Famous Acronyms
This is the act that protects family and student data.
FERPA - Family Education Rights and Privacy Act
Classes usually designated as non-academic. They typically include art, PE, library, and music.
Specials
Ways of managing the classroom; an established set of expectations.
Routines
Evaluation that takes place between the introduction of material and its conclusion.
Formative Evaluation
Lesson Plan
This is a common designation given to a student with a primary language other than English.
ESL - English as a Second Language
Involving all students in the educational setting that best meets their needs.
Inclusion
Physical materials such as cubes, blocks, or balls that model mathematical concepts
Manipulatives
A document that describes varying levels of performance (from high to low) for a specific assignment.
Rubric
A supplement to a textbook which includes a collection of teaching materials, lessons, ideas, and activities to help you teach the subject.
Teacher's Guide
This is a common reference to a personalized learning plan for a student with a diagnosed disability.
IEP - Individual Education Plan
The time in a teacher's life when the demands and expectations of the job exceed one's perceived ability to accomplish them.
Teacher Burnout
Providing instruction according to different ability levels in the classroom.
Differentiated instruction.
Metrics used to measure student progress towards mastery of a standard.
Benchmark
An instruction method where a teacher models or offers supports and then steps back to allow students to try it on their own.
Scaffolding
Throughout this program, after a course you might submit an application to MDE for this credit to be added to your certification record.
SCECH - State Continuing Education Clock Hours
A process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.
SEL - Social-Emotional Learning
Rather than keeping each subject separate, curriculums that use thematic units work well to blend knowledge together in a way that is useful and memorable.
Curriculum Integration
A grading system where a subject is broken down into smaller goals and learning is assessed through each smaller target.
Standards Based Grading
A proactive, skill-building approach that will strengthen social skills for any student and will increase time for instruction and decrease disciplinary incidents.
PBIS - Positive Behavioral Intervention & Supports
This is a framework many schools use to provide targeted support to struggling students.
MTSS - Multi-tiered system of supports
Students learn through solving a problem or question.
Project-Based Learning
A strategy with a focus to grow a student's academic competency and address learning deficits.
Small Group Instruction
A measure of growth that considers where a student starts and where they want to go.
Conditional Growth
Courage and resolve; Strength of character.
Grit