LSSD Professional Learning Portal
Setting Instructional Outcomes
Choose Your Own Adventure
Is there a topic that you would like to learn more about that is not already offered in the Professional Learning Portal? This is your chance to earn up to 20 clock hours for your own exploration of a topic of your choice; choose your own adventure and design your own learning plan!
Earn 20 clock hours
Setting Instructional Outcomes
Speaking and Listening Vertical Standards
Unpack the critical speaking and listening Common Core Standards to discover what your grade band expects and how it builds on previous expectations.
Earn 1 clock hour
Setting Instructional Outcomes
Where in the Standards is Audio/Video?
Examine the intent of the standards for learning through multimedia to narrow your focus.
Earn 1 clock hour
Designing Coherent Instruction
C3 Framework: College, Career and Civic Life
Learn about the Social Studies C3 Framework, and think about how these concepts apply to your social studies lessons.
Earn 7 clock hours
Designing Coherent Instruction
Choose Your Own Adventure
Is there a topic that you would like to learn more about that is not already offered in the Professional Learning Portal? This is your chance to earn up to 20 clock hours for your own exploration of a topic of your choice; choose your own adventure and design your own learning plan!
Earn 20 clock hours
Designing Coherent Instruction
Close Reading in Content Areas
Read and examine classroom snapshots for instructional ideas you can take back to support students in accessing complex text to learn content.
Earn 2 clock hours
Designing Coherent Instruction
Create a Classroom Portal with SymbalooEDU
If you are still having students type in URLs, you REALLY need to use SymbalooEDU to put all your digital resources in one handy place where students can quickly and easily access everything with a tap or click. Students can use Symbaloo webmixes from anywhere, anytime -- freeing you up to TEACH!
Earn 2 clock hours
Designing Coherent Instruction
Embedding Digital Citizenship
Digital Citizenship is critical to teach our students. In addition to our district adopted digital citizenship curriculum, we can explore ways to connect the learning to other content and curricular goals. Explore some ways to do this through this module.
Earn 4 clock hours
Designing Coherent Instruction
Evaluating Online Resources
The Internet allows anybody to post news and information that reflects their views and biases. Learn about some of the tools and strategies students can use to be proficient and critical consumers of information they find online.
Earn 2 clock hours
Designing Coherent Instruction
Google Drawings for Graphic Organizers
Graphic organizers are a powerful learning tool for students. With mind maps, concept webs, Venn diagrams, and more, students can express their knowledge, plan their projects, and explore their content. There are many tools available to create graphic organizers and Google Drawings is a great free option. Learn how students can use Google Drawings to create graphic organizers, use existing templates, collaborate with others, and share the final product.
Earn 2 clock hours
Designing Coherent Instruction
Hapara Teacher Workspace
Hapara Workspace is a platform for teachers to create highly personalized learning experiences that deepen collaboration and differentiation throughout the learning cycle. Teachers will be able to streamline the process by tracking progress, submissions, and providing feedback to their learners. In addition, the learners will now have an easy, intuitive interface to manage their assignments and customize their submissions -- giving them greater ownership of their learning.
Earn 3 clock hours
Designing Coherent Instruction
Introduction to Screencastify
Screencastify was chosen as our asynchronous video tool as part of our "Core 4" - the main technology tools we need to be successful in a distance learning environment. Screencastify is a super simple to use tool that can bring the power of instructional videos to your classroom, in a Distance Learning mode and beyond.
Earn 1 clock hour
Designing Coherent Instruction
Introduction to the HMH Social Studies Digital Curriculum
In 2018, the Lake Stevens School District and the social studies department adopted Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for its print and digital curriculum needs (grades 8, 10-11). With this new adoption, students and teachers have access to a fully digital curriculum that includes an interactive textbook, assignments, and assessments. This course is intended as an introduction to and/or review of the HMH digital curriculum. Specifically, you will learn/review how to login, navigate, assign, and use with this system with students.
Earn 2 clock hours
Designing Coherent Instruction
Introduction to the Pearson Digital Curriculum
In 2018, the Lake Stevens School District and the social studies department adopted Pearson for its print and digital curriculum needs (grades 6-7). With this new adoption, students and teachers have access to a fully digital curriculum that includes an interactive textbook, assignments, and assessments.
This course is intended as an introduction to and/or review of the Pearson digital curriculum. Specifically, you will learn/review how to login, navigate, assign, and use with this system with students.
Earn 2 clock hours
Designing Coherent Instruction
Mastering GMail
Learn how to manage your email more effectively. Mastering GMail will help you to work more efficiently, and give you the know-how to teach your students how to manage email the right way.
Earn 1 clock hour
Designing Coherent Instruction
Mastering Google Classroom
Learn the basics and more advanced features of this learning management system that easily integrates with all your Google tools and makes communicating, assigning, grading and providing feedback to students a breeze!
Earn 3 clock hours
Designing Coherent Instruction
Mastering Google Drive
Your Google Drive is home for all of your files at LSSD. This course will show you how to navigate your Drive, organize your files and folders, and manage sharing of all of your resources.
Earn 1 clock hour
Designing Coherent Instruction
Mastering Google Slides
MODULE UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND WILL BE AVAILABLE AGAIN SOON!
Learn the ins and outs of creating presentations with Google Slides.
Earn 4 clock hours
Designing Coherent Instruction
Notice and Note (Fiction)
How do good readers analyze and interpret literature? In their book Notice and Note, Kylene Beers and Robert Probst provide strategies for attending to an author's craft and analyzing purpose in fiction. This module will give an introduction to Notice and Note for fiction text.
Earn 2 clock hours
Designing Coherent Instruction
Notice and Note Nonfiction
What specific skills and strategies are required when reading nonfiction? In their book Reading Nonfiction, Kylene Beers and Robert Probst help teachers define nonfiction, learn its specific challenges and rewards for students, and apply strategies for attending unpacking meaning and evaluating sources. Use the resources below to get an introduction to Notice and Note Signposts and Strategies for nonfiction texts.
Earn 3 clock hours
Designing Coherent Instruction
Supercharge Google Docs with Google Drawings
You can't do that in Docs! If you have ever made this claim, you may not be taking advantage of everything Docs can do. Built into Docs is Google Drawings, a tool that can add more features and make Docs more interactive. See how you and your students can use the integrated Drawings option in Docs to add playable videos, insert text boxes, add captions to images, embed graphic organizers, add interactive activities, provide a whiteboard area for student work, and more.
Earn 2 clock hours
Designing Coherent Instruction
Unleashing the Power of Google Search
Anyone can run a simple Google search, but most of us only use a tiny fraction of the power of this amazing tool! Learn how to unlock the power in Google's search tool on your way to becoming a Power Searcher. You'll learn all the tricks to narrow down your search results and find exactly what you want.
Earn 5 clock hours
Establish Culture for Learning
Analytical Thinking
Learn how to support students with their analytical thinking, reading, writing and discussions through the exploration of the following questions: Do we need analysis? What makes analysis hard? What strategies can we use for analysis? What texts are worth analyzing?
Earn 2 clock hours
Establish Culture for Learning
Choose Your Own Adventure
Is there a topic that you would like to learn more about that is not already offered in the Professional Learning Portal? This is your chance to earn up to 20 clock hours for your own exploration of a topic of your choice; choose your own adventure and design your own learning plan!
Earn 20 clock hours
Establish Culture for Learning
Growth Mindset
Explore what growth mindset means and how to encourage it within your students.
Earn 2 clock hours
Establish Culture for Learning
Making Thinking Visible
This module will begin to explore ideas from the book, Making Thinking Visible: How to promote engagement, understanding and independence for all learners by Ritchhart, Church and Morrison. Explore ways to use questioning and classroom routines to shed light on the thinking happening "under the hood."
Earn 2 clock hours
Establish Culture for Learning
Managing a Classroom with High Expectations and a Learning Culture
Classroom Management is a term that encompasses many concepts: developing a classroom culture and community, having high expectations for classroom behavior and interactions, creating strong relationships with students to make learning meaningful for them, etc. What it comes down to is creating a space that students can learn and thrive. Explore these resources that can help you explore ideas on doing just that, and make them your own so that your classroom community is positive and productive.
Earn 2 clock hours
Establish Culture for Learning
Managing Your Digital Classroom
It's a wonderful time to be an educator! The technology tools available to assist students, give them a larger audience and connect them to the world creates exciting opportunities. To fully capitalize on these advances, a teacher must have structures and procedures in place for organization and management. This course will provide you with the basic tools to be successful in your digital classroom.
Earn 3 clock hours
Establish Culture for Learning
Mastering Google Calendar
Google Calendars offers numerous tools that allow you to organize your personal and professional life. Use calendars as collaborative lesson plan books, keep track of meetings, events, and conversations. You'll even learn how to create appointment slots to allow you to quickly schedule blocks of time such as parent conferences.
Earn 2 clock hours
Establish Culture for Learning
Mastering Hapara Teacher Dashboard
Hapara Teacher Dashboard offers the classroom teachers a host of tools you can use to manage your classroom's digital world. Learn to navigate the tools, easily find student documents, share documents with a click to all your students, send emails, and more!
Earn 2 clock hours
Establish Culture for Learning
Peer Feedback and Revision to Improve Writing
Learn strategies for students to provide effective feedback to each other to improve their writing.
Earn 1 clock hour
Communicating with Students
Addressing Student Cheating in Google Apps
Although technology brings many benefits, people often worry about it increasing students' options for cheating. While there is no fail safe solution, there are options to help. In this session we will look at Google tools to help teachers and tech staff prevent and detect plagiarism, cheating, and other issues, including revision history, file details, Forms features, citation tools, and more. We will also consider non-tech responses to the problem including evaluating assessments, school policies, and more.
Earn 1 clock hour
Communicating with Students
Choose Your Own Adventure
Is there a topic that you would like to learn more about that is not already offered in the Professional Learning Portal? This is your chance to earn up to 20 clock hours for your own exploration of a topic of your choice; choose your own adventure and design your own learning plan!
Earn 20 clock hours
Communicating with Students
Helping Students Become Independent Learners
Do you have students who do not seem to have self-regulation skills to monitor their own behavior and stay on task? Participate in this module where you will learn about some strategies you can teach and ways to communicate with students to increase their ownership and self-regulation of their behavior.
Earn 2 clock hours
Questioning and Discussion Techniques
Academic Discourse
What systems encourage students to have academic conversations and how do those conversations impact learning?
Earn 1 clock hour
Questioning and Discussion Techniques
Choose Your Own Adventure
Is there a topic that you would like to learn more about that is not already offered in the Professional Learning Portal? This is your chance to earn up to 20 clock hours for your own exploration of a topic of your choice; choose your own adventure and design your own learning plan!
Earn 20 clock hours
Questioning and Discussion Techniques
Collaborative Conversations
Explore the importance of collaborative conversations in enhancing learning.
Earn 2 clock hours
Questioning and Discussion Techniques
How Do I Write Text-Dependent Questions? (secondary)
Use the standards to write questions that help students dig deep into a complex text.
Earn 1 clock hour
Questioning and Discussion Techniques
Questioning in Action
Explore ways different instructors engage and empower students through the questions they ask.
Earn 1 clock hour
Questioning and Discussion Techniques
Student Ownership of Questions about Texts
How do we teach students to generate their own higher level questions, specifically about texts they read?
Earn 1 clock hour
Questioning and Discussion Techniques
Types of Questions to Encourage Critical Thinking
Explore the types of questions that engage students and encourage student-to-student discourse.
Earn 1 clock hour
Questioning and Discussion Techniques
Visual Thinking Strategy
Would you like to help students engage with images around them (whether artwork, political cartoons or illustrations) while also having a productive conversation? Explore the Visual Thinking Strategy here.
Earn 2 clock hours
Questioning and Discussion Techniques
What should we be asking students?
Explore the concept of Depth of Knowledge (DOK) and how it relates to the questions we need to be asking our students to prepare them for the level of rigor expected.
Earn 2 clock hours
Questioning and Discussion Techniques
WIDA Workshop: Social Studies - Engaging Multilingual Learners through Inquiry
WIDA is our state's partner in supporting and assessing Multilingual Learners. This e-workshop is accessible for anyone in Washington for the 22-23 school year and has the following learning targets:
Identify ways to leverage multilingual learners’ assets to support their learning in the inquiry-based approaches for social studies.
Recognize the benefits of using an inquiry approach in social studies to strengthen disciplinary reasoning and skills.
Investigate questions, tasks, and sources as a way to support multilingual learners in becoming increasingly effective as they use language to make meaning in an inquiry.
**Completion of this module earns Equity Clock Hours
Earn 4 clock hours
Engaging Learners
4 Fun Literacy Activities with Google Docs
Google Docs is a great word processor, but is much more than just that. Although we can certainly use it to type up a report, take notes, or write a story, we can also get creative with the features and functions built into the program to make some fun learning activities.
Earn 2 clock hours
Engaging Learners
Adobe Spark in the Classroom
Get your students fully engaged by providing them the tools to create websites, videos, and graphics that demonstrate their learning. Learn to use Adobe Spark's three, easy-to-use components (post, page, and video) while exploring the unlimited possibilities using this tool in every subject area.
Earn 2 clock hours
Engaging Learners
Choose Your Own Adventure
Is there a topic that you would like to learn more about that is not already offered in the Professional Learning Portal? This is your chance to earn up to 20 clock hours for your own exploration of a topic of your choice; choose your own adventure and design your own learning plan!
Earn 20 clock hours
Engaging Learners
Create Multimedia Timelines
HSTRY.co is a tool for creating great looking multimedia timelines. Insert video, audio, text, questions and interesting facts, then share them publicly or directly with the students who have joined your class. Take it to the next level by having your students create their own timelines of important historical events. Start bringing the past to life with HSTRY.
Earn 2 clock hours
Engaging Learners
Creating Collaborative Magazines with Flipboard
Create collaborative, current magazines with this website. Think a Pinterest-like version of a student magazine on whatever topic your class is studying!
Earn 1 clock hour
Engaging Learners
Digital Annotation with Kami
In this module, examine the struggle to move from print based to digital reading, annotation as an essential reading strategy, as well as using Kami for that purpose in your classroom.
Earn 2 clock hours
Engaging Learners
Engagement Strategies
Watch multiple classroom snapshots to examine what strategies the teacher is using to effectively engage students. Take a strategy back to try in your classroom!
Earn 1 clock hour
Engaging Learners
Engaging Students with Boom Card Lessons
Boom Cards are interactive activities that can provide students feedback on their learning. In this module you will learn how to get started with Boom Cards as well as how to create these interactive activities and assign them to students.
Earn 3 clock hours
Engaging Learners
Engaging Students With Video Using EdPuzzle
EDpuzzle is an online tool that optimizes the experience of learning from video for your students. EDpuzzle allows you to to add your own commentary and questions to any video you create or find online. Deliver the customized video to your students, and EDpuzzle will track how often students watch, rewatch, and interact with each portion of a given video. Best of all, it’s completely free!
Earn 2 clock hours
Engaging Learners
Global Competency: Bring the World to Your Classroom
Explore the concept of global competency and tools that can support virtual interactions that "break down" classroom walls. Try out a concept in your classroom that connects to your curriculum and can increase student engagement and deepen learning.
Earn 4 clock hours
Engaging Learners
Google Keep in the Classroom
MODULE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND WILL BE LIVE AGAIN SOON!
Google Keep is a lightweight note-taking solution that can help you and your students stay organized. Learn how easy it is to get started and increase students' productivity!
Earn 1 clock hour
Engaging Learners
Google Lit Trips on Chromebooks
Lit Trips are downloadable files that mark the journeys of characters from famous literature on the surface of Google Earth. Along the way, placemarks with pop-up windows contain "just in time" resources including relevant media, thought-provoking discussion starters, and links to supplementary information about "real world" references in that portion of the story. The focus is on creating engaging and relevant literary experiences for students.
Earn 2 clock hours
Engaging Learners
Google Maps
THIS MODULE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION _ WILL BE LIVE AGAIN SOON!
Online mapping tools, such as Google Maps, are powerful mediums for storytelling. Learn how to master these tools so that your students can interact with the larger world through maps.
Earn 6 clock hours
Engaging Learners
Makerspaces: The Why and The How
In this module, you will explore the purpose behind a Makerspace, how it can enhance the learning in any subject area, and also receive guidance on how to get started in creating your own Makerspace.
Earn 2 clock hours
Engaging Learners
Powtoons
PowToon is a fun and attention-grabbing alternative to PowerPoint. A PowToon is an engaging way to introduce or summarize content and is great for student-created projects.
Earn 4 clock hours
Engaging Learners
The 4 Keys to Engagement
Read this article that discussed clarity, context, culture and challenge as the keys to engagement and apply them to a lesson you are teaching.
Earn 1 clock hour
Engaging Learners
ThingLink in the Classroom
ThingLink is an online tool that allows you to bring images and videos to life. Use ThingLink to embed text, images, links and additional videos right into an image of your choosing.
Earn 1 clock hour
Engaging Learners
Twitter for Educators
Join the over 320 million active users of Twitter, the social platform that can connect you with educators from around the world. This course will walk you through the basics of starting your account, sending Tweets, and finding other educators to follow.
Earn 3 clock hours
Engaging Learners
WeVideo: Getting Started
Get your students fully engaged with learning by introducing them to video production. Learn to use WeVideo while exploring the unlimited possibilities of video production for every subject area.
Earn 5 clock hours
Assessment in Instruction
Choose Your Own Adventure
Is there a topic that you would like to learn more about that is not already offered in the Professional Learning Portal? This is your chance to earn up to 20 clock hours for your own exploration of a topic of your choice; choose your own adventure and design your own learning plan!
Earn 20 clock hours
Assessment in Instruction
Differentiating with STAR Reading
Use data from STAR Reading to create differentiated questions and activities for students.
Earn 2 clock hours
Assessment in Instruction
Digital Formative Assessment Tools
Formative assessment is an essential tool for the proficient teacher. This module will introduce you to some of the best FREE digital formative assessment tools to provide you with the feedback you need to meet the needs of all your students. Though the tools are divided into suggested applications, many of the tools can be used for varied purposes.
Earn 4 clock hours
Assessment in Instruction
Fantastic Feedback Tools for Google Docs
As educators we are always looking for better ways to connect with our students especially when providing feedback on their work. In this session we will explore four fantastic tools to provide feedback that is more detailed, engaging, and personal. Tools will include Google Doc text comments, voice comments with Read&Write for Google, video feedback with Screencastify, and natural handwriting feedback with the Google Classroom mobile app.
Earn 2 clock hours
Assessment in Instruction
Formative Assessment Strategies
This module provides many different strategies you could choose form to utilize in your classroom
Earn 1 clock hour
Assessment in Instruction
Formative Assessment: Effective Feedback
What is the most effective feedback we can give our students to boost learning?
Earn 1 clock hour
Assessment in Instruction
Mastering Google Forms
Get instant feedback from students, parents or colleagues with this incredible tool that seems to "do it all."
Earn 4 clock hours
Assessment in Instruction
SBA and CCSS: What should students' answers look like?
Explore the materials that are available in the Smarter Balanced Assessment portal in the Teacher Hand Scoring section to learn how they score responses. What can we take back to our classroom in the way we score and instruct to proficiency?
Earn 1 clock hour
Assessment in Instruction
The Importance of Formative Assessment
Find out what makes assessments formative and the importance of formative assessment in the classroom.
Earn 1 clock hour
Assessment in Instruction
Unpacking WIDA Scores to Inform Instruction
In this module, you will become familiar with your English Learners' WIDA scores, what they mean, and how you can use them to inform your work with these students within your classroom. You will also become familiar with the WIDA "Can Do" Descriptors to look at current skills and the next step for skills within the listening, speaking, reading, and writing domains.
Earn 1 clock hour
Assessment in Instruction
Using Rubrics with Google Docs
This module is being improved and will return soon!
Google provides great tools for writing projects including distributing, sharing, collaborating, reviewing, commenting, and revising. But what about grading? Rubrics are a powerful tool for teachers to provide detailed grading feedback for student work. Learn how to use three different rubric tools with Google Docs including Doctopus/Goobric, docAppender, and Orange Slice Teacher Rubric.
Earn 3 clock hours
Flexibility and Responsiveness
Choose Your Own Adventure
Is there a topic that you would like to learn more about that is not already offered in the Professional Learning Portal? This is your chance to earn up to 20 clock hours for your own exploration of a topic of your choice; choose your own adventure and design your own learning plan!
Earn 20 clock hours
Flexibility and Responsiveness
Digital Annotation with Read and Write for Google
Learn about this new tool that can be used for digital annotation, word prediction or voice tools.
Earn 2 clock hours
Flexibility and Responsiveness
Flipping Your Classroom - the Basics
So you have heard of flipping your classroom but would like to learn more about what this means. This module will help you learn the basics of a Flipped Classroom so you can see if it is a tool for you.
Earn 1 clock hour
Flexibility and Responsiveness
Hapara Highlights
This self-paced course is designed to provide you with an overview of Hapara Highlights and to introduce you to the tools that will help you start using Hapara Highlights right away.
Earn 2 clock hours
Flexibility and Responsiveness
Meeting the Needs of English Language Learners in the Classroom
In this multi-section module, you can explore the following topics related to supporting your English Language Learners: understanding levels of language development, strategies for scaffolding learning, and strategies for encouraging academic discourse.
Earn 5 clock hours
Flexibility and Responsiveness
Providing Closed Captioning Accommodations
Students who are deaf or hard of hearing may have accommodations that legally require educators to ensure that videos used for instruction include captions. Learn about tools to find videos with CC, add CC to videos and create CC videos.
**Completion of this module earns Equity Clock Hours
Earn 1 clock hour
Flexibility and Responsiveness
Screencasting in the Classroom
Allow students to take your genius with them anywhere by recording your own Screencasts! Learn and try out a few of the tools available for recording your lessons for later viewing. Once you see how user-friendly these tools have become, you'll want your students to join in the creating to share their brilliance as well!
Earn 2 clock hours
Flexibility and Responsiveness
Technology Tools to Create Text Accessible Documents
All PDF documents are not created equal! Most are just pictures of text and are not accessible to vision impaired students and parents. And how about all those images you use? How can blind people "see" them? This workshop shows you how tools and tips to make all your files "text accessible!"
**Completion of this module earns Equity Clock Hours
Earn 1 clock hour