Welcome to the Engaging Learners Academy Course in Advancing Differentiation!
Differentiating K–12 instruction is about so much more than simply tailoring materials and activities to different students. It’s about deeply engaging every learner. Challenging students to move beyond the curriculum, think critically and generate new ideas. Helping students manage their emotions and behaviors, direct their own learning, connect concepts across content areas, and, ultimately, make sense of their world. These are the skills that will prepare our students for the future workforce, and they are the skills detailed in this course.
Through these modules you will learn how to:
- Create rigorous concept-based lessons and units for students at every level
- Design authentic, real-world learning experiences
- Build achievement motivation and a growth mindset in students
- Encourage self-regulation and learner autonomy
- Inspire students’ passions and creativity
- Get all students not just learning, but also thinking!
15 HOURS OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Upon completion of the course each student will receive a certificate documenting 15 hours of professional development.
Course Curriculum
Richard M. Cash, Ed.D.
Dr. Richard M. Cash is an award-winning educator and who has worked in the field of education for more than 30 years. His range of experience includes teaching, curriculum coordination, and program administration. Currently, he is an internationally recognized education consultant (www.nrich.consulting). His consulting work has taken him throughout the United States, as well as into Canada, The Czech Republic, China, Cyprus, England, Indonesia, Kuwait, Mexico, Poland, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, South Korea, and Turkey.
Richard received his Doctorate in Educational Leadership, and a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, MN. Along with his Bachelor’s Degree in Education from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Richard holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theater from the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire. For over 10 years, he co-directed a children’s theater company in Minnesota, and co-authored 4 award winning children’s plays. He was recipient of the National Association for Gifted Children’s Early Leader Award (2011), recognizing his leadership in programing for gifted children. Richard was also named the “Friend of the Gifted, 2016” by the Minnesota Educators of the Gifted and Talented.
His areas of expertise are educational programming, rigorous and challenging curriculum design, differentiated instruction, 21st century skills, brain-compatible classrooms, gifted & talented education, and self-regulated learning. Dr. Cash authored the books Advancing Differentiation: Thinking and Learning for the 21 st Century, (2017) winner of The Legacy Book® Award for Outstanding Educators Publication; Differentiation for Gifted Learners: Going Beyond the Basics (2014) (co-author Diane Heacox), winner of The Legacy Book® Award for Outstanding Educators Publication (2014); and Self-Regulation in the Classroom: Helping Students Learn How to Learn (2016). All books are published by Free Spirit Publishing, Inc. (www.freespirit.com).
