EmpowerED for Teachers: Course Descriptions

Workshop Sessions: General Information

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The teacher workshops on have a pre- and post-workshop component to them. The pre-workshop component is about transmitting basic information and the post-workshop component is about completing a final task that we call the workshop "deliverable". 

 

Your completion of the pre- and post-workshop components along with your participation allow us to give you official Professional Development credit owing to the fact that our agency-Global Education Services Agency (GESA)-is an accredited ESA (Education Services Agency).

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To access the workshop courses teachers will need to sign-up for a (free) Canvas account (if they do not already have one). Registration is easy and quick. Instructions on how to sign-up for a free Canvas account can be found here: Canvas_Sign_Up--How_to.

 

If a teacher happens to already be using Canvas and has an account then there is no need to sign-up for a Canvas account; by simply clicking on the desired workshop "Canvas Course Link" the course will automatically be added/appear in the Canvas Dashboard.

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Course descriptions:

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Please sign-up for TWO of the following FOUR. Of the two that you select you will attend one in the morning and the second in the afternoon.

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Developing Professional Leadership Practice for Teachers

Canvas Course Join Link (use this link if you already have Canvas account):

https://canvas.instructure.com/enroll/C94Y6C

Canvas Join code (if you are signing-up for new/free Canvas account): C946C

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Are you ready to step into a leadership role, but aren't sure where to begin? Do you want to refine your existing leadership skills and make a bigger impact in your school community? This 3-hour Professional Development Workshop is designed for educators like you!

Whether you're a new assistant principal, instructional coach, department chair, or simply an educator passionate about making a difference, this seminar equips you with the tools and knowledge to become a confident and effective leader.

Through interactive activities, discussions, and case studies, participants delve into:

• Explore different leadership styles: Discover your unique strengths and identify the approach that best aligns with your vision. Analyze case studies and engage in discussions to understand how transformational, servant, and distributed leadership play out in real-world scenarios.

• Master communication skills: Learn the art of active listening, delivering constructive feedback, and crafting clear, concise messages. Practice these skills through role-playing exercises and gain valuable feedback from your peers.

• Foster collaboration and teamwork: Cultivate a sense of shared ownership and responsibility within your school community. Design a collaborative project with your colleagues and learn strategies for building trust, promoting open communication, and fostering innovation.

• Navigate power dynamics: Gain insight into the dynamics of power and influence in educational settings. Explore ethical ways to leverage your power for positive change and navigate challenging situations with confidence.

• Resolve conflict effectively: Develop conflict resolution strategies to address challenging situations constructively. Practice these skills through simulated scenarios and learn how to facilitate solutions that benefit everyone involved.

• Motivate and empower others: Discover how to recognize and appreciate your colleagues' contributions, fostering a culture of empowerment and intrinsic motivation. Brainstorm practical strategies to boost morale and unlock the potential within your team.

• Create your personal leadership roadmap: Set clear goals and develop an action plan to guide your leadership journey. Share your aspirations with your peers and receive valuable encouragement and support.

By the end of this workshop, you'll be equipped with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to take your leadership practice to the next level and make a lasting impact on your school community.

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Target Audience: The target audience for this professional development seminar are emerging or novice leaders who need capacity-building in understanding of leadership roles and competency in practice.

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Instructor: Dr. Zack Micevic

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Leveraging AI to Build a Student-Centered Professional Classroom

Canvas Course Join Link (use this link if you already have Canvas account):

https://canvas.instructure.com/enroll/HD8XKN

Canvas Join code (if you are signing-up for new/free Canvas account): HD8XKN

Unlock the potential of student-centered learning in the 21st-century classroom with our comprehensive Professional Development (PD) course on “Leveraging AI to Build a Student-Centered Professional Classroom.” Designed for educators seeking to enhance their teaching practices, this course spans four modules, each crafted to empower educators with the knowledge, skills, practical tools, and competencies needed to create dynamic and engaging learning environments.

• You will get familiar with AI chatbots, setting the stage for their engagement with AI-related activities in subsequent modules.

• You will be introduced to AI in Student-Centered Learning to gain an understanding of how to maximize AI for curriculum design, lesson planning, activities, applied learning, and assessment. Participants learn through exemplars, hands-on practice, and iterative refinement of AI prompts.

• You will deepen your understanding of Student-Centered Learning as a Best Practice. Key themes explored will include mindset and self-reflection, creating conducive learning environments, assessing student success, shifting teaching roles, building student capacity, innovative instruction, and practical application.

• You will participate in a Live Session, which will reinforce concepts and the Breakout sessions will focus on AI tools for personalized learning, curriculum design, applied learning with AI, and assessment and feedback with AI.

• You will compose a summative project that requires participants to apply their learning by designing a unit integrating AI and student-centered learning principles.

Join us on a transformative journey to revolutionize your classroom with student-centered learning empowered by AI. Together, we'll shape the future of education.

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Target Audience: The target audience for this professional development seminar are school leaders and teachers who need capacity-building in understanding how to leverage AI for learning improvement.

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Instructor: Dr. Greg Robbins

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Building Adult for Student Advocacy in Teachers

Canvas Course Join Link (use this link if you already have Canvas account):

https://canvas.instructure.com/enroll/YR9NYE

Canvas Join code (if you are signing-up for new/free Canvas account): YR9NYE

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This professional development course for teachers is aligned with the Adults for Student Advocacy Program (ASAP).  It is designed to guide teachers in ethical advocacy within the educational landscape in support of accreditation, international assurances, and performance standards. This course begins with examining the roots of advocacy in education, highlighting its pivotal role across historical and modern contexts. Participants are equipped to navigate the complexities of student-centered advocacy, ensuring every learner's voice is heard and valued. Through engaging modules, the course covers the spectrum from the foundational principles of advocacy to practical strategies for embedding these principles into daily teaching practices. Educators are empowered to become champions of student success, fostering environments where all students can thrive academically, emotionally, and socially.
 

High-Impact Takeaways:

• Foundational Understanding of Advocacy: Educators gain a solid grounding in the concept of advocacy, appreciating its historical evolution and how it is a driver of school quality today.

• Strategic Implementation of "Vector Planning": The course introduces "Vector Planning," a strategic framework for creating purpose-driven lesson plans that seamlessly integrate advocacy, enhancing the learning experience for every student.

• Empowerment Through Ethical Advocacy: Participants learn to navigate the ethical dimensions of advocacy, ensuring their actions align with the highest standards of integrity and principled support for students' diverse needs, which results in improved academic and socio-emotional outcomes.

• Comprehensive Skill Development: From empathetic communication to critical thinking and adaptability, the course equips educators with the essential skills to effectively advocate for and support their students in a dynamic educational environment where participants apply learning in the live session.

• 5. Practical Application and Personal Growth: Beyond theoretical insights, the course emphasizes practical application, encouraging educators to develop a personalized advocacy philosophy that reflects their values and commitments, thereby fostering professional and personal growth.

• Fully Developed Advocacy Program: The school will receive a copy of the Adults for Student Advocacy Program (ASAP) Program with policies. These are fully unpacked in the Canvas course and live EmpowerED session.

• Fully supports multiple areas of accreditation, Including International Assurances and Culture of Learning performance standard 4.

 

Target audience: School Leaders, Teachers.

Instructor: Yousra El Deeb

Yousra has been principal of the American Division at El Ebdaa Language School for 8 years now, preceded by an additional 6 years as Head of the English Department and teaching at the same school.  Ms. Yousra also obtained a postgraduate professional diploma in Educational Leadership from the AUC and holds MA in Standardized Assessment. She is an AUC Professional Certified Trainer and holder of certificates in "English for Specific Purposes"- University of Oregon, "Inquiry Based Learning"- Austin Texas University, and "Family Engagement in Education"- Harvard University.  Ms. El Deeb has served on Cognia teams since 2015 and is an expert in school quality and improvement.

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Unlock Your Potential to Improve Quality Teaching and Learning

Canvas Course Join Link (use this link if you already have Canvas account):

https://canvas.instructure.com/enroll/YR9NYE

Canvas Join code (if you are signing-up for new/free Canvas account): YR9NYE

 

As an educator within your organization, are you looking for ways and structures to improve your teaching and learning to increase student success and achievement?

During this lively, interactive 3-hour session, you will gain a tool kit full of ideas and resources to enhance and personalize your journey to increase student learning engagement and academic growth in your classrooms. This session will encourage you to BE THE CHANGE for futuristic classrooms that are student-centered with high levels of learning such as critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, risk-taking, and project-orientated with opportunities for student voice and choice. Session learning outcomes include:

 

• Utilize key essentials to unlock your treasure chest filled with ideas, tools, documents, best practices, and high standards that you can use to leverage high-quality teaching and learning.

• Encourage you to BE THE CHANGE for futuristic student-centered classrooms with high levels of learning such as critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, risk-taking, and project orientated with student voice and choice.

• Embrace your quality assurance measures for increased student engagement and academic growth within your classrooms.

• Uncover ways to “stop riding dead horses” within your organization (programs and actions that don’t work anymore in today’s technology-rich, rapidly changing world).

• Utilize data-driven decision-making that continuously monitors and adjusts teaching and learning.

• Discover the key essentials and best practices for a formalized quality assurance (QA) system that improves instruction, enhances student achievement, and ensures operational effectiveness.

• Leverage your learning to build a customized, effective quality assurance framework based on international standards and best practices that improve student-centered learning and augment student achievement.

 

Target Audience: Classroom Teachers, Heads of Departments (HODs), and Academic Coordinators.

 

Instructor: Dr. Anne-Marie Woolsey

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