigh T.
“I think that the google forms and the mail merge was a great learning experience. I also think that actually sharing our folder with the teacher academy was a practical way to learn how to 'share' and useful as well.” Maegan S.
“The mail merge feature was amazing. I have spent hours typing in information for my students by hand and it was most time consuming. This feature which I never experienced before was wonderful. You only have to enter the information initially into your survey and going through a few quick steps, all the data has been laid out and organized for quick and easy reference.” Karen S.
“The survey ... it was my first experience with this function and provided me with some good ideas on how I can use it in the future.” Kyle F.
“Creating a parent survey with Google Forms. This was so interesting to me! I loved learning how to do this because I had to fill out one for my son's back to school night!” Jennifer R.
“Making the survey, I like how user friendly making the survey was and I was able to ask the questions I wanted to ask. I also liked the way it made charts and compile the answers for me.” Mary Y.
“Developing a letter to the parents with information received from survey. this will be very helpful for the nurse's office in my communication with parents/guardians.” Alison M.
As a special education teacher, I use surveys as a critical part of my job. The survey project is an excellent tool I can use immediately in my classroom.” Nancy H.
“The stand out project for me was the parent survey. I don't know why I had never thought to collect information this way. I also did not know you could use Google Docs to create a mail merge, so that was very helpful information. This project is one I anticipate using in my own classroom.” Tobi F.
“I loved getting more familiar with the features of the Google Drive. The surveys were the stand out project for me! I had no idea Google Docs had that feature! I am excited to use them in my classroom!” Angie R.
“I enjoyed making my own test. This would be useful in Google Classroom. The students could receive instant feedback on performance.” Jerry M.
“The surveys - I was looking at doing something like this soon, so it was great timing!!” Kara B.
"Making a certificate, I teach similar things and projects to students almost daily." Doug R.
"The Parent Survey gave me an "aha" moment when I realized I could use it for quizzes, etc." Ashley T.
"I was pleased with the parent survey and the way I could report the results and use them in the mail merged parent letter. Definitely something I will use again!" Melissa S.
"The letter. I now know how to send out a letter to multiple people without the need to copy and paste information back and forth. Once the letter information is in the form it will be a huge time saver all year long." Doug B.
“Parent Survey-I love how survey responses can be merged into a spreadsheet with all data included.” Emily L.
“I enjoyed doing all of the assigned projects. Using Google Drive is new to me and I have never experimented with using it. The school district that I substitute in uses Google Docs so I felt this course would be beneficial for me to learn more about what it is and how to use it effectively in the classroom. I was really impressed with creating a parent survey and how easily the information from the survey was then used to create a spreadsheet. Then using the spreadsheet we were able to merge it into individual letters for parents. I loved doing this project and see so much benefit in using this in the classroom!” Michele F.
“Google forms and turning them into google sheets. I think that is very useful!” Rebecca B.
“Creating the merged letters. I had been wanting to do this for some time, but I could not figure it out. I liked the way you had step by step instructions that anyone could follow.” Kara S.
“Parent Surveys - If used, this would be a very helpful way of maintaining parent involvement throughout a school year.” John S.
“The Test; I was thrilled to find that I could replicate the types of tests I create (slowly) in word processing software.” Paul W.
“The parent survey because I have wanted a more reliable way of communicating important information at the beginning of the year. I wanted something that would make it easier for the parents to be able to get this information to me.” Roberta D.
“The Assessment Project, as it showed me how to create different fields in a single document and how to edit them for clarity. A close second was the Parent Survey/Google Forms activity, as I will be using this regularly to reach out to our team members and parents.” Matthew B.
“The Interactive Slide Show because it is something I had not done before and can definitely be used in the classroom as something fresh and interesting.” Deborah G.
“It was interesting to see the types of slide presentations that could be made. I have zero experience with Power Point or Google Slides, so it was interesting to see the different types of presentations and think about how each one could be used.” Tamie B.
“I liked learning how to hyperlink slides because it will be useful in creating review games.” Stacy P.
“I really liked the interactive presentation. I will use this in my classroom for vocabulary games and social studies reviews.” Delores S.
“I liked the interactive presentation because it will help me increase my technology use in the classroom, allow for more student engagement, and will help keep the interest of my students.” Jennifer R.
“The stand out project for me was the book report because this was definitely something I could have my students do.” Susan T.
“Interactive Menu Presentation- took my slides/ppt abilities to a new level!” Amanda C.
“The interactive presentation was very challenging. This will be great to create a game or review for students.” Jennifer R.
“The Interactive Presentation. Learning this was an eye opener for creating exciting hooks for lessons. It could also be used for checks for understanding. It it takes a bit of time to set up but once you have the functions down there is a lot that can be done by duplicating slides and adding new information.” Doug B.
“Creating slide presentations in Google Slides. I have not used Google Slides before this course and thought it would be beneficial for me to learn basic information about this program for my classroom use.” Emily L.
“I enjoyed doing the Interactive Presentation. I think the skills learned can be used in so many ways in the classroom to make learning fun and interactive for students!” Michelle F.
“Great course. Easy to follow and it taught a lot of skills. Increased my confidence in creating slides.” Craig P.
“Learning to make address labels. It's super useful and I never knew how to do it.” Katelyn M.
“The grade sheet because I can set up a template with the formulas and use the basic layout for all marking periods.” Amy P.
“Label making was easier than Excel, may use for my own labels.” Chris S.
“The budget sheet because I can use it in my personal life as well as in the classroom for recording field trip information.” Delores S.
“Formulas - we use formulas in sheets in just about every project we do.” Ryder P.
“The stand-out skill/project for me in this lesson was the mail merge. I've never been able to figure out how to do these easily in Excel. And, if I do find instructions for doing a mail merge, it just doesn't seem to work out. The mail merge instructions in this lesson made it easy!” Diane T.
“Budget- I had used a variety of platforms to make budget spreadsheets but learned key skills like formatting, more advanced formulas, and inserting charts to make it very visually pleasing and more beneficial to use.” Amanda C.
“Gradebook, I think it is would be a great opportunity for students to track their own progress.” April C.
"I feel the stand-out skill was learning to type formulas. I have used Excel in the past with no knowledge of how to put in formulas. It was very easy to understand and comprehend." Jerry M.
“The SUM function is very useful. The grade book is easy to build because of it as well as the budget. it is invaluable.” Doug B.
“Creating grade sheets is a time saver that I will use in the future.” Paul T.
“I enjoyed designing a garden because students would absolutely love to participate in creating one and learning from it. I enjoyed this course and would love to see this at our schools.” Lisa N.
“Proposal Writing....I have created a school garden before, but was not in on the proposal process. This really made me aware of all that goes into it.” Kerry V.
“The Action Plan. It made me think out what we needed to accomplish our goal.” Stephanie L.
“I really enjoyed examining the different plants and when they should be planted in our region. That is something that will be very helpful to me.” Elaine K.
“Designing the garden, I was able to use skills from other courses to design the garden with the computer.” Chris S.
“The chore chart, this is something I already do in class, but this encouraged me to make a better one than I have before. Also with the "Activity" I expanded on the journaling that I require, it'll be a lot nicer to hand the sheet to the kids when I come to the assignment and them be able to see exactly what I want.” Johnna T.
“Creating the action plan for presenting a learning garden to the school administration was a very important skill to learn although writing the action plan was strenuous at times it was very much a skill worth learning.” Jazmine H.
“Project #5 was great. I combined it with science and Spanish vocabulary while cross - referencing various textbooks, dictionaries and provided handout.” Kathleen V.
“I really enjoyed designing my own garden. I had some issues with the website that it directed me to, finding plants for my zone, but between google and some other sites found it helpful and now I'm ready to put into action.” Jessica G.
“I got the most out of writing the Action Plan. I think it would help me in writing a grant which I have never done but thought about.” Lynn O.
“The course assessment and related videos were the most useful, educational and interesting part of the course. I appreciated learning about those resources.” Megan C.
"Action plan: It made me really think about what it takes to create a garden." Courtney M.
“The final activity where I had to design a garden lesson for a class. We happened to be exploring ladybugs while also setting up a small raised bed outside to grow a few vegetables. I was able to pair those 2 activities while doing this course.” Suzanne D.
“Designing the garden. I had to really think about how it would be used for learning. That then brought me to the idea of an eco-system, which challenged me to incorporate as many aspects found in nature to make the garden a working eco system.” Kim K.
“RAFT- I thought it was a really user-friendly idea to use in the classroom. I also liked that I would be able to use it with any subject.” Stephanie J.
“I liked the idea of reformulating text to a different format. I have never used it, and I would like to see if it would help some of my learners.” Anne F.
“Strategies to implement and explicitly teach critical thinking skills.” Laura H.
“The stand out project in this lesson was the Text Reformulation. I enjoyed and learned a lot about reading an informational article and then reformulating it into another format. I really had to think about how to make one piece of text into another.” Amy F.
“After Reading Strategy- Open and Closed Questions. It made me more aware of using higher order thinking skills for pre-, during-, and post-reading activities.” Katherine P.
“Text reformulation - this is a really quick and easy way to engage the students and promote higher order thinking.” Wendy T.
“Insert Notes - I feel that the students that I teach (special needs) will be able to effectively and easily use this to take notes. Many of my students have trouble organizing their thought in writing. This streamlines the process for them noting important and confusing information within texts.” Stacey R.
“I liked the reciprocal teaching chart. I haven't seen this one, and I think I'll definitely use it. It's a short and simple way to see what students understand. It also requires students to think about their own learning.” Lisa B.
“I liked the RAFT best because it was a very different, fun, and creative way to think about a piece of writing.” Margaret P.
“I really liked how we tried each literacy strategy ourselves to better see how it helps students.” Jessica T.
“I really liked both the RAFT and the text reformulation activities. I got a lot out of them and I plan to use them this year with students. These activities encourage creativity and allow for students' unique talents to shine. I think the course was full of useful information.” Wendy E.
“The ReQuest was "stand out" project was not really a project so much as an activity I used the very next day in my classroom. I loved every minute having the students ask me questions about a text we read as a class. Then, reversing the role and myself asking students the closed and open questions was fun and I felt our learning community grow along with student confidence. It was awesome to see my students looking through the text to ask the best open question to make me look for evidence in my answer, we all had so much fun.” Vanessa T.
“Text Reformulation. I had never heard of this skill, and it made me think about what I read in order to tell about it in an acrostic poem.” Teresa B.
"I really love the section on insert notes and talk to text. Although they were shorter sections of the lesson, I feel they are valuable and I can relate to those tasks very well.” Katie L.
“Reading Strategies- I feel like I could easily and quickly incorporate most of these beginning, during, and after reading activities in my classroom currently.” DeAmber W.
“I enjoyed using and practicing each reading strategy. I learn best hands on and the projects were engaging and are strategies that I will definitely use in my classroom.” Erica R.
“I enjoyed the example of The Perfect Storm where the teachers were looking at the story from "their" perspective. I can't wait to start trying to do that with my students. I think it will really help them begin to see the story.” Lynn O.
“The text reformation assignment was the most challenging for me so I think it caused me to learn to most.” Joan R.
“The reciprocal teaching chart was a great activity because it forces you to really think and analyze what you read and be prepared to discuss with authority.” Blair N.
"I enjoyed the RAFT activity and have used it prior to this lesson without realizing what it stood for." Mary Ellen F.
"RAFT project- I definitely felt this project made me use critical thinking in order to complete the assignment. After I completed this project, I see the value of using this after reading strategy in a classroom. This will help students think critically in the classroom as well as have them relate to the text read." Michelle F.
"All of the projects/activities were stand-out. It was a fantastic review of so many great strategies to engage text on many levels. I feel like I could apply these activities to any age group!" Jacqueline H.
“I loved the use of key words and have been using the strategy since I learned about it in this course. I also think the reciprocal teaching chart will be useful to students.” Willow L.
“I liked using the reciprocal teaching chart. I have done something similar in the past when students become "experts" on a topic and then teach other students using "jigsaw" groups. I like how the chart actually breaks down the key components of this activity and "forces" the students to put their thoughts in writing, not "just saying" what they learned.” Bobbi W.
“Talk to the Text. I found that one to be fun. It was engaging in that you could read the passage without worrying about being tested on it. It was fun to just write down what comes to your mind. It actually helped me to stay engaged in what I probably normally wouldn't be engaged in.” Melissa H.
“I found all of the post-reading activities useful and engaging. I think that having students re-interpret texts in new and exciting ways is innovative and fun. And, I could definitely see myself using that in my classroom.” Andrew V.
“The most helpful part of the course was the requirement for writing actual lesson plans that I can implement in my classroom. I am moving grade levels again next year-- from kindergarten to third grade. Now I have three lesson plans I could actually use next year!” Janine H.
“Honestly, getting familiar with the common core standards for 2nd grade which I will be teaching next year.” Rebecca M.
“I really enjoyed completing the lesson plans and color-coding them based on the mathematical practices and learning objectives. This helped me see how I directly address the mathematical practices and through which activities. Also, I was able to identify the times when I directly addressed the learning objectives and what activities were successful for the students.” Michelle F.
“The lesson plans. I have been away from lesson planning for a bit and seeing the lesson plans and knowing I will use them in my classroom in the future was a big help.” Krista S.
“Overall, writing up lesson plans in each of the domains was very beneficial for me. It required me to take the standards and really think about each and how I am going to teach my students in a way that the demonstrating understanding. Color coding each step in the procedure to match a standard was very challenging, but required me to make sure that I was actually meeting each standard.” Caitlin G.
“Video Reaction. I enjoyed watching real teachers show how to use teaching strategies and use of the standards rather than just reading it.” Melissa H.
“Learning to implement reading and writing within my science curriculum.” Ruby D.
“Project #4 because it made me apply the knowledge I had just learned about the Common Core Standards.” Janine H.
“The modified lesson plan was the stand-out activity in this course. Although there were elements that I did find a little confusing or that I could have used help understanding how to complete them, those are the activities that I learn best from because I really have to apply myself. It was good to take the knowledge I gained from the course and to have to apply it to a lesson I might actually teach my students.” Caitlin G.
“Evaluating a lesson and enhancing it by addressing Common Core Standards.” Jacqueline H.
“Modification of an existing lesson plan- it is the most practical.” Megan W.
“I really enjoyed researching different preference based teaching strategies. I found several things I could use with my students right now, and it opened my eyes to ways I could do things that would make it more interesting for specific students.” Carly C.
“This class gave me a new approach on teaching, I really liked the idea of being a motivator instead of giving a reward. I don't want my students to think they get a reward every time. However, by looking for my student’s strengths I can plan lessons that will keep them engaged throughout my lessons.” Melissa H.
“The observation because it gave me the opportunity to step back and notice the skills that my student did have, rather than focusing on what he was not able to do.” Sue D.
“Researching the PBT literacy activities. Creating the lesson plan after that was much easier than expected since the work and true understanding was put in place from the research prior to creating the lesson plan!” Suzanne D.
“Observation-- because Student A, my student, is autistic and not able to perform abled student tasks, but his mother asks me to get him up to speed for entering a mainstream classroom with nominal accommodations... to make him abled.” Kelly F.
“It was useful for me to look at the preferences of my child with sensory integration problems and look at how the use of motivators might enhance his skill development.” Jessica B.
“Read, Research and Brainstorm for Ideas Project. As stated, I have used some of these strategies in the past. However, the activity had me stretch my imagination and research numerous sites for added ideas. It helped me develop a network of resources for future and current use in my classroom. I greatly enjoyed this class. I love being able to immediately implement ideas into my classroom that I learned through this course.” Nancy H.
“The student observation- I liked this because it made me think about this student in a critical way and have all that info. about him right in front of me.” Tracie V.
“Activity 3 investigating PBT lessons and pictures; this activity was enjoyable and not generally the method I use.” Tracy A.
“I actually enjoyed the research portion of this course b/c it allowed for further knowledge of the subject.” Kari H.
“Implementing PBT in assessing those with significant disabilities.” Pamela L.
“Learning about the how all music relates to each other, teaching the students that will be amazing.” Brendan S.
“Analyzing lyrics. It forced me to examine the lyrics of an influential song and made me relate it to the historical context.” Erin M.
“I enjoyed doing the Rock Lesson and choosing a song that is written about my hometown.” Amy P.
“Analyze the Lyrics- This is something I try to do with my students to get them to think and it also has a cross curricular connection to Reading.” Keri M.
“Examining rock music as it relates to social issues and using rock songs/lyrics to evaluate current social/political issues.” Wayne S.
“Listening to the sound bites and finding out some trivial things I never knew. I can use these sound bites in many of my history classes.” Renee W.
“The lesson plan where I will use the information from the Rock History class as part of my beginning of the year introduction. I am interested to see how it goes this coming school year! The musical clips will be helpful as well.” David H.
“I've used a lot of music while teaching ELA, but realize now History can be taught by following the timeline of the history of rock n roll!” Pam B.
“Having the sound bites embedded in the lesson made it easy to learn the skill the lesson was teaching. While reading, you were able to hear what the style the lesson was describing. This will be used in my classroom lesson plans. We are now a one-to-one school so I am able to embed these sound bites into their lesson.” Joseph D.
“My favorite activity in this course was the analyzing lyrics activity. I really enjoyed both trying to figure out what the songwriter meant, and then also applying it to today. Music is timeless. I think this fact is one reason why I enjoyed this course so much. I really loved listening to and learning about early jazz, blues, spiritual and classic music. You did a great job! Loved it!” Joella H.
“Having the students select something of their choosing and then analyze the meaning in their own words - could be used in many ways to start the thinking process.” Brian M.
“I chose this class because I am a rock fanatic. There is nothing like listening to a great song by your favorite group that sends chills down your spine. The bands that write their own songs/lyrics, the instrumentals amaze me. I enjoyed this class and the teacher very much. Thank You.” Lori R.
“I enjoyed composing the mini biography because it is a subject that interests me.” Annette M.
“Linking music and historical events together and validating the importance of music to history.” Angelia M.
“The mini biography sounded like it was going to be boring, because I "thought" I knew everything about my artist. Upon research, I actually knew very little!” Leander H.
“The stand-out project was the lesson plan as it focused my understanding and interest in the course material toward developing connections to classroom situations and concepts of interest to students.” Andrew A.
“I enjoyed the section where I had to analyze the lyrics from a chosen song. I also enjoyed listening to the sound clips.” Kristen H.
“Being able to analyze lyrics to songs. It really challenged me to think about songs and their place in history.” Ellen L.
“The mini biography because I learned so much about the chosen subject and I have been inspired to include a project like this in my own curriculum.” Melinda S.
“I enjoyed the timeline activity the most because it refreshed my subject area knowledge. I could see myself using a similar activity in my classroom.” Susan D.
“Project #2- Analyze Lyrics. As much as I enjoy and listen to music, I do not always stop and really think about the meaning of the lyrics. I enjoyed this project and it is a lesson that I can use in my classroom. All the information and skills for this course were great! No improvements needed!” Stephanie B.
“I especially liked the part of analyzing lyrics. What a great writing assignment for students. This course was a great reminder to teach all genres of music.” Laura G.
“I enjoyed the Cyberbullying Research Center site. I was very interested in the resources and case law.” Marianne R.
“The Cyber Bullying State Law Research project was interesting and informative. It also provided clear information regarding laws and policy regarding the laws in each state. As an educator, I believe it is imperative to know the laws regarding cyber bullying in our state especially since these cases are increasing.” Bridgett M.
“Learning the state laws for bullying. That is something every educator should know. The laws will change over time, but the basis of bullying laws should be reviewed every year.” Angela N.
“Reading and summarizing the true accounts of students who had resorted to suicide after being cyber bullied.” Kimberly K.
“I really appreciated looking at resources for students, parents, and educators. I was able to add a number of items to my "toolkit" for teaching cyber safety in my transition classes.” Ginger G.
“Getting the classroom teacher 'immersed' into the topic of cyber bullying.” Andrew S.
“The Bullying Research website was a great reference to find!” Pamela B.
“I enjoyed the scenario project because it allows you to apply what you have learned in a real-life way.” Jessica T.
“There were several extremely helpful resource pages listed throughout this course as well as information for communicating with school administration about these matters.” Jazmine H.
“Writing the report on the Cyber Bullying Research Website was very informative. I learned a lot from this project and the website.” LeAnne P.
“Learning exactly what cyber bullying is and how to combat it. Having this knowledge myself means I can apply it to every part of the school atmosphere, students, teachers and parents, and make the knowledge and its effects more far reaching than just one person.” Jennifer H.
“Research State Laws. It was fascinating to compare what my state does with what is happening around the nation.” Jeffrey C.
“The Cyberbullying Center Research Report was valuable in educating me as both a parent and an educator. I now know where I can find resources in helping someone else navigate a cyberbullying issue.” Nancy S.
"The scenarios I believe were the standout activity because I think it put me in a situation where I had to think what would I do. I think I am going to look for activities similar to this to use in my classroom when we complete our section on cyberbullying. It gives you a different perspective when you are completing this exercise and I think it would really benefit students as well." Ashley G.
“Project #2 - Cyber Bullying Research Center Report was a stand out for me. It was amazing how much information was on that site. The Parent, Student and Educator resources were great. I will be sharing this site with my coworkers for sure!” Eric C.
“The Cyber Bullying Research Center Report was an invaluable informational tool. This was an excellent and informative course.” Paul T.
“I really enjoyed the whole course, but reading the laws of different states was really enjoyable. It was interesting to see different state laws or codes on bullying. The real life stories in this course were heart breaking. I really enjoyed how the lesson states the importance of everyone being proactive against cyber bullying, not just teachers.” Thomas L.
“The reflections on real-life summaries. Unfortunately, it grabbed my attention because of being true, real, and graphic, which made me remember how serious the issues of cyberbullying are. It also gave me sources for classroom use.” Kristie H.
“The resources site where it shows what do and where to go for help to prevent or stop cyberbullying. When one is confronted with this problem from any view point, you just need to know where to find the answers. I would like to see my school add some of this information as part of our curriculum. That would indicate how strongly I feel about the information delivered in this course.” D. Timothy S.
“The activity that stood out to me the most was reading and writing about the stories of 2 separate suicides, and also the personal stories anyone can post. This emotionally impacted me to spread the word and resources about bullying and cyberbullying. This course exceeded my expectations. I cannot think of any other information.” Janel A.
“The cyber bullying summaries. It really hit home the amount of anguish and heartache these students felt and the fact they felt they had no other way to handle the situation.” Jason C.
“I really enjoyed the website review. I was unaware of many of the resources mentioned and plan to implement them in my classroom.” Tricia F.
“Blended learning is a new concept for me and I look forward to implementing some of the new websites I was introduced to, information I gained, and research that support a blended learning environment.” Cari C.
“I felt the most valuable activity was distinguishing the various Blended Learning models and how schools have incorporated those models.” F. L.
“I enjoyed learning about flipped classrooms. It seems to just make sense to run a classroom using this model.” Lisa N.
“Seeing the non-traditional schools because they were so positive and exciting.” Deborah B.
“Exposure to different resources to implement blended learning in my course. I liked the comprehensive list of resources and the ability to look through them to determine which ones would work for my lesson planning.” Catherine B.
“I liked the resource section because it provides a variety of apps for me to use without me having to hunt them down.” Erik S.
“Ted Talk reaction- I spent a lot of time watching and evaluating what was shared.” Chris S.
“The videos to see how the various blended learning models were being implemented into real school settings.” Edward G.
“I developed a lesson using several of the sources listed in the course to create a Blended Learning lesson with Google Art Project and many other items. I'm interested to see how the lesson goes later next Spring.” David H.
“Reviewing the blended resources was a great activity because it allowed me to browse through the resource list to find ones that I could use in my classroom.” Erica R.
“The Blended Model Comparison because it focused on how the blended models could be used in the classroom or school.” Paul T.
“I loved learning about Google Arts and Culture as it applied directly to my work with one student in particular. Likewise, I plan on using the site again in the future.” Patricia S.
“The videos. It was nice to see how the Blended Models looked when implemented in a classroom setting.” Rebecca B.
“I enjoyed learning the many different tools that are available to make a blended learning classroom.” Shannon D.
“The stand-out project for me was just being able to design a classroom. It's always fun to look at what is possible when you don't have to worry about money.” Rita W.
“I loved designing my dream school. How inspiring!” Tricia F.
“Inspiring teachers because it really made me think about how to interact with students in a way that will enhance their desire to be successful and work hard. This was an enjoyable yet informational and useful course” Kerry V.
“The videos were amazingly inspirational.” Matthew D.
“Teaching what students are curious about. It is a simple concept but can get lost in the demands placed on teachers.” Maria M.
“Happiness Activity, I like that it allowed me to focus on myself. I started keeping a journal. It feels good to add a little happiness to my life.” Ellen C.
“The Sugara Mitra analysis. It made me think about how technology could be used to tap into student curiosity.” Matt C.
“I loved the message of Rita Pierson in the "Every Child Needs a Champion" TED Talk. I think this should be mandatory viewing for every teacher across America on the first in-service day of each school year!” Julie B.
“Project 5: Curious Activities I really liked this project because it made me think about how to spark curiosity in my lessons to make them fun but also covering topics for learning.” Leanne P.
“I enjoyed the Ted Talks that were linked to this course; I especially resonated with the one Rita Pierson gave about developing a classroom in which your students feel welcomed and liked.” Rachael M.
“Designing my own classroom. I had to push beyond the standard thoughts and dream big, it was fun!” Suzanne D.
“Rita Pierson Ted Talk - I love the statement "seek first to understand than to be understood" This is a powerful statement that reminds teachers to listen more to their students.” Nancy H.
“I really enjoyed watching the videos. I got a lot of great ideas from them.” Jessica G.
“This is a hard question to answer because the course gave such a variety of activities and I felt all were exciting well presented, and challenging. The most difficult was the designing of my own "dream school" but the most thought provoking was the TEDed videos-both of them actually (everyone needs a hero and the Asian school).” Heather A.
“Two of the videos were exceptional. The "Rita Pierson Every Kid Needs a Champion" was very inspiring and it gave me a great boost in the classroom as did "Shawn Achor, The Happy Secret to Better Work". Both of these videos gave me some new tools for the social emotional tool kit for my students as well as helping me to have a more positive attitude during some very challenging times in the classroom. I also found the information provided about the Greener classrooms and the one Middle school teacher who taught about history with hands on activities.” Elizabeth E.
“I loved the Dream Big Building Design project because it is a future goal of mine to have my own childcare building. This gave me an opportunity to explore that.” Andrea G.
“I really liked the designing of my dream learning environment. It helped me to recall what I would actually like to do to my own learning environment. It helped me to remember why I am a teacher and what I truly believe I should be and do as a teacher. It has re-energized me. Great class....loved it. A perfect ending to my sabbatical. I'm excited to teach again.” Michael K.
“It was helpful to take lessons I may have used in the past and adapt them to reflect 21st Century Standards. This course made me more mindful of some elements that I would want to include in the lessons.” Melissa S.
“I liked the videos of Olympic High School, seeing other teacher's strategies is helpful! I also like finding lessons that spark creativity, because I searched on the sites that were suggested, and this isn't usually something I have an opportunity to do.” Natasha S.
“I enjoyed designing my own classroom. It made me think about all the things I would want in a classroom, even though I probably won't ever have all of them. It was fun to dream though!” Ashley R.
“I enjoyed designing a school. It was fun to dream a bit.” Rebecca M.
“The Happiness Activity. It was a good reminder to focus on the positive. The scientific evidence that you can train your brain to look at things in a positive versus the negative.” Suzanne H.
“Creating lesson plans that spark curiosity because that´s what it´s all about.” Sarah H.
“View different educational structures and analyze how the structure helps to foster learning and social skills in students. I think this project stood out to me the most because I value being able to see other methods or strategies of teaching around the world. I would like to cut and paste other ideas into my own personal philosophy to see if it works or not.” Kimberly G.
“I liked the Design a Classroom Activity. It really made you think about the best practices for teaching all types of students.” Elizabeth C.
“I loved hearing and thinking about relationships and how much having them is essential to student learning outcomes! Ted Talks are fantastic!!” Alayne G.
“The stand-out skill was considering the multiple facets of teaching that are responsible for inspiring creativity. We examined the role of physical space, teacher approach, and level of student self-direction.” Kellie W.
“The organizers for brainstorming and fact-storming based on the many options you can use for teaching students and keep them interested.” Ryan S.
“The vocabulary notebook was the most useful and unique that I can quickly implement in any subject. Getting more details on a grading rubric was also very useful.” Michelle L.
“The connection organizer really helped me think about the article I choose on a much higher level. I think it will really help students in 6-12 grades expand their thinking about the things they are reading.” Robin K.
“I think the word chart is a great way for students to visualize words and is a great tool for educators.” Amy P.
“A standout project in this lesson for me was the Organizers project. I learned how to make my own graphic organizers and I look forward to using them in my classroom.” Amy F.
“I enjoyed creating the Intelligence Organizer. After doing the basics on this, I was able to make it into something that I think my students will enjoy doing.” Rosemary K.
“I enjoyed the vocabulary assignment because it is an area that I don't often do justice to so I'm excited to be able to improve my teaching in that important area.” Janet R.
“I loved the vocabulary notebooks because I can see myself using these in my third-grade science class. Students can look the words up, draw an example of the words, and also include definitions, pronunciations, synonyms, and antonyms. This notebook can be something that the students grow proud of as they accumulate more words and more knowledge.” Lindy C.
“Vocabulary organizer-I feel like it really helps the student to visualize and organize the new words. I enjoyed using the shapes and feel like it looks very attractive and interesting for the students.” Lisa R.
“I learned the most from the Notebook section. I know vocabulary is very important and this section gave some new ideas as to how to help my students make connections. I liked the layout of the project and that fact that I had to give extra thought to get a good graphic organizer for my grade 11 students.” Susan F.
“Making a writing rubric for my kindergarten class stands out to me because I've been wanting to use one, but did not have one tailored to the needs of my class. Now I do.” Suzy C.
"The Research Essay Rubric because I have assigned my students a research essay every year that I have taught and have always struggled to grade them objectively. I wanted to stress what portions of the essay that I want the students to focus on. The course allowed me the time to sit down and create a concise, but well developed rubric with which to grade these essays in the future." Whitney M.
"The three types of specific graphic organizers was something very new to me and really helped me identify the different levels of when I teach something of which graphic organizer to utilize." Christina K.
“There were so many stand-outs in this course. In terms of skills, I particularly benefitted from using the smart-chart to build color and content associations. This skill would definitely enhance instruction and thus enable students to make the most of associations/connections with content and color for recall purposes. In terms of the projects, I liked 2 of them a great deal. First, I like the vocabulary notebook and word chart because as a Language Arts teacher, I could see using these regularly for the obvious reasons. I also think the intelligence organizer would be a great method for bringing literature and history together with current events and having magnanimous interest and thus discussions as a result, not to mention well-developed essays or presentations, depending on the culminating activity. Indeed, said skills and projects would be of great value in my classroom.” Lee Ann C.
“Word Charts were the best. I can use these in my classroom as an aid to teaching the vocabulary that students are often having trouble with.” Kristin H.
“I liked the final project (project 5) because I could choose exactly what I wanted to research and create.” Amanda L.
“Really liked this course and it made me really stop and think how I can impact and make lessons, connections, etc. more meaningful.” Angela M.
“Lesson plan. I learned how to put what I learned over the entire course into practice.” Frank V.
“The personal mindfulness practice--this has been something I've wanted to cultivate and needed a bit of a push to follow through. But the personal reflection and habits have proved sustainable and meaningful, and offer greater clarity for classroom planning, especially in terms of cultivating a strong and compassionate classroom community which provides students with tools for self-regulation, reflection and collaborating; it has further given me greater confidence in implementing modified activities with students.” Wendy M.
“The mindfulness practice activities, because I will continue to us them.” Vivian R.
“Mindfulness journal. The will be the most applicable to my work and life.” Melanie L.
“I have been interested in mindfulness in my own life and I was excited to see it applied to students in the classroom.” Emily G.
“The scenario project stood out. It helped me think about thinking. I have been teaching for 20 years. All of that time with 5 and 6 year olds. A lot of what I do is automatic. I enjoyed the challenge for my own thinking.” Rebecca B.
“I can't choose just one because they were all essential and flowed seamlessly. I felt as though I was building knowledge and skills as each activity grew a little more challenging. As a science teacher, I loved learning the neuroscience behind mindfulness, but I also really enjoyed the journaling, videos, creating my own practice and even the lesson plan (which was probably the most challenging but also the most rewarding).” Paige Z.
“The Lesson Plan. I chose this because I will be using this in my class from now as a way to practice mindfulness now that "end of year" syndrome has set in. Also, the websites provided in coordination with this activity will provide me with a wealth of knowledge and ideas as I progress as a teacher.” Paola Y.
“I enjoyed writing the lesson plan. In the beginning, I had one approach on it and it was focused on the senses then because of the coursework and the scenario I was able to deepen the concept. I enjoyed this because it gave me the ability to write a lesson for a class that could be part of the curricula then it was able to take students on a deeper journey at the end. Before this course, I wouldn't have thought to take it the one step deeper.” Shannon U.
“Loved the reviews - I felt I learned the most from listening to experts and facts. I loved it just the way it was delivered.” Catherine G.
“I valued the practical application of mindfulness. It was important for me to experience the benefits of mindfulness personally. I appreciate the benefit my students experience indirectly, and the experience is allowing me to teach mindfulness from a stronger place.” Laura L.
“The Establishing a Practice (project) because it made me incorporate what I was learning into my daily life.” Lynn H.
“I felt the section where I created my own mindfulness based lesson was very helpful in applying all that I had learned in the course.” Heather L.
“The lesson plan because I can't wait to use it!” Suzy C.
“Practicing the yoga and meditation was great!” Kara B.
“The neuroplasticity video and response was my favorite because it was a very well done video.” Sarah T.
“I enjoyed the challenge of taking 3 days to use the mindfulness practices such as: yoga, meditation and journal writing. I have continued to practice these three practices in my daily life and I plan on continuing them throughout my life. It has given me skills to remain stress free and calm, which has helped my own children and my classroom students as well!” Joanne S.
“I loved the information on mindfulness meditation.” Jennifer R.
“Establishing a mindful practice was a stand out activity as it showed me direct ways to implement mindfulness in my life and with my students.” Rachael M.
“Rick Hanson's video on hardwiring happiness. It made me realize that I have control over my happiness and positivity.” Nancy T.
“I really liked the mindful lesson examples provided. Some are similar to lessons I have used in class before but never really saw them as being "mindful".” Bobbi W.
“The Hanson Video and reflection and designing a lesson plan. He was an inspiration speaker. His messages and steps were clear. The packet provided for this course was easy lengthy but fairly easy to navigate well organized.” Charlest M.
“The various forms of meditation and journaling that were discussed because they provided good explanations of how to begin a journey toward mindfulness yourself.” Jennifer W.
“The Mindful Lesson - It is applicable and something I can use in my classroom right away.” Tyler S.
“I really enjoyed reading Part II - Mindfulness Research and Study - Very interesting to understand how the brain works. Very important in education.” Donna D.
“Creating a lesson plan. This is because it is something tangible myself or another teacher can use. This course was excellent!” Tara S.
“The self-meditation we had to do. I have always been skeptical about meditation but this time I actually had to do and feel for myself that it does work.” Leah T.
“Mindfulness Lesson Plan because I will really use it, but I liked the variety of projects.” Denise J.
“The 3-Day Meal Plan was eye opening! I thought I was somewhat well versed on nutrition, and I thought my personal daily eating plans were pretty good, until I did this 3-Day Meal Plan. I learned a lot of nutritional information and look forward to using it to revise my own eating habits.” Kristin C.
“Making my 3-day menu as it made me really take a look at how much of each category (calories, fats, carbs, sodium, etc) I was consuming. It was helpful.” Debra G.
“I liked the food label scavenger hunt because it allowed me to really examine the food I believed was "healthy" and "unhealthy." Erik S.
“I enjoyed looking up my daily nutrition information to see how many calories and how much sodium, calcium, iron, etc. I should be consuming a day. And then comparing that to what I eat a day!” Katelyn G.
“The scavenger hunt activity was great because I was able to find foods in my kitchen and really look at their nutrition labels.” Carey B.
“I felt that the "lunchbox" project was meaningful. It was interesting to choose a health issue related to food, and plan a lunch for that child. As a teacher, I believe that we can influence even the youngest students in what they eat. Children have a lot of input into the food choices that their families make (this is the reason that so many advertising dollars are spent by food manufacturers- they know it). If we take the time to teach good nutrition, and also teach the children to critically review the ads for food products, we could probably really make some serious changes in how and what all of our children eat.” Mary M.
“I liked all the projects that were required for this course. It made me more acutely aware of what I was eating and what I really should be doing with regards to meal planning. The articles I read about food safety also increased my awareness of what is happening relating to foodborne illnesses that are much more common now than it seemed in the past and what I can do to prevent.” Alison M.
“Pack a Lunch Box because it was a realistic application of what a healthy lunch would look like for an elementary student.” Geralyn T.
“The stand-out project for me was the Three-Day Menu. It really opened my eyes as to how little I actually knew about the nutrients I was eating. It made me more aware of how I need to plan my meals to increase my energy and improve my overall health.” Carol S.
“I really enjoyed tracking my food intake for three days. I loved discovering how many calories, carbs, etc that I consume on a daily basis.” Wendi H.
“I found it so beneficial analyzing a student type 1 diabetes and developing a healthy meal plan for that student. This was not an imaginary student and created insight into this student I hadn't thought of before.” Vanessa T.
“The scavenger hunt, because I was surprised by some of the results and it has made me more aware when I am purchasing food now.” Melissa B.
“Differences among nutritional needs with various ages of development.” Sara S.
"Three-day menu - this project really made it clear that I was on the right track some days and other days I really needed to work on what I put into my body." Kara B.
"The Healthy 3 day menu because it was an eye opener to see what nutrients I am more deficient in and how I felt after eating the meal because of that." Rachael L.
"The Interactive DRI was very informative. It is very interesting to see the nutrient requirements specific to yourself." Jennifer R.
"For me, the stand-out activity was the three day meal plan. I thought I was making great choices, but when I totaled my nutritional information at the end of each day, I was still falling short in most areas, or in toxic ranges. I still have some work to do." Joella H.
“Summarizing the CDC article- I found the content eye-opening.” Jaclyn P.
“Creating a healthy lunch for a child with allergies. I felt that I really had to contemplate what the child needed without having serious effects from the food.” Alison E.
“The 3 day menu plan was an important exercise. During this activity I utilized all the tools learned and applied them to creating menus and analyzing how these foods interact with bodies. I found it interesting and challenged myself to meet the daily nutrition challenges.” Nancy H.
“I hold a certificate as a school social worker and am not a classroom teacher. As such, some of the other courses were not applicable to me. However, nutrition is an important factor no matter what part of education you are involved in and is relevant to a school social worker who is ensuring that children have what they need to succeed in school.” Robin V.
“Pack a Lunchbox - It is good practice for me to think about how this information directly relates to student needs and helping them make healthy choices.” Hillary R.
“The 3 day Menu was a very good tool in assessing how well you are eating based on your Recommended Daily Intake, and it helped me better understand the nutritional value of foods that I enjoy.” Lisa L.
“The Label Scavenger Hunt was the best project. It helped me see the choices I am making when it comes to food and where I can improve the meals I prepare for myself and my family.” Kristen H.
“The stand-out project in this lesson was the Three-day Menu which took all the information from the course and applied it into actually creating a menu. It was challenging, but educational.” Sara B.
“The three-day menu plan was the stand-out project for me. Because of the labor intensity of the project, it took a long time to break my recipes down and add up the nutrition facts. I grew quite proficient at reading labels and anticipating where foods would fall in each category. This is a helpful skill.” Molly M.
“It was a challenge to determine the incorporation of the ELA strands into a mathematics setting. I was thrilled that I had met those challenges in my classes, although, I could differently incorporate more. I really enjoyed the creation of my own business.” Michelle L.
“Setting up a stock portfolio stood out. It was hands on.” Edward F.
“The stand-out project was the Global Events---the NASDAQ part. I have always heard about that...but honestly never knew what it was. :)” Krissy B.
“Writing the final script was really memorable for me! The research I did was never dry- on the contrary, it really made my characters come to life!” Tamara C.
“I really enjoyed the monologue project. I plan on using this with my students this school year.” Maureen H.
“I enjoyed the tips and tricks they had for how to use and teach script writing to students.” Amanda L.
“I really enjoyed all of the projects in this lesson but my favorite one was the character development worksheet. Jack is based on a student I had in juvenile boot camp. He later joined the Army and has made it a career. The activity brought back some good memories.” Edward F.
“Character Development was well done. I liked the approach and think we can always learn more regarding this.” Meredith F.
“Creating a Stock Market Portfolio in Excel - I feel this is valuable information for everyone and it is something that was not taught when I was in school though it is important that our students learn it.” Kara B.
"Lesson Plan evaluation- connection to the core standard strands. It was good to dig in and actually focus on what the strands say, rather than just larger big ideas." Stephanie F.
“I really liked the stock portfolio project. This is really out of my comfort zone and I found it really interesting!” Ann W.
“Proposal Presentation--it required me to really think about the advantages to movement in the classroom.” Angie R.
“I learned a lot about the brain and how it changes when physical activity is part of the daily life.” Laura G.
"The videos and information provided in this course about the brain was very interesting. It is motivating me to exercise. It's one reason why I asked for a fitbit for Christmas! Also, it has changed the way I teach. I have integrated movement and exercise into every subject. This course was amazing." Stephanie Y.
"Watching the You-tube videos that made the viewer participate in a movement activity before learning." Jill M.
“The TED TALKS explaining the correlation between movement and learning. These were eye-opening!” Kara B.
“I really liked the neurological information that was presented and will be using that when I discuss the brain development and how it relates to the assessments that I provide.” Michele K.
“Designing a sample lesson. Gives us an opportunity to integrate what we learned. Erica R.
I enjoyed the resource evaluations!” Lori B.
“The resource review was the best. I was able to watch videos on the topic which explained the material very clearly.” Kristen H.
“The resource reviews were incredibly informative and useful for after the course.” Julie W.
“The TedTalk was the standout assignment. Listen to Ted Ratley talk about movement and why it is important was awesome for someone who teaches physical education as unfortunately some programs are being cut.” Leah T.
“The TED Talk was one of the best videos I have ever viewed.” Lisa S.
“Ted Talks because I enjoy hearing from experts.” Rebecca D.
“The Inner artist project was a clear stand out. It forced me to look at my own creative skills and use my art as a learning tool. It is something that helps me see lessons from the student perspective and encouraged me to value creative responses as a learning tool.” Eli L.
“Reaffirmed again that ART, in its various forms is not just something to teach for 30 minutes once a week or month, but daily. It is important.” Michael F.
“Integrating fine arts in school because the lesson gave multiple resources and videos explaining the importance of art in schools.” Alison E.
“The Lesson Plan. It was the most helpful in making me think about how to connect the arts with content areas.” Lisbeth E.
“The stand out activity in this lesson was to learn to use all of the senses to better understand a subject. Many times we forget that we have 5 senses that can be used to observe and investigate a subject.” Sutan D.
“The acting games stood out to me as something I could use in a variety of ways to introduce, enhance, or review a lesson.” Jenny S.
“I liked the Famous Natural Artists activity. I enjoyed looking at the works of famous artists and trying to decide who created them and in what decade they were made.” Brandy B.
“I enjoyed creating my own games using Kahoot, Quizzizz, and FlipQuiz. I also liked taking a lesson I have taught and re-working it to include game-based learning.” Jessica S.
“On-line formative assessments - I never thought to use games as a formative assessment. I think students would really respond well to this type of testing.” Michelle C.

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