High Foundations of Curriculum and Instruction

Segment 1

Module 1: Factors in Learning

• Student backgrounds 
• Student learning differences 
• Classroom ownership 
• Building confidence 
• School relationships—student-to-teacher, teacher-to-student, student-to-student, teacher-to-teacher 
• Bullying 
• Behaviorism 
• Cognitivism 
• Constructivism 
• Connectivism 
• Bloom’s taxonomy 
• Webb’s depth of knowledge 
• Fixed vs. growth mindset 

Module 2: Becoming the Expert

• Steps to becoming a teacher
• Intentional teaching
• Professional development
• Active learning
• Cooperative learning
• Hands-on learning
• Teaching with technology
• Student-paced instruction
• Diagnostic assessment
• Formative assessment
• Summative assessment
• Teacher-made assessment
• Authentic assessment
• Using data
• Providing student feedback
• Collaboration with colleagues

Module 3: Where to Start

• Standards
• Curriculum maps
• Unpacking standards
• Lesson planning
• Differentiation
• Gradual release of responsibility
• Questioning strategies
• Wait time
• Connected learning
• Types of media
• Quality of content
• Fair use
• Copyright
• Public domain

 

Segment 2

Module 4: Finding Resources

• Tools for planning
• Management applications
• Assessment applications
• Tools for engaging lessons
• Trending tools—gamification, artificial intelligence, 3-D printing, augmented reality, virtual reality, and drones
• Assistive technology
• Acceptable use policy
• Virtual field trips
• Blended learning
• Flipped classroom
• Safety online
• Finding credible sources
• Citing sources

Module 5: Launching Literacy

• Essential components of reading—phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension
• Phonological awareness
• Blending
• Phonics instruction strategies
• Phonemes vs. graphemes
• Low-frequency vs. high-frequency vocabulary
• Direct vs. indirect vocabulary instruction
• Fluency
• Prosody
• Comprehension
• Decoding
• Schema
• Comprehension strategies
• Scaffolding
• Writing connection to literacy
• Selecting a variety of texts
• Higher-level thinking questions and comprehension
• Close reading
• Differentiation for struggling readers
• Literacy strategies

Module 6: Resilient Teaching

• School improvement plans 
• District priorities 
• Action steps 
• Classroom disruptions 
• Individual problem-solving 
• Group problem-solving 
• Administrative support 
• Reflective teaching 
• Peer feedback 
• Teamwork 
• Active listening 
• Resolving conflicts

Besides engaging students in challenging curriculum, the course guides students to reflect on their learning and evaluate their progress through a variety of assessments. Assessments can be in the form of practice lessons, multiple choice questions, writing assignments, projects, research papers, oral assessments, and discussions. This course will use the state-approved grading scale. Each course contains a mandatory final exam or culminating project that will be weighted at 20% of the student’s overall grade.***

***Proctored exams can be requested by FLVS at any time and for any reason in an effort to ensure academic integrity. When a proctored exam is administered to assess a student’s integrity, the student must pass the exam with at least a 59.5% to earn credit for the course.

To achieve success, students are expected to submit work in each course weekly. Students can learn at their own pace; however, “any pace” still means that students must make progress in the course every week. To measure learning, students complete self-checks, practice lessons, multiple choice questions, projects, discussion-based assessments, and discussions. Students are expected to maintain regular contact with teachers; the minimum requirement is monthly. When teachers, students, and parents work together, students are successful.