e-Learning for Educators
 Course Information



Early Numeracy Grades Pre-K Through 1 Active Educators Fall 2017
 
Course Description
    

This session is intended for early childhood educators to improve their understanding and implementation of early numeracy concepts. Several factors that contribute to students' mathematical achievement will be studied, including: growth mindset, the classroom environment, innate math abilities, and the connection between literacy and numeracy. In the first session, resources are available to help teachers develop a growth mindset for themselves, as well as support the development of a growth mindset for all the children in their classrooms. As the course continues, participants will be given information about the mathematical progression to develop, differentiate, and adapt activities to meet the needs of a variety of learners. The course will culminate with an activity that asks the participants to create and share their idea of a classroom that best supports early numeracy acquisition. Upon completion of the course, participants will be prepared to create a positive climate to nurture numeracy and foster numeracy development for lifelong learners of mathematics

 
Course Syllabus
    

 

Goals:
By the end of this course, participants will:

  • understand the impact of having a growth mindset toward their ability to teach numeracy,
  • teach a lesson that helps participants realize that all students can achieve at high levels,
  • demonstrate their knowledge of growth mindset by writing a letter to parents about the importance of having a positive attitude toward numeracy to nurture student learning,
  • define early numeracy and literacy,
  • identify numeracy and literacy concepts embedded in common early childhood activities,
  • plan and implement a lesson that integrates numeracy skills into a read aloud, 
  • identify the important concepts in early numeracy,
  • identify where students fall along the developmental progression for numeracy,
  • develop and adapt an activity that meets the needs of learners at varying levels,
  • recognize that children are born with innate mathematical abilities,
  • understand how to support families to foster natural math learning,
  • extend natural math learning into the classroom,
  • realize the potential of the classroom environment as the third teacher,
  • identify ways the environment helps to develop numeracy skills,
  • evaluate their classroom environment and determine areas where numeracy can be addressed,
  • understand and apply the 8 Standards of Mathematical Practice,
  • describe and present a personal version of the ideal mathematics classroom, and
  • reflect upon how personal views of numeracy have changed.
Course Organization
This course includes several different activity components, all of which are described below. During each session, you will participate in a unique collection of these activity components, depending on the particular focus of that session.

Read		 When you see this icon you will be reading relevant articles, resources, and instructional materials that will help inform your online course development process.

Activities		 When you see this icon you will be completing activity-based curriculum and inputting various components of your course content into course project.

Discuss		 When you see this icon you will be using the online discussion board to share ideas, resources, and thoughtful conversation with your fellow course participants and facilitator.
Prerequisites
This professional development course is designed for PreK-5 teachers curriculum specialists and administrators. Participants are expected to have regular access to computers. Although not a requirement, high speed Internet access definitely enhances the online experience. Participants should be proficient with using email, browsing the Internet and navigating through computer files. 

Microsoft Word is required in order to read, edit and/or create documents for this course. If you have a WVDE k12.wv.us email account, you have access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive, etc. as part of Microsoft Office 365. You should see your school/ county technology support person if you need help in using/installing Word and/or other Office applications. 

If you do not have a k12.wv.us email account, Word must be acquired through other means. One way to get access to Word Online at no charge is by Creating a Microsoft Outlook Account with Access to FREE Office Online. 
Format and Requirements
This workshop is divided into six one-week sessions which each include readings, activities, and an online discussion among workshop participants. The time necessary to complete each session is estimated to be 6.5 to 7 hours.

The outline for the workshop is as follows:
Session One Growth Mindset
Session Two The Connection Between Numeracy and Literacy
Session Three Important Concepts in Early Numeracy
Session Four Supporting Authentic Numeracy Acquisition
Session Five Classroom Environment
Session Six Putting It All Together
 
Assignments and Assessment

Each session includes readings, activities, and a discussion assignment, which participants are required to complete weekly. This is a three-hour graduate level course and will require 30 - 45 hours to successfully complete the tasks. Participants should plan to spend 6.5 - 7 hours weekly to read assignments, complete activities including the session projects and participate actively in the weekly discussions.

Orientation Quiz: During the Orientation Session, participants are expected to complete the Orientation Quiz. The quiz may be completed as many times as necessary to score at least a 90% accuracy. 

Pre and Post Workshop Surveys: Participants are expected to complete both surveys. The Orientation Survey is to be completed by Sunday during the Orientation Session and the Final Survey is to be completed by Sunday during Session Six. 

Readings and Activities: Participants are expected to complete the required course readings and activities as posted in each of the session assignment pages. Optional readings may also be completed, but are not mandatory.

Course Projects: Each week participants will download and save a session project template and complete a session project. Participants can type directly into the file. During Sessions One through Six, participants will place their completed session project into Discussion #2 for peer-review. Each participant will peer-review a colleague's session project. During Sessions One through Six, participants will attach their session project to the session dropbox for facilitator review. The following project templates rubrics will be used during this course.

Session One: Session One Project Template, Session One Project Rubric and Session One Peer-Review Rubric.
Session Two: Session Two Project Template, Session Two Project Rubric and Session Two Peer-Review Rubric.
Session Three: Session Three Project Template, Session Three Project Rubric and Session Three Peer-Review Rubric.
Session Four: Session Four Project Template, Session Four Project Rubric and Session Four Peer-Review Rubric.
Session Five: Session Five Project Template, Session Five Project Rubric and Session Five Peer-Review Rubric.
Session Six: Session Six Project Template, Session Six Project Rubric and Session Six Peer-Review Rubric.

Note: It is imperative that participants log on to each new weekly session on Wednesday, the opening day of the session, as some of the activities in the weekly sessions of this course include implementation of the activities with students. These activities must be planned by Thursday and implemented by Friday with the students in order to complete and submit the project reflections and discussions in a timely manner. 

Discussion Forum: Participants will be evaluated weekly on the frequency and quality of their participation in Discussion Forum #1.This course has dual discussion posting for each session, one of which is a peer-review forum in which participants review a colleague's project. 

Participants are required to post a minimum of one substantial original posting each session in response to the Discussion #1 prompt for that session by Sunday evening. Participants are to respond thoughtfully to a minimum of two colleagues' original postings in Discussion #1 each session by Monday evening. They are to read all original Discussion #1 messages by course participants and enough additional Discussion #1 responses to make a total of 50% of the Discussion #1 messages posted for that session by Tuesday evening. Postings will be evaluated on their relevance, demonstrated understanding of course concepts, examples cited and overall quality.

The guidelines for the discussions and how they will be evaluated are located in the Discussion Guidelines and the Checklist for Evaluating Discussion Postings. The facilitator will follow these guidelines and the checklist when evaluating successful participation in Discussion #1.

Participants are also required to post their session project to Discussion #2 of each session for peer-review. Each session will have a peer-review rubric which is a modified version of the project rubric that the facilitator will use to evaluate the participants' projects. Read the Rubric Review Help Guide for guidelines about conducting a peer-review. Participants will highlight the items in the "Satisfactory" column on the peer-review rubric that meet expectations and make remarks in the "Comments" column about items that need improvement. Also, any areas that are exemplary will be placed in the "Comments" column. These rubric reviews will be posted in the Discussion #2 and participants will have the opportunity to revise the project before submitting it for facilitator grading. 

Course Grading Expectations

All grades in the course gradebook must be a "C" for successful course completion. A grade of "C" indicates that all work has been completed and the work meets the expectations for that assignment.

Copyright and Plagiarism Information

All resources referenced during the course will be properly documented. 

Copyright guidelines are to be observed throughout the course project and all course activities. All work associated with course projects, course assignments and course discussions will be original to each course participant. Fair use does not apply to the course project. 
 
Plagiarism, the reproduction of all or any part of another individual’s or organization’s work, by a course participant of work associated with the course project or other course assignments at any point during the course will result in no credit being awarded for the course. 

Course projects are to be the work of an individual course participant. Group projects require special permission of the program coordinator, Donna Landin (dlandin@k12.wv.us).

Software Disclaimer
Participants are to seek assistance regarding the appropriate software programs to be downloaded when updating or installing new programs on their computers. Inappropriate downloads of software may result in malicious programs being installed on your computer.
Certificate of Completion
Upon successful completion of this course, Early Numeracy Grades PreK-1 for Active Educators, participants will receive a Certificate of Completion documenting successful completion of the course requirements. Certificates are distributed to each qualifying participant via attachment to the course feedback in the Course Dropbox shortly after the completion of the course.
Graduate Credit Information

Participants in this course are eligible to receive non-degree graduate credits from either West Virginia University, Marshall University, West Virginia State University, or Concord University. Credits will be awarded at the end of the semester in which the course occurs. Additional information is available on the course News/ Welcome Page.
Technology Standards

This course, Early Numeracy Grades PreK-1 for Active Educators, will help participants meet the ISTE Educational Technology Standards and Performance Indicators for All Teachers (http://edtechleaders.org/documents/NETSAdminTeachers.pdf), especially Standards II, III, IV, and V.For more information about Technology Integration visit: http://www.iste.org
About this Course

This course was created by the West Virginia Department of Education (http://wvde.state.wv.us).

Original design (before format modifications) was created by EdTech Leaders Online (http://www.edtechleaders.org), a project of Education Development Center, Inc, © 2007.  All rights reserved.