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The best aspects of the course were the videos. It makes it so much easier to see strategies in action than just read about them and then try to implement from what you read. The course has helped me implement strategies that are actually creating positive change in my classroom and slowly but surely turning around a number of those difficult students. 
Jack McMaster,
Wadalba Community School, 22.7.18

Course Overview


​A quality, 4-month, online, guided learning journey

This online PD course is relevant to teachers globally.
This 16-week online course is for both competent Middle and High School teachers who desire to create a quality learning environment with their students. This 'Engaged-Learning-Environment' course demonstrates links between rapport with students, lesson structure, engagement, praise and effective student management. This is a self-paced course, and is therefore accessible 24/7.

Classroom videos
A feature of the course is the use of twenty excellent classroom-based videos, many of them showcasing teachers working with a consultant to improve their craft and featuring strategies relevant to all subject areas.

In a nutshell ... 
The online format and the fact that it runs over 16 weeks allows participants to LEARN new strategies, IMPLEMENT some of the strategies with their students and SHARE their implementation experiences with their course colleagues. The course can be completed with a 1 to 2-hour commitment per week. 

The ‘flavour’ of the course
The article below offers a hint of the 'flavour' of the course. 
Attention Mathematics teachers: 
This online course is ideal for teachers of all subject areas including mathematics. However, the maths-specific course ‘Engagement - Winning over your mathematics class' is usually (but not always) the better initial course for mathematics teacherst. Send a message if you need clarification.

Department-wide and school-wide transformation
This course is set up to run via a TEAM Approach or as a School-Wide Program. Check the links for more information.

A significant course upgrade
For those who completed 'Motivating, Engaging and Managing Students Effectively' sometime between 2009 and 2016 note that  this course is a substantial and significant upgrade of that original course.

Course Modules

​​1. Overview / Getting Started ( 30 min )
Participants are welcomed to the course and 'meet' the presenter/facilitator. The course requirements are explained. Participants introduce themselves via an introductory post.  

2. Teacher Development (1 Hour) (1 hr)
What is engaged learning? What are the common (lack of) engagement issues teachers face today? What qualities are required for a teacher to change? Participants reflect upon and respond to these and other questions regarding the task of cultivating engaged learners. 

3. Student Centred Learning (1.5 hrs)
Participants share their favourite strategies for student engagement/student management. Participants then critically watch/read and reflect upon two videos and an article regarding the value of well-run student-centred tasks and share the aspects from these they would like to implement.

4. Praising to Manage (1.5 hrs)
This session is about more than the 'Praise is good' mantra. This is about turning around an off-task class with a strategy we refer to as 'Praising to manage'. Participants critically view 3 videos in sequence including the associated notes, reflecting on each. A summary post is required at the end regarding the applicability of the strategy to their specific needs.  

5. Student discipline meetings (1 hr)
This session is all about turning around individual poor behaviour. One of the simplest, most effective strategies to achieve this is the 'Minute after class' strategy. But it needs to be executed well. Teachers are guided through a video and two article which show the merits of using an intelligent approach which enables the student to volunteer for change and uses an "I'm on your side and am here to help you change" rather than a "You did the wrong thing and this is your punishment" approach. 
Participants reflect on the example dialogue provided as well as other useful tips to help facilitate behaviour turnarounds. 

6. Good structure, good questions, engaged learners! (1.25 hrs)
Commonly, the difference between a great lesson and a poor lesson simply comes down to Lesson Structure - starters, transitions, the level of explicitness re instructions and endings. (And no, we did not 'get' this at uni - all teachers need to revisit these ideas!) Participants explore two readings, reflect upon their findings and share their intentions for implementation. In addition to honing their lesson structure participants reflect on a video and a reading regarding the use of quality questioning techniques, again sharing their views and plans for implementation. 

7. Rapport, control and being transparent (1 hr)
The task of assuming authentic control with students is a big topic and this session explores it in depth. Participants critically view and read five readings and two videos which explore the characteristics of authentic control and tips on how to achieve it. Related to this theme are the aspects of rapport and being transparent with students. Participants share their reflections and intentions for change via four posts.

8. Spoon feeding, choice & your students' shoes (1 hr)
Three separate 'mini-topics'. 1) Becoming a 'spoon-feeder' of your students is almost inevitable in today's education world of standards and pressure for results. However, 'Spoon Feeding' is always a losing game in the long-term. 2) Offering choice to students is a proven and simple way to increase engagement in students. 3) What's it like being a student in your classes? Would you feel talked down to? Would you feel exhausted through being (physically) inactivity? In this session, participants read three articles and view two videos, reflect on these three key ideas and share their thoughts and plans for implementation.

Paired Module 9A: Turning around an off-task class (Total time for paired modules 2 hours)
As the title implies, this module is all about student management. Participants critically view 4 excellent videos, each featuring a 'turn around' example where strategies were implemented which significantly turned around a previously disruptive and challenging class. Participants share a reflective comment on each video and comment on aspects they are inspired to implement. 

Paired Module 9B: Quality teaching and engagement (Total time for paired modules 2 hours)
This session features 4 excellent video examples of quality teaching in action, with exceptional dialogue between each teacher and the observing consultant. A reflective post for each video is required. 

10. Strategy Implementations and Reports  (2 hrs)
Participants submit their three implementation reports during this session. In addition, they each submit a document outlining specific changes in their teaching practice they are looking to accomplish over the next two years.

12. Course Completion (15 min)
The course completion process including accreditation information, a short survey, staying in touch and options for continued access.

FAQs

It says courses commence in March, June, September and December of each year. Can I start at a different time which suits me better? 
Usually, yes. Included on the application form is an option to ‘Start now’. If you choose this option, we will contact you to ascertain the best occurrence to place you in. 
For Southern Hemisphere teachers - the December occurrence enables you to complete most of the content during the Christmas holidays, allowing you to run your implementations during Term One and complete the course by mid-March.

Is this an accredited professional learning workshop in NSW, Australia? 
The course is no longer NESA accredited.

Should we enrol more than one teacher in this online course? 
This course is ideal for individual teachers who want to see significant changes occur in their classroom teaching. However, if you are looking for department-wide change, then the ideal way to achieve this is to enrol all or most of your teachers. 

What happens if I don't finish my course within the four months?
Teachers have hectic lives, and sometimes things get in the way of completing a course in the allocated time. Be assured that if this happens to you, and you are keen to complete, we will do enable you to do so.  ​​

Will I have to be logged in at specific times?
This is a self-paced course, and is therefore accessible 24/7. There is no requirement to be logged in at any specific time.

Example Implementation Reports

A requirement of the course is to create a collaborative, online unit, implement the unit with students and submit a report on the implementation experience. Below is an abbreviated implementation report.

Wow! What a great start I’ve had to the year. Strategies I have implemented are: independent learning including think-pair-share, collaborative learning, questioning, praising-to-manage. the Kagan approach, minute after class, group work and roles, colour coding and round-robin discussions. (1000 words of detail removed from the original report)
After implementing 'Praising to manage' I couldn’t believe the effect it had on the others who immediately stopped and looked at me.  Who knew it could be such an attention grabber?! The smiles I’ve been seeing on faces has been fantastic. Even my most surly/uncooperative year 10 student now says hello to me when I greet him - clearly, this has all helped build rapport between us. 
The boys have given me really positive feedback so far too.  
I can’t thank you enough, Richard, for helping me to shift my focus and understand (finally) what it means to be student-centred.  I’m feeling so much more positive and relaxed about my teaching that even my husband has commented that I’m very calm and not cranky anymore... and that’s a miracle! Anne O’Rourke, Brisbane Grammar School, Feb 2016

Download the course flyer and share with your team

A 1 min promo video for the course ... 

Testimonials

This is the best course I have ever done!  A course so incredibly well organised, with terrific instructional videos, thought-provoking exercises and constant constructive feedback.  As Head Teacher Welfare … what is the most important thing that we can be doing for our most difficult of children? ... being kind, being encouraging, being positive, listening, helping, doing everything we can to bring out the best not only in our students but in ourselves.  This course has been an eye-opener in the most fundamental of ways - our humanity and our kindness can change lives.  Thank you, Richard, I will be watching out for more courses that you have developed. 
Brigid Mora (Head of Welfare), Kingswood High School, ‘Create an engaged learning environment’, June 2017
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