Professional Learning Academy
NEA micro-credentials | CMU Graduate Courses
Online Courses through Central Methodist University
Earn up to nine graduate credits per year for $225.
For one low annual fee of $225, Missouri NEA members may take one course each term (fall, spring and summer) to complete up to three graduate courses in 12 months. Or they may take two courses in the summer and skip either the fall or spring semester. Each course is two or three graduate credit hours, so educators can earn from six to nine graduate credits. Choose from 17 self-paced, online courses for professional growth or salary advancement. MNEA partners with Central Methodist University and Virtual Education Software to offer these courses. We recommend members check with their school districts to be sure these courses will be accepted for salary schedule credit before signing up.
VESi recommends that you check with your school to verify that these course offerings will meet your school district requirements for salary advancement. If your district says no, please contact your local Missouri NEA president or UniServ director. If you are working on a master’s degree, before you enroll you should check with your advisor to see if these courses will be accepted towards your master’s degree. The courses are all 600 level courses. Central Methodist University provides the transcript for these pass/fail courses.
Courses include:
- Advanced Classroom Management: Children as Change Agents
- Behavior is Language: Strategies for Managing Disruptive Behavior
- Teaching Diversity: Influences and Issues in the Classroom
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Information and Interventions for Effective Teaching
- Teaching Elementary Math Conceptually
- Talented and Gifted: Working with High Achievers
- Understanding Aggression: Coping with Aggressive Behavior in the Classroom
Other courses address traumatized children, educational assessment, learning disabilities, inclusion, substance abuse, violence in schools, harassment and bullying, child abuse, and autism and Asperger’s disorder.
Log in MNEA.org and go to www.mnea.org/cmu to get the link to register for this program offered to Missouri NEA members only or complete the form to verify your membership. You will receive a link to the program within 3 business days.
If you have questions about the program, please contact MNEA Teaching & Learning Director Ann Jarrett (ann.jarrett@mnea.org) or Teaching & Learning Assistant Laurie Bernskoetter (laurie.bernskoetter@mnea.org) at (573) 644-9623.
NEA Micro-credential Virtual Professional Learning Communities
A micro-credential is a short, competency-based recognition that allows an educator to demonstrate mastery in a particular area.
Missouri NEA partners with Kansas NEA to support personalized professional growth in a virtual Professional Learning Community (PLC). Participants complete a NEA Micro-credential from start to finish. Micro-credentials are self-directed project based professional development designed to directly help you in your professional practice.
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Register by Sun., Jan. 31 for one of the PLCs listed below. Kansas NEA members register at www.kneaweb.org.
PLC dates: Weeks of February 7 to March 18, 2021.
Time commitment: A micro-credential generally takes up to 15 hours of work to complete. Weekly PLC Zoom meeting lasts 30 to 60 minutes. Facilitators will email participants the exact dates and times by Feb. 5. Please review a micro-credential’s rubric in its entirety—link in description below- BEFORE you register.
Cost: Micro-credentials and the PLC are free for MNEA and KNEA members. This is a members-only opportunity.
Members have the option of one hour of graduate credit through Baker University for $70 per micro-credential achieved. Please check with your school district to be sure they accept these graduate credits towards advancement on your district salary schedule. After you receive your digital badge, enroll in Baker University to receive your graduate credit.
Not a member? Join now at www.mnea.org/JOIN .
Learn more about NEA Micro-credentials >
Join the Conversation on NEA edCommunities >
View all Micro-credentials on NEA Certification Bank >
Questions? Email Laurie.Bernskoetter@mnea.org or Ann.Jarrett@mnea.org.
- Classroom Expectations & Routines, (Classroom Management stack)
Monday at 7 p.m.
Facilitator: Sandy Humbyrd, NBCT
After self-analysis of current classroom rules, expectations and procedures, teachers create a goal and action plan to decrease loss of instructional time during in-person teaching. Before registering, review components and evaluation criteria.
- Cultivating Socially Just Environments (Teacher Leadership: Diversity, Equity and Cultural Competence Pathway stack)
Sunday, 4 p.m.
Facilitator: Kimberly Gilman
Diversity, equity and cultural competence need to be understood and recognized as integral to being a skilled teacher leader. After identifying needs, educators design and implement an activity or action to address a need. Before registering, review components and evaluation criteria.
- Virtual Engagement Strategies for Synchronous Learning (Technology for Educational Leaders stack)
Monday evening, time TBD Facilitator: Lara Stephens
People learn socially, even in an online setting. Effective online learning requires facilitation that allows participants to interact with content, apply skills, and discuss their learning and questions with others. Educators explore and apply facilitation techniques and provide evidence of collaboration during live virtual sessions with either students or adults, depending on your role. Before registering, review components and evaluation criteria.
- Virtual Engagement Strategies for Asynchronous Learning (Technology for Educational Leaders stack)
Monday evening, time TBD
Facilitator Kristy Oborny, NBCT
Educators apply tips and strategies to motivate and engage learners when instruction is not delivered in person or in real time. Educators create and implement an asynchronous virtual learning group where students or adults (depending on your role) engage in content and with each other in a safe environment. Before registering, review components and evaluation criteria.
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