Employees of the Mitchell School District are invited to participate in the SDEA book study "The Educator's ATLAS: Your Roadmap to Engagement" by Weston Kieschnick. This course runs September 30, 2024 - January 8, 2025.        Think back to your most engaging experience as a student. What made it so exhilarating and memorable? What made it so effective? Such questions about student engagement obsessed Weston Kieschnick from his earliest days as a teacher. Today, Kieschnick travels the globe to keynote and coach educators on the topics most relevant to student success. In the intervening decades, Kieschnick refined his teaching craft, observed the most captivating teachers, and studied the best speakers to reverse engineer a student engagement formula. The result is the ATLAS model—a simple, five-point roadmap for capturing student engagement in the first moments of class sustaining it all the way to the last. The Educator's ATLAS holds both learner needs and teacher wisdom in equal importance. Central to this is a definition of student engagement that—once and for all—clarifies the teacher’s actionable role. Teachers will finish this book with a plan in hand and the full confidence that they are ready to be engagement pros. And as is always the case with Kieschnick’s books, readers will laugh and have a lot of fun along the way.   Read more

* This course is only available for graduate credit. CECH are not available. * If you are new to BRIDGE, you must create an account and take the mandatory Introduction course before adding courses to your cart.      After centuries of colonization, this important new work recovers the literary record of Oceti Sakowin (historically known to some as the Sioux Nation) women, who served as their tribes’ traditional culture keepers and culture bearers. In so doing, it furthers discussions about settler colonialism, literature, nationalism, and gender.   Women and land form the core themes of the book, which brings tribal and settler colonial narratives into comparative analysis. Divided into two parts, the first section of the work explores how settler colonizers used the printing press and boarding schools to displace Oceti Sakowin women as traditional culture keepers and culture bearers with the goal of internally and externally colonizing the Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota nations. The second section focuses on decolonization and explores how contemporary Oceti Sakowin writers and scholars have started to reclaim Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota literatures to decolonize and heal their families, communities, and nations. Read more

* If you are new to BRIDGE, you must create an account and take the mandatory Introduction course before adding courses to your cart.  In this course, teachers will learn how to select and curate educational podcast episodes that align with their unique professional needs, teaching styles, and interests. With a focus on improving student learning and engagement, this course will empower educators to identify podcast content that directly addresses the challenges and opportunities within their classrooms. Participants will explore strategies for finding and evaluating podcast episodes that resonate with their goals, whether it’s enhancing classroom management, fostering equity and inclusion, or exploring innovative teaching methods. The course will also provide guidance on how to integrate podcast insights into daily practice, ensuring continuous professional growth and a richer learning experience for students. Read more

Highlighting the fascinating link between a child’s neurological development and the way a parent reacts to misbehavior, No-Drama Discipline provides an effective, compassionate road map for dealing with tantrums, tensions, and tears—without causing a scene.   Defining the true meaning of the “d” word (to instruct, not to shout or reprimand), the authors explain how to reach your child, redirect emotions, and turn a meltdown into an opportunity for growth. By doing so, the cycle of negative behavior (and punishment) is essentially brought to a halt, as problem solving becomes a win/win situation. Inside this sanity-saving guide you’ll discover   • strategies that help parents identify their own discipline philosophy—and master the best methods to communicate the lessons they are trying to impart • facts on child brain development—and what kind of discipline is most appropriate and constructive at all ages and stages • the way to calmly and lovingly connect with a child—no matter how extreme the behavior—while still setting clear and consistent limits • tips for navigating your child through a tantrum to achieve insight, empathy, and repair • twenty discipline mistakes even the best parents make—and how to stay focused on the principles of whole-brain parenting and discipline techniques   Complete with candid stories and playful illustrations that bring the authors’ suggestions to life, No-Drama Discipline shows you how to work with your child’s developing mind, peacefully resolve conflicts, and inspire happiness and strengthen resilience in everyone in the family. Read more

* If you are new to BRIDGE, you must create an account and take the mandatory Introduction course before adding courses to your cart.  Take a positive approach to behavior intervention for results that work―and last!  When there’s a nuclear meltdown happening in your classroom, this book is your trusted guide on what to do in the heat of the moment, and how you can prevent future incidents. These field-tested strategies integrate principles of behavioral intervention with the best practices of positive psychology. Inside you’ll find: Ready-to-use tools and guidelines Practical guidance developed from the author’s extensive experience training educators Solutions that work now and support each student’s future well-being A deliberate focus at the classroom, building, and system level Read more

This course initiates the purpose and direction of student-teacher relations to fully conceptualize teaching and learning in this context. Fundamental understanding of building relationships, communication practices, student teacher needs, strategies and planning for collaborative efforts, and recognition of professional teaching attributes will form the core of this course. This course will run from August 25 - December 4, 2024. Those whose student teachers have split placements (fine arts, SPED, etc.) may also register for this course; there is a condensed course schedule recommended for split placements. *This is a dual-enrollment course. You must also be enrolled through USD: https://aceware.usd.edu/wconnect/CourseStatus.awp?&course=24FA-97763  The registration deadline is September 3, 2024 **Please note that while there are 33 modules, many modules can be completed in ten minutes or less. The total estimated time commitment for this course is 15 hours.  Read more