Marian University

TDE 604:
Advanced Classroom Management: Children as Change Agents

Semester Credits: 2    Fee: $500

• Course Description
  Geared primarily for professionals (e.g., regular or special educators, instructional assistants, school psychologists, counselors) serving children and youths presenting behavior problems in the school or community, this course focuses on cognitive and cognitive-behavioral interventions (often lumped together under the rubric “social skills”) with an emphasis on teaching students how to change and manage their own behavior. Since previous knowledge and understanding of traditional behavioral (operant) concepts and strategies is required, it is strongly recommended that you take an introductory behavior management course to learn the basic terms and concepts of behavior management prior to taking this advanced course.

SPE 604:
Attention Deficit Disorder: Information & Interventions for Effective Teaching

Semester Credits: 2    Fee: $500

• Course Description
  This course will help the learner achieve a better understanding of ADD and intervention strategies to facilitate positive student change. Taught by Mick R. Jackson MS/ED, this course covers the history of the disorder, accepted methods to assess and identify students with the disorder, and various methods, medications, and strategies that are currently used to treat it. For situations in which services beyond what can be provided in the classroom are required, the referral process for getting help for the student will be addressed. Reference materials include a list of resources for both teachers and parents who would like more help or information about ADD or ADHD.

SPE 604:
Autism & Asperger's Disorder: Information & Effective Intervention Strategies

Semester Credits: 2    Fee: $500

• Course Description
  This course describes Autism and Asperger's Disorder, including characteristics of these disorders, associated learning styles, communication weaknesses, and various intervention strategies. The course helps the learner understand why individuals with Autism spectrum disorders behave the way they do, and what you can do to enhance more appropriate behavior. This course also lists resources for educators, related service personnel, and parents who want more help or information on Autism and Asperger's Disorder.

TDE 604:
Educational Assessment: Assessing Student Learning in the Classroom

Semester Credits: 2    Fee: $500

• Course Description
  This course is designed to further develop the conceptual and technical skills required by teachers to help them identify their educational goals and implement meaningful instructional strategies for effective learning by students with special needs. The focus of the course is on assessment for instructional programming and will outline procedures for designing or selecting, administering, and interpreting a variety of informal assessment measures typically used in schools. The presentation of assessment information in an acceptable format to parents and teachers is also addressed.

EDT 604:
Harassment, Bullying & Cyber-Intimidation in Schools

Semester Credits: 2    Fee: $500

• Course Description
  Harassment, Bullying & Cyber-Intimidation in Schools will discuss definitions and the personal, social, and legal ramifications associated with sexual harassment, bullying, and cyber-intimidation. The course will address what we know about these troubling areas. We will then explore preventative strategies as well as how school staff can address these issues when they occur. A clear understanding of what constitutes harassment and the harmful effects of harassment on people and institutions is essential to providing a safe and inclusive school environment for all.

SPE 604:
Inclusion: Working with Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms

Semester Credits: 2    Fee: $500

• Course Description
  This course is designed to help special and general educators gain a better understanding of inclusion, one of the current educational reform movements that advocates educating students with disabilities in the general education classrooms. Upon course completion, the learner will be able to define key concepts and terms, identify and describe federal legislature and court cases, and list and describe the federal definition of students entitled to special services. This course will also discuss the roles and responsibilities of educators in providing special services to students educated in inclusive classrooms.

TDE 604:
Reading & Writing in Content Area

Semester Credits: 2    Fee: $500

• Course Description
  Reading & Writing in Content Area offers instruction in teaching reading and writing in various subject matter fields at the secondary level. The material stresses the skills of vocabulary building, comprehension, and writing, as well as methods for motivating adolescents to read and write. The course also provides information on recognizing reading difficulties, assessing textbooks, and the integration of reading strategies within a content area. The strategies taught are aligned with the Praxis Reading Across the Curriculum test guide and the Reading in the Content Area national standards.

SPE 604:
Talented & Gifted: Working with High Achievers

Semester Credits: 2    Fee: $500

• Course Description
  This course provides information on the history of exceptional students in relation to education, current law, and accepted methods for referral, assessment, and identification. It covers major program models and methods of differentiating instruction to meet the rate and level of learning of those students identified. The course gives the learner an understanding of ways to meet the affective needs of the gifted and talented student in the regular classroom and lists resources for teachers and parents who would like more information about the talented and gifted.

TDE 604:
Teaching Diversity: Influences & Issues in the Classroom

Semester Credits: 2    Fee: $500

• Course Description
  Designed to give the learner the knowledge, tools, and dispositions to effectively facilitate a diverse classroom, this course teaches how to understand and identify differences in approaches to learning and performance, including different learning styles and ways in which students demonstrate learning. An emphasis in this course is on understanding how students' learning is influenced by individual experiences, talents, disabilities, gender, language, culture, and family and community values. The learner is challenged to apply knowledge of the richness of contributions from our diverse society to the teaching field.

TDE 604:
Teaching Elementary Math Conceptually: A New Paradigm

Semester Credits: 2    Fee: $500

• Course Description
  This course is designed to expand your methodology for teaching Mathematics. The course will explore an innovative teaching model that incorporates strategies for teaching concepts constructively and contextually. The goal is for you to gain a deeper understanding of the underlying concepts of various math topics and to explore the principles of teaching those concepts to learners. This course will focus on the topics of number sense, basic operations, and fractions.

TDE 604:
Traumatized Child: The Effects of Stress, Trauma & Violence on Student Learning

Semester Credits: 2    Fee: $500

• Course Description
  This course is designed to help classroom teachers, school counselors, and other educational personnel gain strategies to reach and teach students who have been affected by stress, trauma, and/or violence. Participants will learn the signs and symptoms of stress and trauma and explore how stress, violence, and trauma affect a student's learning, cognitive brain development, and social-emotional development. The short- and long-term consequences of being exposed to stress, trauma, or violence, as well as the social and family causes, will be reviewed. The dynamics of domestic violence and community violence are also discussed, as is the educator's role in the intervention and prevention of violence.

TDE 604:
Try DI!: Planning & Preparing a Differentiated Instruction Program

Semester Credits: 3    Fee: $750

• Course Description
  Try DI! is designed to provide you an opportunity to learn about an instructional framework, Differentiated Instruction (DI), aimed at creating supportive learning environments for diverse learning populations. Students will be presented a method for self-assessment of the extent to which their current instructional approach reflects the perspective, principles, and practices of the DI approach. The course reflects an approach that aligns the principles of DI with the practices of DI. The concept of a “theory of action” will also be provided within a DI context. The course has also been designed to introduce students to a range of strategies associated with a DI approach. Strategies included in this course have been selected on the basis that they are effective in the widest possible range of educational K-12 settings. This course follows Why DI?: An Introduction to Differentiated Instruction, which addressed the What, Why, and Who of a classroom that reflects a DI approach. The focus of Try DI!: Planning & Preparing a Differentiated Instruction Program is on the When, Where, and How of the DI approach.

TDE 604:
Understanding & Implementing Common Core Standards

Semester Credits: 3    Fee: $750

• Course Description
  This course, Understanding & Implementing Common Core Standards, has been divided into four chapters. The organization of the course covers the rationale for and design of the Common Core State Standards, the “Common Core Mindset” practitioners need for successful implementation, and what specific actions can be taken for deeper implementation across settings.
  

TDE 604:
Violence in Schools: Identification, Prevention & Intervention Strategies

Semester Credits: 2    Fee: $500

• Course Description
  This course is designed to give participants an understanding of school violence and increase intervention strategies. Taught by Dr. Michael Sedler, the course provides an overview of violence and the motivational purposes behind aggression. The correlation and impact of the media, community, and family upon violence is investigated. The learner will gain an understanding of identification and intervention approaches to working with out-of-control behaviors. In addition, information about the national resources available for both parents and teachers is covered. Upon successful completion of this course, participants will have a better understanding of violence and the motivations behind its use, as well as specific strategies to minimize the occurrence of violence in the school and community.