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.   Book: “The Educator’s ATLAS”                     ISBN-10: 1736199684                     ISBN-13: 978-1736199688 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

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

* If you are new to BRIDGE, you must create an account and take the mandatory Introduction course before adding courses to your cart.  Podcast PD is an asynchronous and new format for professional development and learning that is being offered by SDEA. You listen and reflect as time allows without having to meet weekly deadlines, meet in person, or access Zoom meetings.   Podcast PD allows educators to make personal choices for their learning based on their content area and professional interests while helping them to earn up to five credits.   With five different podcasts to choose from you can choose any of the sessions that relate to education, professional interest, content that work for you. Each session requires a reflection paper. Participants can mix and match podcasts to meet the requirements for credit.   The five podcasts that can be used for credit: School ME neaToday Angela Watson’s Truth for Teachers Podcast The Cult of Pedagogy The Resilient Teacher Podcast with host Brittany Blackwell, M.Ed. Special Education for Beginners with Jennifer Hofferber 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

PROFESSIONALISM ONLINE "An estimated 74% of Americans over the age of 18 use social networking websites. Naturally, some of these adults are educators. But with news stories of teachers being fired or disciplined for tweets, status updates, and Instagram photos becoming more common, educators can be (understandably) anxious when using social media."   --Rachael Nichol (The American Board Blog)   This course will take educators some of the basics of being professional online and is worth 1 CEU credit.   ***This publication is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for specific legal or other professional advice.  If you have specific questions about your legal or contractual rights, contact your UniServ Director.  This guidance will be updated periodically based on new information and guidance, so please refer back to this link for the most current information. Read more