Course Description
Designed for all educators, this course provides the opportunity to earn graduate-level professional development credit for developing practical strategies and ideas for use in the classroom. Like all educators, you have probably spent hours (maybe years!) ideating and developing practical strategies that work in your classroom, with your students, at a particular moment in time. Seldom does a prescribed curriculum provide everything needed to effectively and successfully teach a course, though there are many excellent curriculums available. But there is always something that needs to be tweaked…adapted…modified…for your particular teaching situation. As an educator, you accept this necessity as a matter of course, and do whatever it takes–whether there is time in the school day to finish or not–to ensure that your curriculum works for you and your students. For your invested personal time creating practical strategies and ideas to improve your curriculum and/or teaching,, earn up to 3 units of graduate-level credit (1 unit per 5 practical strategies/ideas, completed on your own time, that you develop and implement in your classroom). To earn credit, simply submit a time log documenting time spent developing your practical ideas and strategies (outside of professionally paid hours) and a detailed description of each idea/strategy you have implemented.
Create five different learning activities or projects (per credit) to implement directly into your curriculum. The curriculum ideas, strategies, or techniques you develop can be tailored to your goals and educational setting.
1 Credit = 5 activities/projects
2 Credits = 10 activities/projects
3 Credits = 15 activities/projects
Suggested activities and projects to help you earn credit:
Educational games, learning activities, PowerPoint presentations, video presentations, worksheets, educational websites, classroom visuals, classroom assignments and projects, bulletin boards, learning centers, anchor charts, assessments, teacher-created books, physical education activities, reflection reports, technology-related activities, storytelling activities, units of study, STEM-related projects, mindfulness-based projects, etc.
Designed for busy teachers like you, you will get up to 6 months to complete your coursework, and extensions are always granted upon request. All curriculum projects you choose to develop will ultimately demonstrate the application of time you invest in professional development experiences, such as research, videos and readings, as you endeavor to accomplish your goals. An additional expectation is to complete a time log that documents the time spent for this course.
Overview of Requirements
1. Develop and incorporate new activities, projects, strategies or techniques (of your choice) into existing or new curriculum: For each graduate-level credit, you will choose and develop 5 different learning and teacher-made activities and/or projects to create and implement. You may always modify, change, adapt or incorporate new ideas throughout the entire course duration.
2. Develop a self-created time log: Create a log to document the effort and time that you dedicate to the process of completing your coursework requirements. You can also document hours for projects created previously by backtracking the date in your log. Your log must be specific and include dates, times, accomplishments and proof. For each graduate-level credit, you will document 15 hours of academic involvement.
Whether you spend time brainstorming, researching, reading, typing, writing, watching educational videos and films for ideas, or constructing visuals, putting together new curriculum & rubrics, you are able to document all the professional time you have invested amplifying and enriching your professional needs.
3. Demonstrate mastery of curriculum enhancement: When all your curriculum goals are finally met, you will submit your final work for evaluation.
*Additional course guidelines, formatting requirements, and information will be provided upon course enrollment.
Opportunities are available across all teaching grade levels, disciplines, and subjects or topics. The overall course objective is aimed at implementing the best practices of education while meeting educational standards set by your school district or state.
Completed courses are letter graded and will appear on an official transcript from University of the Pacific, Benerd College. An Official Transcript with your final course grade(s) is available from Pacific upon successful completion of coursework. The course ending date that will appear on your transcript will reflect the date on which your completed coursework was reviewed and graded.
Teacher Friendly Course
About University of the Pacific
University of the Pacific, established in 1851, is California’s oldest private chartered university and is fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).
The credits offered are post-baccalaureate, graded, graduate-level semester units of credit, provided directly through University of the Pacific, Benerd College. They are specifically designed to meet the needs of educators for Salary Advancement and Recertification. The credits/units are acceptable where local districts approve and applicable to state licensing where authorized. We always encourage you to check with your employer for acceptability of these credits/units. Course participants are responsible to determine acceptability of these credits for their intended use. Each graduate-level semester credit is equivalent to 15 hours of academic involvement.
Course Objectives
Upon successful mastery of this course, you will be able to:
- Brainstorm or research practical strategies and/or ideas that will enhance student learning of specific objectives.
- Apply strategies and insights gained to the development or creation of a specific strategy or idea that you will implement in your classroom.
- Reflect on how the addition of specific practical strategies and ideas impact student learning.
- Reflect on the professional development experiences, specific to your future growth.
Course Includes
- 2 Sections