ORGANIZATIONAL TEACHING SKILLS

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Throughout each day, educators are expected to balance academic demands with the personal aspects of each child. Mixed in with these needs are the core curriculum requirements plus additional areas of education such as personal safety, drug/alcohol, Aids training, social skills training, etc. These demands can become overwhelming to both teacher and student. The purpose of this course is to help educators to become more organized in their preparation time and their teaching style. In addition, each person will understand how to encourage and teach a disorganized student as well as facilitate his/her organizational skills. Specifically, the classroom will become more organized, papers will be graded in a more timely fashion, students will be more prepared for class, and an increase in educational performance will follow. This "clutter free concept" is applicable to our professional and personal lives. It is geared to a broad audience, encompassing K-12 students.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Upon completion of this course, participants will have:

1. Identified specific organizational theory concepts.
2. Gained an understanding of the relationship between achievement and organization as it relates to the educational process.
3. Implemented principles of time management as it impacts personal and professional lives..
4. Taught organizational strategies to both adults and children.
5. Examined and evaluated various organizational trends as they relate to education.
6. Applied new strategies for planning and ordering activities both in and out of the classroom.
7. Effectively transfer programs and interventions across domains (school, home, community).

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
Completion of all specified assignments is required for issuance of hours or credit. The Heritage Institute does not award partial credit.

The use of artificial intelligence is not permitted. Assignment responses found to be generated by AI will not be accepted.
 

HOURS EARNED:
Completing the basic assignments (Section A. Information Acquisition) for this course automatically earns participants their choice of CEUs (Continuing Education Units), Washington State Clock Hours, Oregon PDUs, or Pennsylvania ACT 48 Hours. The Heritage Institute offers CEUs and is an approved provider of Washington State Clock Hours, Oregon PDUs, and Pennsylvania ACT 48 Hours.

UNIVERSITY QUARTER CREDIT INFORMATION

REQUIREMENTS FOR UNIVERSITY QUARTER CREDIT
Continuing Education Quarter credits are awarded by Antioch University Seattle (AUS). AUS requires 75% or better for credit at the 400 level and 85% or better to issue credit at the 500 level. These criteria refer both to the amount and quality of work submitted.

1. Completion of Information Acquisition assignments 30%
2. Completion of Learning Application assignments 40%
3. Completion of Integration Paper assignment 30%

CREDIT/NO CREDIT (No Letter Grades or Numeric Equivalents on Transcripts)
Antioch University Seattle (AUS) Continuing Education Quarter credit is offered on a Credit/No Credit basis; neither letter grades nor numeric equivalents are on a transcript. 400 level credit is equal to a "C" or better, 500 level credit is equal to a "B" or better. This information is on the back of the transcript.

AUS Continuing Education quarter credits may or may not be accepted into degree programs. Prior to registering, determine with your district personnel, department head, or state education office the acceptability of these credits for your purpose.

ADDITIONAL COURSE INFORMATION

REQUIRED TEXT

None. All reading is online.

MATERIALS FEE

A course manual may be downloaded, from the instructor’s website at http://www.michaelsedler.com/ without charge, once you have registered for this course. Click on classes, from there scroll down the page and click on the orange lettering ‘Manual’ next to the class “Organizational”. It will download as a PDF. While there is no fee for the manual, you may have to pay in order to order a book from the bibliography. Or, you may borrow one from a friend or check one out at the public library for free.

ASSIGNMENTS REQUIRED FOR HOURS OR UNIVERSITY QUARTER CREDIT

A. INFORMATION ACQUISITION

Assignments done in a course forum will show responses from all educators who have or are taking the course independently. Feel free to read and respond to others' comments. 
Group participants can only view and respond to their group members in the Forum. 

Assignment #1: Read the Manual.

Read the entire manual and send a one page summary of what you hope to learn in this class. Everyone taking the class, including in groups, must complete this assignment. Download the current manual from my website.

Assignment #2: Read Your Chosen Book.

Assignment #3: Complete Designated Worksheets in the Manual.

Assignment #4: Two Week Journal.

Assignment #5: Behavior Modification.

Assignment #6: Discussion.

Assignment #7: Classroom Observation.

Assignment #8: Sharing.

ADDITIONAL ASSIGNMENTS REQUIRED FOR UNIVERSITY QUARTER CREDIT

B. LEARNING APPLICATION

In this section, you will apply your learning to your professional situation. This course assumes that most participants are classroom teachers who have access to students. If you do not have a classroom available to you, please contact the instructor for course modifications. Assignments done in a course forum will show responses from all educators who have or are taking the course independently. ​Feel free to read and respond to others' comments. Group participants can only view and respond to their group members in the Forum. 

Assignment #9: Intervention Plan.

Assignment #10: Lesson Development.

Assignment #10:  You must choose either “A” or “B”  (Required for 400 and 500 Level)

Assignment #A:

Develop a lesson to reflect what you’ve learned in this course.
Implement your lesson with students in your classroom.
Write a 2 page commentary on what worked well and what could be improved.
Include any student feedback on your lesson.

OR

Assignment #B: 

Use this option if you do not have a classroom available.

Develop a lesson to reflect what you’ve learned in this course. (Do not implement it.)
Write a 2 page summary concerning any noteworthy success you’ve had as a teacher with one or more students.

Assignment #11: (500 Level ONLY)

C. INTEGRATION PAPER

Assignment #12: (Required for 400 and 500 level)

SELF REFLECTION & INTEGRATION PAPER
(Please do not write this paper until you've completed all of your other assignments)

Write a 400-500 word Integration Paper answering these 5 questions:

1. What did you learn vs. what you expected to learn from this course?
2. What aspects of the course were most helpful and why?
3. What further knowledge and skills in this general area do you feel you need?
4. How, when and where will you use what you have learned?
5. How and with what other school or community members might you share what you learned?

INSTRUCTOR COMMENTS ON YOUR WORK:

Instructors will comment on each assignment. If you do not hear from the instructor within a few days of posting your assignment, please get in touch with them immediately.

QUALIFICATIONS FOR TEACHING THIS COURSE:

Mike Sedler, M.S.W., D. Min., brings over 40 year of educational experience as a special education director, social worker, behavior specialist and teacher to each of his classes.   He provides consultation and seminars throughout the United States and Canada for schools, agencies and businesses. He has a graduate degree in Social Work, a Doctoral degree in Ministry, a Counseling license, as well as his teaching certification. Mike has worked with children of all ages, specifically with children exhibiting behavioral challenges, mental health concerns, and characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder.  In addition, he taught general education classes in the elementary school and middle school arenas.   All of Mikeʼs classes are practical and “field tested” in schools and classrooms. Educators have found success in implementing Mikeʼs clear and concise approaches. All of his course material may be immediately implemented into a school or a home.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ORGANIZATIONAL TEACHING SKILLS

Barkley, Russel.  Managing ADHD in School.  PESI, 2016.  https://publishing.pesi.com.  The what and the why of effective school practices for ADHD (grades P-12).

Bush, Zack and Friedman, Laurie.  The Little Book of Organization.  Publishing Power, 2023.  Strategies to teach organization to younger students.  (ages 3-10).   www.amazon.com

Cline, Foster and Fay, Jim.  Parenting With Love And Logic.. Love and Logic Institute. 2020. New approaches to working with children (grades K – 12).  www.loveandlogic.com  800-455-7557.

Durlak, Joseph and Domitrovich, Celene, et al.  Handbook of Social and Emotional Learning.  Guilford Press, 2016.  Intervention and prevention programs designed to build students' skills for managing emotions, and forming positive relationships (grades P-12). www.guilford.com 

Gannon, Marilyn.  The Bulletproof Planner: Executive Function and ADHD Academic Planner.  Independently Published, 2018.  (P-12) www.amazon.com

Hillman, Deon and Busenius, Ivan.  Productivity: What They Should Have Taught You In School About Goal Setting.  Independently Published, 2020.  www.amazon.com.  A book that explores procrastination, habits, and discipline.  (grades P-12). 

Mendler, Allen.  Motivating Students Who Don’t Care.  Solution Tree Press, 2021.  Ideas to help students learn to self-regulate, focus and achieve.  (grades P-12).  www.solutiontree.com

Tamder Dess Press.  ADHD Planner.  Independently published, 2022.  An organized planner for students.  (grades 4-12).  www.amazon.com

Tolbert, Gail and Huitt, Marty.  Cultivating Behavioral Change in K-12 Students.  Routledge Press, 2024.  Interventions for struggling students. (P-12).  www.routledge.com

Wong, Harry K and Wong, Rosemary T. The First Days of School. Harry Wong Publishers. 2018. www.harrywong.com    Book to help teachers set a successful tone for the year (grades K 12.)