Summer 2016 Graduate Credit Opportunities

Free grad credits are nice...but they aren't always available.

In the meantime...If you are looking for grad credits to move you to the next lane on the salary schedule or to finalize your recertification, here are a few options to consider.

First, a few degree advancement reminders...

If you are looking at completing any graduate credit work this summer or early next fall, remember to submit your Coursework Pre-Approval forms. The district review committee will review forms one last time this school year, and forms are due by noon on Friday, May 27. Access documents and guidelines on inSite.

FREE Graduate Credits

The Dakota Writing Project is hands down some of the BEST PD I've had, and their Summer Institute is coming up quickly. It runs June 13 - July 8, and this year, the first three weeks are on campus at USD and the fourth week is online. The DWP just sent out information that they can pay 100% tuition and fees for the first 12 who register. (The Institute is worth 6 graduate credits!) If you are interested, please email Michelle Rogge Gannon before May 23 at mrogge@usd.edu for the details. (Email her ASAP so that you can be one of the 12!)

Online Graduate Credits

​If you are interested in completing self-paced graduate credits in your PJs and in the comfort of your own home, you might want to check out Learners Edge Professional Development. Learners Edge offers (mostly 3 credit) courses on: Teaching Excellence, Instructional Strategies, Classroom Management, Literacy, Brain-Based, Technology, Leadership, and Design & Assessment. Browse their Summer/Fall 2016 Catalog here. Also, a handful of colleges endorse their courses, and you can request your credit through one of the colleges listed on the Learners Edge website. (Augie is one, so if you already have a few graduate courses through Augie, you can add any Learner's Edge course to your Augie transcript.) Lastly, if you are new to Learners Edge, use promo code FRIEND20 to receive $20 off your first ​3-credit course.

Local Graduate Credits

There are also a number of great opportunities available here in town. 

• ​The District offers Red Apple courses, which offer teachers opportunities to get grad credits for less than the typical university cost. View the Red Apple calendar here. 
• Augie and USF both offer continuing education courses during the summer. View Augie's list here and USF's list here.
• New Tech is also offering the Project Based Learning Academy again. There are two courses offered: Academy I - Introduction to Project Based Learning, and Academy II - Integration of Project Based Learning​. (Click on the links to view descriptions.) Registration closes on May 23.

Happy learning!

SD Retired School Personnel Scholarship

If you are a K-12 teacher in South Dakota, have 5+ years of experience, and are working on an advanced degree or national certification, you may be the next lucky recipient of a $1000 scholarship from the SD Retired School Personnel (formerly the SD Retired Teacher Association). The last step you need to take is to fill out the scholarship application.

The application deadline is a little over a month away: April 5, 2016. The winners of the SDRSP scholarship will be notified and later recognized at the SDRTA convention on May 3, 2016.

Good luck!

Teacher Loan Forgiveness

Did you pay big bucks so that you could teach? If you are looking to get rid of some of the debt that came along with that degree, here are two pieces for you to consider.

1. Horace Mann is offering a workshop on Tuesday, January 12, to help teachers determine if they qualify for student loan forgiveness or repayment programs and get started on the next steps. Interested? Join them at Washington High School at 7 pm in A106. Bonus: You can earn 1 CECH toward re-certification. Please RSVP to betty.erickson@sdea.org if you plan to attend. (They need a headcount so they can plan dessert accordingly.) UPDATE: Non-SFEA members are welcome to attend; there is, however, a $20 fee for non-members.

2. If you would prefer to look at your options independently, the Federal Student Aid website provides some helpful information. There are two types of loan forgiveness programs for teachers you can explore. If you have a Direct Subsidized Loan, Direct Unsubsidized Loan, Subsidized Federal Stafford Loan, or Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loan, you should look into the Teacher Loan Forgiveness program. If you have a Federal Perkins Loan, you should look into the Teacher Cancellation program.

Spring Workshops at Augie

(Custom Ole shoes by Augie junior Brianne Bernard)

Augustana's spring workshops are close to wrapping up, but there are still a few left on the schedule if you are looking for a class. One in particular that might be of interest is All Things Macbeth, which will take place the weekend of April 10-11. Another option is Twenty Google Tools You Should be Using in Your Classroom the weekend of May 8-9.

Click here to see the rest of the spring line up.

Spring and Summer Workshops at USF

The University of Sioux Falls offers numerous topics for personal professional development. If you are in need of graduate credits for a lane change or renewal credits for re-certification, USF offers both opportunities for their courses.

Some of the upcoming offerings that might be of interest include:

*Writing from Middle School, High School to College (Starts June 3)

*Discipline with Love and Logic (starts June 5)

*Literacy and Gender (Starts June 8)

*Teaching with the Brain in Mind (Starts June 10)

*Grammar 101: Beginners to Advanced (Starts June 10)

Click on the links below to view the full spring and summer listings.

Spring Workshop Listing

Summer Workshop Listing

Brookings EdCamp Updates

If you haven't yet registered for the March 28th EdCamp in Brookings, here are a few reasons to do so soon:

1. It is FREE!
2. Because EdCamps are organic in nature, you could learn about something totally unexpected!
3. A dozen sponsors have donated prizes (averaging $100 in value).
4. Over 70 colleagues from the area are already registered.
5. You earn 7 CEU credits for attending the day, which gets you closer to recertification.

What are you waiting for? If I weren't expecting something big to happen around that date, I'd already be registered!

GET REGISTERED!

Are You Ready to Be a Creativist?

Know what that squiggly orange circle(ish) shape means? It means that you are a creativist, which was a new term to me. Being a creativist means you have a growth mindset about creativity, and you want to develop it in a way that brings meaningful change to the classroom.

Creativity + Activist = Creativist

The team at creativist.io wants to help you develop your inner creativist through empowerment, awareness, and practice. Starting on March 16, creativist.io is hosting

It is a 21-day challenge where each day begins with an email. Each email "contains a task that encourages a productive and successful way of thinking in order to be a more creative and modern teacher." Following each task, participants are to post about their day on Twitter and/or Google+, thus creating an online community of creativists where they can share thoughts and gain peer support.

What's the catch? There is a cost. It is $21, and 10% of it goes towards charity. You also have to be willing to commit about 30-minutes per day to the challenge and be willing to get a little uncomfortable as you challenge yourself to grow creatively. This is not an opportunity to receive quick-fix-tips and lists of "creative" websites to use in the classroom. Growing your creativity is a process, and the 21-day challenge is designed to make the practice of creativity in the classroom a habit.

What's the bonus? Because one of the creativist.io ladies (Melissa Goodwin) hails from our area, participating South Dakota teachers are offered one graduate credit from the University of Sioux Falls.

To get all the nitty-gritty details, click on the "Empowerment" image above and visit the creativist.io Google+ Page.

Go get creative!

Early Literacy Practices for the Secondary English Teacher

The University of Sioux Falls is offering a literacy workshop this spring. If you need credits for either lane change or re-certification, this might be one to consider with our district's literacy focus. It is a weekend class, so it is a one-time commitment. 

What: Early Literacy Practices: Foundations for Secondary English Teachers

When:
March 27-28
Friday: 4:30-9:30 pm
Saturday: 8 am - 6 pm

Workshop Description:

Secondary English teachers are trained to understand middle and high school literacy practices.  As a result, the background related to beginning literacy is often not part of the curricular studies.  This workshop focuses upon the theories, methods, and issues in language and literacy in the early years.  How do teachers instruct reading and writing in the early elementary classroom? 

The study of these foundational elements will guide current English language arts teachers in middle and high school to have a holistic understanding of literacy for all ages.   The foundations of early literacy practices will serve as the grounds for current literacy practices in the secondary classroom to serve readers and writers at all levels.

Cost:
For Graduate Credit: Workshops are one credit and are graded either Pass or No-Credit (P or NC). Grade reports are not issued to students, however, transcripts may be requested free of charge. The cost is $120 per credit.

Renewal (Non-Credit): Workshops can also be taken for non-credit for $50. A certificate of attendance will be provided for teacher renewal purposes.

Click here to see USF's full Spring 2015 workshop listing.

Building Continuing Education Contact Hours Log Sheet 2014-2015

Remember to track your building continuing education hours for easier recertification! The district has provided an electronic log sheet, which I converted to a Google Sheet. As you enter in your contact hours, it does the math for you and converts the contact hours into renewal credit hours.

Access the original Excel version here (it is at the bottom of the webpage) or the Google version here. If you use the Google version, you will need to make a copy of the Sheet so that you can edit it.

Here's what counts as building CEUs according to the district website:

On this form, you may list the following activities: *Building in-service time 
*Book talks 
*Building-sponsored training that is not a Red Apple Workshop course (i.e. CGI, Senteo Clickers, SmartBoard, 21st Century Teaching and Learning, etc.) 

You may not list the following activities: 
*Staff meetings 
*Collaboration 
*Planning meetings 
*Trainings sponsored by an entity other than the Sioux Falls School District 
*Red Apple Workshop classes (you will receive a Continuing Education Contact Hour Certificate from the instructor) 
*District-sponsored in-service 
*Time increments of less than 30 minutes 
*Do not include any activities for which you have received a Continuing Education Contact Hour Certificate from a District administrator and/or an instructional coach