PBS TeacherLine’s Course: Teaching Elementary Life Science

Looking for some professional development on the natural sciences this spring?  Develop content knowledge while learning about effective strategies to enhance your teaching of life science concepts. PBS TeachlerLine’s SCIE500: Teaching Elementary Life Science is a great opportunity to expand your skills for K-4 classrooms.  Check out the syllabus to see how this course might work for you.  Courses begin Wednesday, March 28 so there’s still plenty of time to register.  Visit PBS TeacherLine for the full course catalog.  Massachusetts teachers: interested to hear more about PDPs or graduate credit, contact WGBY’s PBS TeacherLine Coordinator, Bess Kapetanis, at 413-781-2801 ext. 292 to learn more!

PBS TeacherLine: Curriculum Mapping I by Heidi Hayes Jacobs

Curriculum Mapping I by Heidi Hayes Jacobs is one of the most popular PBS TeacherLine courses for educators  in our region.   With Jacobs, a recognized expert in her field, course learners become part of a professional learning community that  focuses on how to incorporate mapping to enrich curricula and improve student performance.  Part I explores the history and purpose of curriculum mapping, teacher roles, map types, and the various data collected in the maps.  By the end of the course learners have a complete peer-reviewed, ready-to-implement plan to adjust the scope and sequence of their individual curriculums.

Among the valuable resources learners use (and take with them) as they create their own curriculum mapping plan are those found in Session Four,  Strategies for Working with Curriculum Maps:

  • Plus Solutions – PerformancePLUS school curriculum and assessment data, which can be used to track curriculum standards with PerformanceTRACKER, AssessmentBUILDER, and CurriculumCONNECTOR, allowing educators to make data-driven decisions by managing assessment and curriculum data effectively
  • The Curriculum Mapper, an Internet-based curriculum mapping system that allows educators to search and view others’ maps while creating and editing your own
  • The Rubicon Atlas, a Web-based curriculum mapping tool that tracks gaps/repetitions in instruction, aligns curricula with standards and benchmarks, and shares requirements with teachers, students, administrators, and parents.

After the completion of this 6-week, fully online course, Curriculum Mapping II by Heidi Hayes Jacobs is available, shifting focus from classroom data mapping to schoolwide curriculum planning and  the role of curriculum mapping teams.  Spring term for PBS TeacherLine courses begins on March 30 with enrollment open through April 1.