Prep for back-to-school with ELT

ducators will head back to the classroom with new tools for tackling the biggest classroom trends, thanks to online courses from NYSUT’s Education & Learning Trust. The union’s professional development arm, ELT offers highly rated online and site-based seminars on in-demand topics like classroom management, digital literacy and burnout. Looking for the latest in research-based strategies for tackling these tricky issues? Here are some of our top picks for fall:

In “Digital literacy,” ELT instructor Franca Fiorentino, Bellmore Merrick United Secondary Teachers, covers how to be a good digital citizen and use digital tools safely, in accordance with NYS standards. The course also helps educators incorporate digital safety into their lessons, regardless of their subject area. Of course, training students to be digitally savvy is not without its challenges.

“Kids’ brains are not mature enough to discern between what’s real and what’s not real,” said Fiorentino. “Kids believe what they’re told.” Since misuse of digital media is taking a toll on everything from students’ mental health to their academic performance, the stakes couldn’t be higher, and all adults in children’s lives should be helping them navigate this ever-changing landscape, including parents.

In “From chaos to control, mastering executive function skills,” instructor Brittney Laudenschlager, Mohonasen TA, shows educators how to identify students with executive function deficits and how to coach them through it. The seminar addresses the four main types of executive functioning: attention, emotion, learner characteristics and higher order brain functioning.

“A lack of executive function is often perceived as laziness or that they simply don’t want to do it, but as educators we understand that these aren’t innate skills. They have to be taught, just like reading or math,” said Laudenschlager. Educators will learn specific strategies for dealing with each type of deficit, how to triage when multiple deficits present and how to work with parents to reinforce these emerging skills.

Adirondack Central School TA member Lorna DeSantis helps educators recognize fatigue and alleviate stress before it turns to burnout in “Sustaining compassion while avoiding fatigue and burnout.”

The return to in-person learning has been challenging for several reasons and our educators are suffering.

“It’s inevitable that educators will be exposed to vicarious or secondary trauma by talking to children about their lives,” said DeSantis. “Educators are naturally empathetic and compassionate and this exposure to trauma really saps them.” In the seminar, educators will learn how to recognize the warning signs of exhaustion and how to bring their best selves to the classroom every day.